My Plan!

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Blue-16

Blue-16

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
At risk of diabetes
Hi All!

As a person whom has been diagnosed with pre-diabetes I have finally got around to making plans to decrease my chances of getting T2:-

These are:
  • Exercise more - start walking more - like I was doing a few year ago.
  • Stop taking sugar in tea - at one time I never had sugar in tea - now I do & sadly it has slowly increased. I have already started decreasing it - I was taking 2tsps now down to taking 1 1/2tsps. I am planning on decreasing it slowly so I don't notice then change so much. I have notice because of the increase of sugar in my tea I was using more of it so going through it faster so having to buy more it more often!
  • I have also noticed that I'm eat more bread - I'm going through a loaf faster then I once was. I'm planning at the present time to go back to the amount of bread I was eating per week! I am planning on starting this soon.
  • Decrease the amount of sugar I am having in my coffee. This too has slowly increased. I also did have sugar (demarra) in coffee - 1/4 tsp. Now its 1sp. Because of the increase I am going through the demarra sugar faster I have noticed! I am planning to decrease this soon!
  • Eat less crisps. At one time I only occasionally ate crisps now I have become addicted to them & really find it hard to not to buy them & eat them! This I think will be the hardest for me to break!
  • Stop eating in bed every night! At one time this was only occasionally & only something very small. Now it every night & it has increased as well! This all started when I read somewhere that it could help you to fall asleep! Now it has become a habit! I know this will take some time to break! And I think I might have to decrease it slowly both in the amount eaten & in nights I do it!
  • Decrease the amount of cheese I am eating - most likely eating too much of it! I know I am addicted to cheese. I have noticed again that I am buying of it because I am going though it quicker.
  • Eat less spread. Since I am eating more bread then I once used I am going though spread more quickly. So by eating less bread I will eat less spread.
  • Continue using this forum & the Diabetes UK site.
  • I might also decrease the amount of carbohydrates I am eating over all!
Thankfully I am eating less chocolate then I did a few years ago. Because I was addicted to it but I'n not any longer. Still love it but not addicted to it any longer (hoping that makes sense!) & when I do eat chocolate it is the the dark chocolate that I eat - and the darker the better. I'm like the cocoa taste of it more which isn't as sweet - more bitter. Milk chocolate & white chocolate are sweeter - as they have less cocoa & more sugar added to them! And I don't like quite as much - thus eat them less!

Blue-16
(Susan)
 
You have obviously given quite a bit of thought on how to tackle your diagnosis but depending on how close you are to the top of the pre-diabetes zone 42-47mmol/mol, you might want to look more carefully at the amount of 'sugar' you are still having in your drinks as that can amount to quite a lot of carbohydrate that does not have any benefit.
Bread is another thing that some people tolerate well others don't so that may be something where you can make a saving, 1 or 2 slices per day perhaps but not if you are also having other high carb foods like potatoes, rice and pasta.
Cheese will not convert to glucose so there seems little point in reducing the cheese you have unless you are concerned about the fat.
A bit more explanation that may help you in your dietary changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
 
Leadinglights said:
You have obviously given quite a bit of thought on how to tackle your diagnosis but depending on how close you are to the top of the pre-diabetes zone 42-47mmol/mol, you might want to look more carefully at the amount of 'sugar' you are still having in your drinks as that can amount to quite a lot of carbohydrate that does not have any benefit.
Bread is another thing that some people tolerate well others don't so that may be something where you can make a saving, 1 or 2 slices per day perhaps but not if you are also having other high carb foods like potatoes, rice and pasta.
Cheese will not convert to glucose so there seems little point in reducing the cheese you have unless you are concerned about the fat.
A bit more explanation that may help you in your dietary changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
Click to expand...

Decreasing cheese or going for low fat, or better still both, was a good idea for me.
It's surprising how little I eat now compared to pre diagnosed.
 
You can but low carb bread (sainsbos large store has 'hi lo'bread which tastes identical to brown but has half the carbs) plus the loaf is smaller so that helps too.
 
Hi Susan,

Your priority should be to cut out the sugar in your tea and coffee. Try cutting it out straight away and you may be surprised how quickly you get use to it. You could also try herbal drinks. Green tea and lemon is very nice.

What spreads are you using? Nothing wrong with using butter. Cheese also fine. I would focus on your carbohydrate intake and reduce it accordingly.
 
I gave up sugar in tea a few decades ago. I went cold turkey - just stopped putting it in. It took about a week for me to get used to the non-sweet tea. It was horrible at first, very bitter, but once I'd got used to it, then put sugar in again, the taste was horribly sweet. I can't abide sweet tea now.

I think giving up sugar in coffee is harder, not sure why. I try to drink it without, but I still prefer coffee to be sweet. Especially if I pig out on 'fatty' coffee - eg, with cream!!! (though ironically, as I've learnt on this forum, if one eats sugar better to eat it with fat, as the fat slows the absorbtion rate - even if it piles on the calories!)

If you want to go down the herbal tea route, I recommend the 'easier' fruit teas rathe than the 'full herbal'. I drink raspberry/strawberry tea, and it's sort of like hot, unsweeteened Ribena! Very palatable and good at 'cleansing' the taste buds. One tends not to want to eat after a last drink of fruit tea.
 
I definitely buy into your saying that occasional treats can morph in to daily habits!!!! So dangerous. So easy to have more and more 'ocasional treats' that you then realise has become a daily treat, and then a craving....

Deprivation is the only answer alas!
 
Callista said:
I think giving up sugar in coffee is harder, not sure why. I try to drink it without, but I still prefer coffee to be sweet. Especially if I pig out on 'fatty' coffee - eg, with cream!!! (though ironically, as I've learnt on this forum, if one eats sugar better to eat it with fat, as the fat slows the absorbtion rate - even if it piles on the calories!)
Click to expand...
Like you I went cold turkey with cutting sugar from tea, mostly because my partner drinks it that way and I have got used to it, but I always said I would rather not drink coffee as drink it without sugar or some form of sweetener. Interestingly since I started having cream in my coffee I don't want or need the sweetness anymore, as the cream takes the bitterness off it and in fact unsweetened coffee with real double cream (none of this manufactured Elmlea rubbish) is now my daily luxury. As someone who was a sugar addict pre-diagnosis it amazes me how little I need in my diet now and what I have almost entirely from the odd bit of fruit and the veg I eat.... plus the occasional JB or two to treat a hypo.... and I still enjoy my food.... and I eat lots of cheese!
 
Interesting that creamy coffee is fine without sugar! To my mind, it's a question of whether it's to be a 'complete treat' which tends to mean Cream AND Sugar (or it's not a complete treat!). But if as you say just cream alone can make it a 'treat' then I shall explore that. Well, I'll explore it once I can stop being low-cal as well as low-carb!

Overall, though, I'd rather not waste my cream/sugar allowance on coffee, but save it for puds (!).

But if I can't have creamy-sweet puds, then I'd rather use up my sugar allowance in fruit.

It all does depend what works for us as individuals, and what each of us 'craves' etc. I do agree with you that our prferences can change as we get healthier and less dependent on carbs. That's reassuring.
 
Callista said:
Interesting that creamy coffee is fine without sugar! To my mind, it's a question of whether it's to be a 'complete treat' which tends to mean Cream AND Sugar (or it's not a complete treat!). But if as you say just cream alone can make it a 'treat' then I shall explore that. Well, I'll explore it once I can stop being low-cal as well as low-carb!

Overall, though, I'd rather not waste my cream/sugar allowance on coffee, but save it for puds (!).

But if I can't have creamy-sweet puds, then I'd rather use up my sugar allowance in fruit.

It all does depend what works for us as individuals, and what each of us 'craves' etc. I do agree with you that our prferences can change as we get healthier and less dependent on carbs. That's reassuring.
Click to expand...

As I teenager I enjoyed cream in coffee.

Now I find it completely ruins the taste.
Decent coffee, not over roasted, and a splash of skinned milk just to rake the edge off works for me.
 
I believe it all depends on the coffee. I drink Nescafe AZERA americano. Its instant coffee with ground beans and if you get the measure right its not bitter at all. Worth a try.
 
We have a DolceGusto coffee machine and most of the pods work out at less than 5g carb per cup. Cafe au Lait Intenso is only 3.8g, Flat white 4.3g.
 
I never had sugar in tea (because my dad didn't) but I used to have sugar in coffee. I had cut to one spoon and then a few years ago my dentist insisted that I needed to stop having sugar in my coffee (especially as I usually drink them over a prolonged period of time at work). I found cutting it out completely was easier if I added just a little flavouring (e.g. vanilla or hazelnut essence) to it for a little bit. (I dislike cream in coffee so have a little milk, usually semi skimmed). When I got used to the "only slightly sweetened by vanilla etc" I could cut that out too
 
Blue25 said:
I believe it all depends on the coffee. I drink Nescafe AZERA americano. Its instant coffee with ground beans and if you get the measure right its not bitter at all. Worth a try.
Click to expand...

I have tried most coffee machines.
But it always comes back to a filter coffee.
 
Leadinglights said:
You have obviously given quite a bit of thought on how to tackle your diagnosis but depending on how close you are to the top of the pre-diabetes zone 42-47mmol/mol, you might want to look more carefully at the amount of 'sugar' you are still having in your drinks as that can amount to quite a lot of carbohydrate that does not have any benefit.
Bread is another thing that some people tolerate well others don't so that may be something where you can make a saving, 1 or 2 slices per day perhaps but not if you are also having other high carb foods like potatoes, rice and pasta.
Cheese will not convert to glucose so there seems little point in reducing the cheese you have unless you are concerned about the fat.
A bit more explanation that may help you in your dietary changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
Click to expand...
Hi All,

@Leadinglights - thankfully my pre-diabetes is 44mmol/mol so just in at the low end. so hopefully making the changes that I hopefully will make will hopefully get me back down into the normal range or at worst - stop me from getting Type 2.

Thanks everyone for their replies, advice & support! I'll keep it in mind.

Blue-16
(Susan)
 
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