Pre diabetes

[Catgirl72]

Hi everyone,
I’m really new to this and not sure if I’m doing things right.
I’m 52 and need to lose around two stone. My dad had type 2 in his 60’s.
I had a diagnosis of pre diabetes four weeks ago.
HBA1C up in a year from 39 to 43. Bit of a shock.
I don’t eat meat but do eat fish. I have plenty of veg and berries, rarely drink or have takeaways. I opt for whole grain options for most things and don’t add any sugar to tea/coffee etc. I don’t drink fizzy drinks.
My problem I think has been snacking on too many baked goods/chocolate etc in the day and evening.
I have cut all of that out and I am doing the finger prick testing to see if the changes I’ve made are helping keep my blood glucose at a normal level. So far everything seems to be ok, I have a small amount of complex carbs everyday. Yesterday I had my biggest trial of things so far which included some roasted sweet potato and two baby potatoes with baked cod and roasted veg. Followed by Fage yogurt 0 per cent fat and berries. I then had a 40 minute walk.
Before lunch my BG was 4.9 two hours after eating it was 7.1 last week I also ate a meal that included sweet potato and I had a jump from pre meal 4.6 to post meal 7.9 coming down to 7.4 two hours and 30 minutes later and 5.9 three hours later.
Those are the highest readings I’ve had adding in the sweet potato.
Most of the time my readings seem to only go up a small amount.
Sunday I had a two egg omelette with half fat cheese, mushrooms and a big side salad. BG went from 4.8 to 6.3.
Fage yogurt with berries and almonds don’t seem to raise my BG at all and proper organic big porridge oats seemed fine. I also have dates and 100 per cent dark chocolate and it doesn’t appear to have caused much of a raise. I have tried a warburtons thin seeded bagel with avocado, rocket and quorn ‘ham’ and my BG goes from around 4.9 to 5.3 /5.4 after.
I’m confused about waking readings they mostly seem to be around 5.1 - 5.6 so far and this morning 4.8 which is odd as I had more to eat yesterday than I have in the last four weeks and also had a couple of dates later in the evening.
I’m worried I’m not doing something right with the BG testing, I’ve only been doing it since Friday and it’s already an obsession!!! Also a useful tool if I’m doing it correctly.
I have been cutting carbs right down and dropped all other unhealthy foods from my diet and doing extra exercise for four weeks and have only managed to drop 2-3 pounds which is disappointing.
So sorry for the long message, just trying to get my head around it all.
Any advice is welcome, thank you.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi everyone,
I’m really new to this and not sure if I’m doing things right.
I’m 52 and need to lose around two stone. My dad had type 2 in his 60’s.
I had a diagnosis of pre diabetes four weeks ago.
HBA1C up in a year from 39 to 43. Bit of a shock.
I don’t eat meat but do eat fish. I have plenty of veg and berries, rarely drink or have takeaways. I opt for whole grain options for most things and don’t add any sugar to tea/coffee etc. I don’t drink fizzy drinks.
My problem I think has been snacking on too many baked goods/chocolate etc in the day and evening.
I have cut all of that out and I am doing the finger prick testing to see if the changes I’ve made are helping keep my blood glucose at a normal level. So far everything seems to be ok, I have a small amount of complex carbs everyday. Yesterday I had my biggest trial of things so far which included some roasted sweet potato and two baby potatoes with baked cod and roasted veg. Followed by Fage yogurt 0 per cent fat and berries. I then had a 40 minute walk.
Before lunch my BG was 4.9 two hours after eating it was 7.1 last week I also ate a meal that included sweet potato and I had a jump from pre meal 4.6 to post meal 7.9 coming down to 7.4 two hours and 30 minutes later and 5.9 three hours later.
Those are the highest readings I’ve had adding in the sweet potato.
Most of the time my readings seem to only go up a small amount.
Sunday I had a two egg omelette with half fat cheese, mushrooms and a big side salad. BG went from 4.8 to 6.3.
Fage yogurt with berries and almonds don’t seem to raise my BG at all and proper organic big porridge oats seemed fine. I also have dates and 100 per cent dark chocolate and it doesn’t appear to have caused much of a raise. I have tried a warburtons thin seeded bagel with avocado, rocket and quorn ‘ham’ and my BG goes from around 4.9 to 5.3 /5.4 after.
I’m confused about waking readings they mostly seem to be around 5.1 - 5.6 so far and this morning 4.8 which is odd as I had more to eat yesterday than I have in the last four weeks and also had a couple of dates later in the evening.
I’m worried I’m not doing something right with the BG testing, I’ve only been doing it since Friday and it’s already an obsession!!! Also a useful tool if I’m doing it correctly.
I have been cutting carbs right down and dropped all other unhealthy foods from my diet and doing extra exercise for four weeks and have only managed to drop 2-3 pounds which is disappointing.
So sorry for the long message, just trying to get my head around it all.
Any advice is welcome, thank you.

Welcome to the forum
You sound to be doing pretty well all the right things. Looking for trends rather than individual readings but having a strategy to your testing. Testing before eating and then after 2 hours when you will be looking at an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l or no more than 8mmol/l. Before meal readings in the 4-7 mmol/l range. Morning readings are better looked at in the context of a trend of reducing over the course of weeks as they are often the last readings to come down and can be influenced but your liver releasing glucose in the absence of food overnight to give you energy for the morning activity and your organs to function.
Sweet potatoes are just as high carb as normal potatoes but a good alternative is butternut squash, swede or celeriac.
This link has a vegetarian meal plan which you may find helpful as well as lots of good information, some do's and don'ts. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[Ieva DUK]

Hi @Catgirl72 and welcome to the forum!
It's good to hear you're taking action and taking this very seriously. It's not unusual that different people will have different results for certain foods - some can handle porridge just fine, while others get spikes for example, so it's good that you're looking for trends as to how your body handles different foods. I know it can be very easy to get obsessed with those numbers and sometimes feel disheartened, but remember that you're currently learning and experimenting. Keep a log of the things that you eat and what your levels were like, to find those patterns and as Leadinglights has said - you can then look for alternatives to those specific foods that give you spikes. The changes that you're making need to be enjoyable and something you can stick to as they in a way become your new norm.
As for the exercise and gym - don't worry too much as well, just keep at it and keep being consistent. Some people lose a lot of weight in the first month and then can't seem to drop any at all. Others lose it slowly but over the course of several months or even a year. Once again: different bodies - different reactions. Some bodies might take the initial exercise as a reason to go into 'survival mode', so it starts holding on to that water and weight, thinking you're pushing it through something 'traumatic', but as it becomes a norm - the weight begins dropping, muscle gain happens etc.
As ironic as that might sound, there's really no one-size-fits-all when it comes to diabetes management, so just keep on experimenting, keep on pushing and please kind to yourself The forum is a great place to ask questions (lots of gathered knowledge and experience here) as well as have a bit of a rant or celebrate personal victories! So once again, a warm welcome to you and keep us posted on your journey!

 

[HayleyR]

Hi @Catgirl72 and welcome to the Forum 🙂 . Definitely sounds like you're putting in a lot of effort and as mentioned it takes a while to understand the effect certain foods have on your levels but try not to get obsessed -- difficult I know but don't be too harsh on yourself; it's a case of experimenting. We're a friendly bunch here so just ask away with any questions . Well done for what you've achieved so far and keep us updated 🙂.

 

[Drummer]

If you need to reduce carbs, dates are about 6gm each, potatoes of any kind are easy to replace with something lower such as swede or cauliflower, whole grain is still grain, but you do seem to have the option of porridge, which some don't. Its the results that count, so testing and reacting to after meal levels is what works for many people coping with creeping up to type 2

 

[Catgirl72]

Welcome to the forum
You sound to be doing pretty well all the right things. Looking for trends rather than individual readings but having a strategy to your testing. Testing before eating and then after 2 hours when you will be looking at an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l or no more than 8mmol/l. Before meal readings in the 4-7 mmol/l range. Morning readings are better looked at in the context of a trend of reducing over the course of weeks as they are often the last readings to come down and can be influenced but your liver releasing glucose in the absence of food overnight to give you energy for the morning activity and your organs to function.
Sweet potatoes are just as high carb as normal potatoes but a good alternative is butternut squash, swede or celeriac.
This link has a vegetarian meal plan which you may find helpful as well as lots of good information, some do's and don'ts. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

@Leadinglights thank you for the advice and sharing the link. I will definitely explore some new meal plans.
The morning readings make more sense now too.
It’s a lot to get your head around initially so any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Catgirl72]

Hi @Catgirl72 and welcome to the forum!
It's good to hear you're taking action and taking this very seriously. It's not unusual that different people will have different results for certain foods - some can handle porridge just fine, while others get spikes for example, so it's good that you're looking for trends as to how your body handles different foods. I know it can be very easy to get obsessed with those numbers and sometimes feel disheartened, but remember that you're currently learning and experimenting. Keep a log of the things that you eat and what your levels were like, to find those patterns and as Leadinglights has said - you can then look for alternatives to those specific foods that give you spikes. The changes that you're making need to be enjoyable and something you can stick to as they in a way become your new norm.
As for the exercise and gym - don't worry too much as well, just keep at it and keep being consistent. Some people lose a lot of weight in the first month and then can't seem to drop any at all. Others lose it slowly but over the course of several months or even a year. Once again: different bodies - different reactions. Some bodies might take the initial exercise as a reason to go into 'survival mode', so it starts holding on to that water and weight, thinking you're pushing it through something 'traumatic', but as it becomes a norm - the weight begins dropping, muscle gain happens etc.
As ironic as that might sound, there's really no one-size-fits-all when it comes to diabetes management, so just keep on experimenting, keep on pushing and please kind to yourself The forum is a great place to ask questions (lots of gathered knowledge and experience here) as well as have a bit of a rant or celebrate personal victories! So once again, a warm welcome to you and keep us posted on your journey!

Thank you so much for sharing that valuable information, it really helps to know I’m on the right track.
I enjoy being outdoors and love walking and swimming so I’ll stick to the things I like rather that making it harder for myself.
I think my issue was a lot of grazing and quick sugary snacks rather than the meals I eat.
I’m hoping the changes will improve my next HBA1C test.
Thank you again.

 

[Catgirl72]

Hi @Catgirl72 and welcome to the Forum 🙂 . Definitely sounds like you're putting in a lot of effort and as mentioned it takes a while to understand the effect certain foods have on your levels but try not to get obsessed -- difficult I know but don't be too harsh on yourself; it's a case of experimenting. We're a friendly bunch here so just ask away with any questions . Well done for what you've achieved so far and keep us updated 🙂.

Thank you. It is easy to become obsessed I think and it’s good to hear that it’s all a bit trial and error initially.
I was scared to eat anything wrong for the first few weeks. As I gain more info I can see that it’s ok to add things in slowly in small amounts and see how they impact on my BG.
I’m actually enjoying learning how my body reacts to certain foods.
Thanks again.

 

[Catgirl72]

If you need to reduce carbs, dates are about 6gm each, potatoes of any kind are easy to replace with something lower such as swede or cauliflower, whole grain is still grain, but you do seem to have the option of porridge, which some don't. Its the results that count, so testing and reacting to after meal levels is what works for many people coping with creeping up to type 2

Thank you for your reply. That’s really helpful info.
I’ve been trying one slice of rye bread, a thin seeded protein bagel, nairns oatcakes and porridge and so far it’s been ok. I think I’ll try the porridge again to be sure. I usually add berries, almonds, matcha powder, ginger and cinnamon powder and skimmed milk. I have cut the portion down too so I guess that helps a little.
Thanks for the info on the dates, they are helping me stay away from anything else sweet but I think I’ll cut them down a bit now. Thanks again.