Newbie

[Jojo56]

Hi.
I've just signed up to the forum. A blood test just before lockdown indicated that I'm prediabetic so I'm determined to avoid becoming diabetic, hence my reason for joining the forum. I was contacted by the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme to join a phone session but I'm not too sure about it....I'm a bit of a technophobe and not keen on phone chats. Since lockdown I've lost about 17lbs so I'm quite chuffed although there's a long way to go. Looking forward to reading posts which may help me avoid becoming diabetic.

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome. 🙂

My brother has just been diagnosed pre-diabetic. I've told him if he loses two and a half stone he should be able to reverse it according to a book I'm reading at the minute. You're halfway there already!

 

[KARNAK]

Hello @Jojo56 welcome to the forum.

Yes you have chosen correctly by joining us, congratulations on your weight loss.
No secret really you have to cut down on the carbohydrates, I`ll let the girls come
along and explain it to you they are so much better at it. Look at the Learning Zone
lots of info in there, Its located at the top of the page and makes good reading.

Ask any question you like someone will be along to answer it if they can and it doesn`t
have to be about Diabetes, if you go to Forums also at the top of the page you will see
the choice you have to choose from, take care stay safe.

 

[SB2015]

Hi.
I've just signed up to the forum. A blood test just before lockdown indicated that I'm prediabetic so I'm determined to avoid becoming diabetic, hence my reason for joining the forum. I was contacted by the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme to join a phone session but I'm not too sure about it....I'm a bit of a technophobe and not keen on phone chats. Since lockdown I've lost about 17lbs so I'm quite chuffed although there's a long way to go. Looking forward to reading posts which may help me avoid becoming diabetic.

Welcome to the forum Jojo. Glad that you have found us.
You have certainly made a good start with the weight loss.

An understanding of the amount of carbohydrates that you are eating each meal will help you to make choices about changes you can make. This could be swapping to a lower carb option, or reducing portion sizes. All the carbs you eat will end up as glucose once inside you, and it can be surprising how much is hidden in many popular foods. If this info is not on the labels on packaging there is always google and asking ‘carbs in ...’. We now weigh all our ingredients and have a target number of carbs for each of our meals. It is just a target but works well for us.

There is loads of advice and support available on here, from other members when you ask questions and also in the Learning Zone (see the tab at the top of the page)

 

[Jojo56]

Welcome to the forum Jojo. Glad that you have found us.
You have certainly made a good start with the weight loss.

An understanding of the amount of carbohydrates that you are eating each meal will help you to make choices about changes you can make. This could be swapping to a lower carb option, or reducing portion sizes. All the carbs you eat will end up as glucose once inside you, and it can be surprising how much is hidden in many popular foods. If this info is not on the labels on packaging there is always google and asking ‘carbs in ...’. We now weigh all our ingredients and have a target number of carbs for each of our meals. It is just a target but works well for us.

There is loads of advice and support available on here, from other members when you ask questions and also in the Learning Zone (see the tab at the top of the page)

Thank you. It's all a bit of a minefield. My son is a rugby player(non professional) and he downloaded a free app called My Fitness Pal, sponsored by UnderArmour. You can upgrade to Premium which gets rid of the adverts but you have to pay for it. I'm finding it adequate for what I want and it's actually better than the NHS app which I downloaded and do refer to for certain things. He wants to put on weight and I want to lose it, so for him it's a healthy way of bulking up. It has been a real wake up call for me as to how many calories different foods contain, particularly the ones I thought were reasonably healthy. I'm not getting too obsessed with it because I feel that I could so easily get downhearted when the weight goes up on occasions, but it keeps me in check. I just need to do some regular exercise which is my biggest challenge. I'm guessing that although losing weight is important, it's the exercise which burns up the excess glucose the body produces or is that wrong? Anyway I'll keep going with the weight loss as my knees are certainly benefitting from it.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Welcome to the forum!

It's the carbs you need to focus on, not calories. Most people here follow a low carb higher fat WOE (way of eating). Avoid low fat options, surprisingly eating enough fat to stop you feeling hungry, combined with lowering carbs (try less than 130g a day, but some need to go lower than this) should result in weight loss, and you are more likely to keep the weight off compared with low fat, low calorie diets.

Have a read around the forum, especially other posts on the Newbies board.

 

[Madeline]

Yep I low carb to keep my insulin requirements down, I rarely go over 90g a day. Fat, protein, and leafy vegetables I don’t limit myself at all.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Jojo56

Sounds like you have made a great, balanced start.

Feel free to ask any questions as they arise - nothing will be thought of as ‘too silly’. We have literally centuries of lived diabetes experience on the forum, and lots of different, individually tailored approaches and strategies to diabetes self management, with lots of different levels of carb intake, activity, with and without medication.

So ask away - and friendly helpful members here will help you find your way through the diabetes maze to end up with your own individualised approach 🙂

 

[Jojo56]

Thank you, much appreciated.