Hi, I've just been diagnosed with prediabtes last week. Struggling to get my head around it!

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Running like a girl

Running like a girl

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Hi,
I'm new on here and have been reading up on every scrap of information regarding prediabtes since I was diagnosed last week. I am a healthy weight and bmi, I run four times a week (training presently for London marathon) been running for over five years and belong to a swimming club and compete regularly. However my Dad had type two diabetes later on in life but he was very overweight and unfit which is why I've always kept myself fit. Struggling to accept this diagnosis and desperately want to get this into remission. Trying to stay positive. Was wondering if there are any other runners that could give some advice on fuel for long runs please as I'm terrified of carbs now?!
 
Welcome to the group, sorry to hear the news..... Unfortunately there is indication of a genetic predisposition, we have many members (including myself) for whom D runs in the family.

My advice to you is to cut or reduce carb sources such as Bread, rice, pasta & starchy vegetables such as potatoes.... Replacing them with green leafy vegetables.

Second, get yourself a test meter, the SD Codefree from Amazon is an affordable solution. Even though pre-D there is no reason just to rely on periodic HbA1c tests to determine if you are going in the right direction, Daily testing tells us what foods we tolerate & what foods we don't so we can adjust our diets accordingly.
 
As for the second part of your post, we do have plenty of runners & cyclists on the forum who will be along later.... I fit into neither of those categories but sometimes my voluntary work in SAR & local Fire Dept can lead to intense periods of activity; I always take bags of nuts sometimes jerky (actually prefer Biltong as it tends to be less carby but not so common in the stores here) for fuel, the problem is that I tend to snack on the jerky if I remember it's in the house
 
Hi Sonia,
Welcome to the forum 🙂
As you're incredibly active, I would definitely talk to some of the more active members on here for tips on diet. Cutting down on carbs can be very useful for diabetes, but carbs are also important when you're exercising so much.
@Northerner may have some useful tips for you, as he does a lot of running also 🙂 I'm sure he, and other fitness types will be along soon 🙂
 
Don't panic you are already doing a good job at keeping diabetes at bay as your running means you are pre diabetes, not diabetic! So a bit of tweaking of our diet and you can improve.

You are right low carbing will improve your BG and some runners will be along with more detailed advice plus a meter is the way to go. No disputing I am diabetic as I was almost 3 times the limit but in just over a month I'm down in normal range. I cut out bread (aside from Lidl bakers protein rolls), pasta, rice and noodles. With testing I'm seeing how much of each I can now tolerate. i.e. I know a table spoon of rice is okay. Fruit - I can eat 3 large strawberries with double cream. My meter is helping me to work this out. Sadly I also found out that 3 squares of dark chocolate caused a spike! I was still under 8 but only just so they are not good for me. However when I ate home made chocolate log with whipped cream and dark chocolate cream I was fine so I know fat helps me deal with the chocolate! This is how personal tolerance is and what you can learn from testing with your meter.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. There are a few runners on here that should be able to advise you on that side of things. There is also the sport section on the forum that will have al sorts of help and advice.
 
Than
Martin Canty said:
As for the second part of your post, we do have plenty of runners & cyclists on the forum who will be along later.... I fit into neither of those categories but sometimes my voluntary work in SAR & local Fire Dept can lead to intense periods of activity; I always take bags of nuts sometimes jerky (actually prefer Biltong as it tends to be less carby but not so common in the stores here) for fuel, the problem is that I tend to snack on the jerky if I remember it's in the house
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Mini-Vicki said:
Hi Sonia,
Welcome to the forum 🙂
As you're incredibly active, I would definitely talk to some of the more active members on here for tips on diet. Cutting down on carbs can be very useful for diabetes, but carbs are also important when you're exercising so much.
@Northerner may have some useful tips for you, as he does a lot of running also 🙂 I'm sure he, and other fitness types will be along soon 🙂
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your help, that's kind of you to respond Sonia x
 
Grogg1 said:
Don't panic you are already doing a good job at keeping diabetes at bay as your running means you are pre diabetes, not diabetic! So a bit of tweaking of our diet and you can improve.

You are right low carbing will improve your BG and some runners will be along with more detailed advice plus a meter is the way to go. No disputing I am diabetic as I was almost 3 times the limit but in just over a month I'm down in normal range. I cut out bread (aside from Lidl bakers protein rolls), pasta, rice and noodles. With testing I'm seeing how much of each I can now tolerate. i.e. I know a table spoon of rice is okay. Fruit - I can eat 3 large strawberries with double cream. My meter is helping me to work this out. Sadly I also found out that 3 squares of dark chocolate caused a spike! I was still under 8 but only just so they are not good for me. However when I ate home made chocolate log with whipped cream and dark chocolate cream I was fine so I know fat helps me deal with the chocolate! This is how personal tolerance is and what you can learn from testing with your meter.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for the great advice, so glad I found this forum!
 
Running like a girl said:
Hi,
I'm new on here and have been reading up on every scrap of information regarding prediabtes since I was diagnosed last week. I am a healthy weight and bmi, I run four times a week (training presently for London marathon) been running for over five years and belong to a swimming club and compete regularly. However my Dad had type two diabetes later on in life but he was very overweight and unfit which is why I've always kept myself fit. Struggling to accept this diagnosis and desperately want to get this into remission. Trying to stay positive. Was wondering if there are any other runners that could give some advice on fuel for long runs please as I'm terrified of carbs now?!
Click to expand...
Welcome RLAG. Being active is a very good way to keep it at bay. Your head looks like its heading the right way. Good luck & pls keep asking🙂
 
Hi Running Like a Girl. How were you diagnosed and what were your numbers? I too was diagnosed with prediabetes 5 years ago following an oral glucose tolerance test. Unlike you though, I was carrying too much weight and didn't exercise enough😳! Trying to keep things under control though! Katieb
 
Hi Sonia

Fuelling for exercise is quite an individual thing. I think you will only be able to find this out if you do plenty of testing with the meter then you should be able to see if/how it affects you re: carbs eaten and exercise taken. I'm T1 so my main concern when exercising is trying to maintain my bg levels with the insulin on board. This can vary with the wind 🙄 although to be fair over time some patterns (of a sort) do emerge. I will rarely take insulin whilst out exercising but simply use any carbs to fuel the exercise I'm doing and try and maintain bg levels.

Good luck with the training and with the marathon. 🙂 Keep us informed with your progress.
 
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