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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Hello, thank you for letting me join. My recent routine bloods showed that I am pre-diabetic. This came completely out of the blue as I have had no symptoms and a BMI of 23, so a bit of a shock. This has really upset me as I already lead a healthy active life style with a healthy diet. I have joined a Diabetes Prevention program and am waiting to hear from them but I really don’t know what I can do that I’m not already doing.
Feeling worried and overwhelmed.
Hello and welcome. Getting the diagnosis out of the blue is always a shock, and most of us have felt overwhelmed at first. It means that your body is just started to struggle with your insulin levels, and in the pre diabetic range, hopefully a few tweaks with be all you need to control your blood sugar.
If you look at the Learning Zone and slowly work your way through it, one module at a time, it will give you the information you need. What is a healthy diet for most people, is not necessarily so for a person with pre-diabetes or diabetes. Can you tell us what your daily eating patterns are, then we might be able to advise you how to make small changes? When I was first diagnosed I found it helped me to keep an honest food diary. I did this with an app called NutraCheck (there are other apps). It taught me about portion control (which is probably not an issue for you with your healthy BMI) but also the composition of my diet regarding carbs, calories, fat, protein, fibre and salt. This enabled me to make the necessary changes. People with pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes find it can be helpful to keep their daily carbs below 130gm a day.
Best wishes
Hello and welcome. Getting the diagnosis out of the blue is always a shock, and most of us have felt overwhelmed at first. It means that your body is just started to struggle with your insulin levels, and in the pre diabetic range, hopefully a few tweaks with be all you need to control your blood sugar.
If you look at the Learning Zone and slowly work your way through it, one module at a time, it will give you the information you need. What is a healthy diet for most people, is not necessarily so for a person with pre-diabetes or diabetes. Can you tell us what your daily eating patterns are, then we might be able to advise you how to make small changes? When I was first diagnosed I found it helped me to keep an honest food diary. I did this with an app called NutraCheck (there are other apps). It taught me about portion control (which is probably not an issue for you with your healthy BMI) but also the composition of my diet regarding carbs, calories, fat, protein, fibre and salt. This enabled me to make the necessary changes. People with pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes find it can be helpful to keep their daily carbs below 130gm a day.
Best wishes
Hi, thank you. That’s reassured me a bit. Regards eating patterns: I’m not really a breakfast person preferring some fruit mid-morning but I occasionally have porridge for breakfast. Lunch is either a salad or sandwich. I cook in the evening. Usually meals with pasta or rice, always salad or vegetables. Maybe too many carbs? I love cheese but try to limit it as I have high cholesterol and take statins. I avoid fried food, pies and pastry, not difficult as I don’t like pastry stuff but I have the occasional bacon sandwich. I try very hard with my diet since the cholesterol diagnosis and already keep a food diary with the mentioned app.
I’ll look at the Learning Zone, thank you.
Hi, thank you. That’s reassured me a bit. Regards eating patterns: I’m not really a breakfast person preferring some fruit mid-morning but I occasionally have porridge for breakfast. Lunch is either a salad or sandwich. I cook in the evening. Usually meals with pasta or rice, always salad or vegetables. Maybe too many carbs? I love cheese but try to limit it as I have high cholesterol and take statins. I avoid fried food, pies and pastry, not difficult as I don’t like pastry stuff but I have the occasional bacon sandwich. I try very hard with my diet since the cholesterol diagnosis and already keep a food diary with the mentioned app.
I’ll look at the Learning Zone, thank you.
That's a pretty healthy diet, as you said. What is your app telling you about your daily carb intake including any snacks? You might wish to look at a few simple alternatives, such as lower carb pasta (I have edamame bean pasta which I find fine). Cauliflower rice, an open sandwich rather than 2 slices. I actually switched to Warburtons no added sugar medium sliced wholemeal (I didn't like any of the low carb breads). Fruit is quite high sugar, with berries being the best type, and tropical fruits the worst. My diabetic nurse advised just two 80gm portions a day. I elected to get frozen fruit as it is easier to measure out a portion.
I tested for a few weeks to find out which foods spiked my blood glucose, but now I just test for new foods. We are all different, so there's no hard and fast rules. For example, I can tolerate 2 small slices of bread although I usually stick to 1, or 2 small new potatoes, but rice, pasta and strangely, apples, spike my glucose levels. I have cauliflower instead of potatoes usually and don't miss them. I also have beansprouts instead of rice if I'm having a stir fry. These are just examples of the tweaks I've found suit my lifestyle. Lots of suggestions on this forum from other members.
Thank you…..I probably am eating too much fruit (thinking that I’m being healthy!). I’ll have a look at the carbs in more detail. I’d like to stop the progression before it starts if you know what I mean.
Thank you…..I probably am eating too much fruit (thinking that I’m being healthy!). I’ll have a look at the carbs in more detail. I’d like to stop the progression before it starts if you know what I mean.
Absolutely. When I was first diagnosed I tried really hard and was successful. Unfortunately I became ill with something unrelated and my glucose level almost doubled. I've been chipping away ever since, and suspect I will always need medication, but my eating is a lot healthier than it was!!
Many people find it a bit of a shock when a Pre or DT2 is diagnosed but as you are Pre, no need to panic as it will need another blood test to confirm, probably in 3 months from your first one.
Do you know what your HbA1c result was ?
Hello Alan, thank you. Yes, my HbA1C was 44 so in the pre-diabetic range. Hoping that by following the Prevention Programme I can stop it going any further. It was a bit of a shock as I’ve been worried about my high cholesterol for years and trying to reduce that. The bombardment of text messages from my surgery didn’t help either. It’s not good to get the news in a text message!
Sorry to hear you had to find out the news via text message
Sounds like you are keen to tackle things head-on though, which is great news.
Hopefully a few modest tweaks to your menu will help ease you HbA1c back down below 42 while still being a menu that suits your aims for cholesterol management.
Good luck finding a way of eating that works for you 🙂
Hello Alan, thank you. Yes, my HbA1C was 44 so in the pre-diabetic range. Hoping that by following the Prevention Programme I can stop it going any further. It was a bit of a shock as I’ve been worried about my high cholesterol for years and trying to reduce that. The bombardment of text messages from my surgery didn’t help either. It’s not good to get the news in a text message!
I also hate the text messages from the surgery.
They texted me to say I had diabetes with a link to this site and it basically said follow the link and go cure yourself and come back in 3 months for another blood test.
I had to look up my own records to see what my HbA1C was, to see just how bad it was, actually not too bad at 51 I guess.
As you are only just into the Pre range, I would suggest just a few tweaks in you diet (as others have suggested).
Hi and welcome.
Which statin do you take? Could it just be that it is your statin which has elevated your HbA1c slightly? I believe that can happen with some statins.
Sorry to hear you had to find out the news via text message
Sounds like you are keen to tackle things head-on though, which is great news.
Hopefully a few modest tweaks to your menu will help ease you HbA1c back down below 42 while still being a menu that suits your aims for cholesterol management.
Good luck finding a way of eating that works for you 🙂
I also hate the text messages from the surgery.
They texted me to say I had diabetes with a link to this site and it basically said follow the link and go cure yourself and come back in 3 months for another blood test.
I had to look up my own records to see what my HbA1C was, to see just how bad it was, actually not too bad at 51 I guess.
As you are only just into the Pre range, I would suggest just a few tweaks in you diet (as others have suggested).
Hi, I am speaking with the Practice Nurse next week to discuss my blood results. In the meantime, I have had numerous texts and am left to my own devices! I imagine they’ll do another blood test in a few months time.
Hi and welcome.
Which statin do you take? Could it just be that it is your statin which has elevated your HbA1c slightly? I believe that can happen with some statins.
@Daisy-May I had 'a healthy diet' as advised by GPs for decades - they always made me feel unwell as all my family were prone to diabetes - type 2 - and followed doctors' advice on what they should eat.
I am the oldest now, with younger relatives still being told how healthy it is to eat carbs.
@Daisy-May I had 'a healthy diet' as advised by GPs for decades - they always made me feel unwell as all my family were prone to diabetes - type 2 - and followed doctors' advice on what they should eat.
I am the oldest now, with younger relatives still being told how healthy it is to eat carbs.
There are fruits which are better than others but even so portions should be modest and included in what ever carbs you are having for the day rather than as extras. Berries are the lowest carb with apples, pears, kiwi, melon somewhere in the middle and tropical fruits the highest.
Wheat based pasta is high carb regardless of colour but there are alternatives edamame bean or black bean but you may get away with normal pasta if you keep your portion small and have more sauce with it and bulk out with veg.
You could keep a food diary with an estimate of the carbs you are having to see where you need to reduce your intake to come closer to the suggested no more than 130g carbs per day. Make the carbs you do have worth it for enjoyment rather than empty carbs just as fillers.
