Newly diagnosed Pre-diabetic

[Blogger]

Hi there. I’ve recently been told I am pre diabetic and now on an online Diabetes Prevention Programme run by the NHS. I need to lose a couple of stone and cut back on carbs but I don't know what a daily allowance might be. Any tips would be useful please?

 

[Drummer]

There isn't one - the idea is that carbs are reduced until you respond to the change and have lower blood glucose levels.
Depending on various factors you might need to reduce right down to a salad a day, or be able to eat porridge and higher carb veges.
The easiest way to monitor your progress seems to be to get a test meter which is not expensive to use (I got a Spirit Healthcare Tee2) and experiment to see how various meals affect you.

 

[Blogger]

Thanks for your reply. I’ll take on board what you are saying and possibly look at monitors too.

 

[rebrascora]

A good way to start is to keep a brutally honest food diary for a few days of normal eating and drinking then work out how many grams of carbs you were eating before diagnosis and then maybe try halving that. Using a BG meter really helps to identify which foods cause you as an individual problems and it can vary quite a bit from one person to another. Recording before and 2 hours after meal readings in your food diary along with portion sizes will help you to figure it out. It sounds complicated but you will soon get the hang of it.

 

[Blogger]

Thank you so much for your response. Great idea

 

[Perfect10]

I’ve recently been diagnosed with pre diabetes too. I use an app to carb count, really made me realise how many carbs were in some foods and how many I was eating! I have now cut out potatoes, rice, pasta and most bread. So far nearly lost a stone too since August.

 

[Ditto]

My brother and my mother have both recently been diagnosed pre-diabetic which is doing me no end of good. We have no bad food in the house, well not once Mum's finished all her sweeties. It's so much easier now we're all on the same page. I did get them a treat today, an eclair each as I read on here that if you're going to have a treat then have an eclair so...

We're not having potatoes, pasta, rice, biscuits, cakes (apart from the eclairs), jelly, trifles, ice cream, hot x buns, mince pies, cereal, orange juice, apple juice, bread or Melton Mowbray pork pies. I'm lamenting that last.

My weight is going down nicely. Don't panic, you'll soon get the hang of it and find out what you can and can't have.

 

[trophywench]

Shame about your mom and Bro of course Jan - but it's really good for you and your diabetes cos at last, you're removing temptation!

The cheaper smaller eclairs - 4 in a box for c. £1.25 - are only about 11g carb each. So, an occasional indulgence that isn't mega disastrous carb wise. Bonus!

 

[trophywench]

I always laugh at that 130g a day - cos I rarely get up to that amount and never have.

 

[Drummer]

I always laugh at that 130g a day - cos I rarely get up to that amount and never have.

I can manage 50gm a day, but usually do not exceed 40 gm - type two diabetes is so very variable that I suspect it is just a lot of similar things lumped together.

 

[trophywench]

Yes, but I'm talking about my whole life not only since I was old enough to choose for myself, so even before I left school - my mother didn't ever fill us up with extra carb when I was little let alone try when we were older. I actually had to increase what I ate once I became T1, because I had to eat enough to match the amount of porcine Ultralente the hospital put me on, for which I was instructed to eat 11 Exchanges, = 110g carb.

 

[adrian1der]

We're not having potatoes, pasta, rice, biscuits, cakes (apart from the eclairs), jelly, trifles, ice cream, hot x buns, mince pies, cereal, orange juice, apple juice, bread or Melton Mowbray pork pies. I'm lamenting that last.

As someone who was raised in Melton Mowbray I second the observation re pork pies - I loved Dickinson and Morris!

 

[Blogger]

I’ve recently been diagnosed with pre diabetes too. I use an app to carb count, really made me realise how many carbs were in some foods and how many I was eating! I have now cut out potatoes, rice, pasta and most bread. So far nearly lost a stone too since August.

I can manage 50gm a day, but usually do not exceed 40 gm - type two diabetes is so very variable that I suspect it is just a lot of similar things lumped together.

I can manage 50gm a day, but usually do not exceed 40 gm - type two diabetes is so very variable that I suspect it is just a lot of similar things lumped together.

Thanks for all your thoughts on carb counting. Being a newbie I’m starting off slowly with cutting the carbs. I might look at the carb app though.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Blogger

Hope you get good support and advice on the prevention programme - is it this one?

At risk of diabetes? You can refer yourself for extra support

As part of a pilot programme, people at risk of developing T2 diabetes in England can now refer themselves for additional supoort as part of the NHS diabetes prevention programme. (If you live in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland you will still need contact your GP if your risk is moderate or...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Some people find it is best to act as if they had a definitive diagnosis of diabetes when they are told they are officially ‘at risk’ in order to make the changes that should protect them against developing diabetes.

How many carbs per day is a frequent question, and it would be much easier if there were only one answer, but like many things diabetes-wise there is a huge amount of variation. Some can only cope with very low amounts like @Drummer, but others are fine with a moderate or moderate-low amount of 100-120g per day (though none of these terms “low” “moderate” etc have any kind of agreed definition!).

Many here find the most direct route is to use a process of experimentation and use a BG meter to find their own level by checking before and again 2hrs after eating and aiming for a ‘meal rise’ of around 2-3mmol/L.

This link suggests a useful framework for a Test Review Adjust approach.

Let us know how you get on.

🙂

 

[Blogger]

Welcome to the forum @Blogger

Hope you get good support and advice on the prevention programme - is it this one?

At risk of diabetes? You can refer yourself for extra support

As part of a pilot programme, people at risk of developing T2 diabetes in England can now refer themselves for additional supoort as part of the NHS diabetes prevention programme. (If you live in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland you will still need contact your GP if your risk is moderate or...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Some people find it is best to act as if they had a definitive diagnosis of diabetes when they are told they are officially ‘at risk’ in order to make the changes that should protect them against developing diabetes.

How many carbs per day is a frequent question, and it would be much easier if there were only one answer, but like many things diabetes-wise there is a huge amount of variation. Some can only cope with very low amounts like @Drummer, but others are fine with a moderate or moderate-low amount of 100-120g per day (though none of these terms “low” “moderate” etc have any kind of agreed definition!).

Many here find the most direct route is to use a process of experimentation and use a BG meter to find their own level by checking before and again 2hrs after eating and aiming for a ‘meal rise’ of around 2-3mmol/L.

This link has suggests a useful framework for a Test Review Adjust approach.

Let us know how you get on.

🙂

Thank you so much Mike. Your message is very helpful especially about thinking in terms of actually being diabetic as opposed to ‘pre’. This has really hit home and will keep me on my toes. I’m definitely going to get a BG meter.