Prediabetes newbie feeling lots of shame

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BritInNL

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Hi Everyone,

I've just been diagnosed with prediabetes and am now under monitoring by my doctor. I need to lose a significant amount of weight (I'm obese) and I know I can do it with the right tools & support - but I'm mainly feeling a lot of guilt and shame at having done this to myself. I knew I was at risk but didn't take the steps to lose the weight. I'm wondering how others have dealt with the emotions around all this - particularly if like me you're already living with anxiety and have always used food as a way to cope with negative emotions.
 
BritInNL said:
I'm wondering how others have dealt with the emotions around all this - particularly if like me you're already living with anxiety and have always used food as a way to cope with negative emotions.
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I used the negative emotions ie. the guilt and shame I felt, to motivate me to change my eating habits and there have been many health benefits to doing that, so in some respects those negative emotions were really useful in helping me to be healthier. What I have found with going low carb is that it has more or less put an end to the cravings and comfort eating. The less carbs I eat, the less I want. I have other nice things like cheese and real double cream in my coffee and olives and nuts and I went through a spell of eating far too many pork scratchings 🙄 , but these higher fat foods all helped me not to feel hungry and not to crave the carbs which sent my blood glucose levels into orbit. I have settled into this way of eating now and as long as I am able to fend for myself I find it relatively easy to stick to and I feel fitter and healthier than I have in years.
 
Put the past behind you, there is nothing that you can do about what has gone and look to a way of moving forward.
It sounds as if you have support of your GP which is more than many get.
What is important is finding a new way of eating which suits you as it has to be sustainable for the long term. At least now you have been alerted to the current situation before going over that threshold into the diabetic zone.
Many have found the Freshwell program very successful in losing weight and reducing blood glucose, this is the link https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/. It is based on the suggested no more than 130g carbohydrates not just sugar per day.
There are other ways for example a very low calorie or Shakes and Soups regime to give a kick start. A few people have been giving those a go and there are a couple of threads with people's experience.
 
I had to wait for diagnosis to actually do something about my obesity. I felt guilt and shame at the way I'd let myself go but like @rebrascora I used the opportunity to finally do something about it and realised that the carb-craving reduced when I stopped eating them.
It's a wake up call, so don't be too hard on yourself and instead try to do something about it. Don't think about how much weight you have to lose, just take it one day at a time. I still fall off the wagon sometimes as I'm a comfort eater too, but I just climb back on and visit this forum regularly to gain support and inspiration.
Best of luck x
 
Hi @BritInNL and welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry you've had to join us, but I'm glad to hear you're taking the diagnosis seriously and looking to gain more knowledge. They always say hindsight is 20/20, it's easy to judge ourselves based on our past decisions, but as everyone else have noted - you'll move forward. Turn it into positive motivation and be kind to yourself, you've made the decision to make changes - now find something that works for you and stick to it <3 The forum is a great place to find support and information, whether that's through asking questions, reading other people's threads or through our Learning Zone.
 
Hi and welcome. You have taken a positive step by joining this community and by realising its a problem that needs to be addressed. Lots of good advice on here plus look at the freshwell website:
lowcarbfreshwell.com

Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home

lowcarbfreshwell.com lowcarbfreshwell.com
In my case it sort of crept up on me, as the years went by, it was during covid that I was at my heaviest (nearly 18st) and thats when I knew I needed to do something, so I lost 2st, and was then diagnosed as pre diabetic and then as diabetic, I am now on a good weight loss plan (Type 2 Diabetes Pathway to Remission) you may want to look it up as it may be good for you too? Lots of encouragement and support here too....
Knowledge is power, so many are living with diabetes and don't even know it! You are now on the right path. 🙂
 
Hi @BritInNL, I can only speak from my own experience - it’s not a club anyone would have put their hand up to join, is it.
Wishing you all the best, getting your head round it a tough gig.

The most useful thing I have experienced here are people’s positive descriptions on how they’ve tacked, and learned to manage, their type 2 diabetes in the way that suits them.

On being diagnosed with pre diabetes I felt really shocked and guilty. But there are good resources out there which help. I have been following the low carb, reduced calorie approach and honestly wasn’t sure it would work for me, (it seemed kind of impossible it would work for me, if you know what I mean - success sometimes feels it is for other folk?!) but it does seem to work for me too - my levels are dropping and stabilising. I do feel healthier now too and have lost weight, which is encouraging. For me I always relied on alcohol, as opposed to food to manage anxiety, but have used the diagnosis as a marker to decide I’ll act a wee bit differently now, just day by day.

Hoping you find an approach that works for you too. Hang on in there x
 
BritInNL said:
Hi Everyone,

I've just been diagnosed with prediabetes and am now under monitoring by my doctor. I need to lose a significant amount of weight (I'm obese) and I know I can do it with the right tools & support - but I'm mainly feeling a lot of guilt and shame at having done this to myself. I knew I was at risk but didn't take the steps to lose the weight. I'm wondering how others have dealt with the emotions around all this - particularly if like me you're already living with anxiety and have always used food as a way to cope with negative emotions.
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I think our society shames people (especially women) who are clinically overweight in a way that it doesn't seem to do with people who develop illnesses caused (or at least exacerbated by) alcohol or nicotine. You haven't done it on purpose and it's great that you've identified what causes you to overeat. Can your doctor refer you to your local NHS psychological therapies or counselling service, to help you find some alternative ways of dealing with negative emotions?
 
Hi @BritInNL welcome to the forum. You will find a lot of information and support on here. I have found it really helpful in getting my head around it all as I was only diagnosed 9 months ago. People here are non judgemental and some have gone through similar feelings and anxieties to you. Wishing you all the best in your plans to lose weight and keep yourself from developing diabetes
 
Felt the same but have been eating healthy for about 8/9 weeks and have shed a stone so far using an app and weighing everything. Feel so better
 
Hello and welcome.
Yes I can relate - to the shame and to the 'eating my emotions'. I was prediabetic for 2 years before tipping into T2. I wasn't worried/shamed/motivated enough. It took the T2 diagnosis to finally make me able to focus on the changes. I wouldn't wish the shame on anyone but I have to say that a few months down the line, I do understand what peope on here say about it being a catalyst for positive changes.
And emotional eating - I have discovered that (for me - I make no scientific claims other than observation of my own experience) that a lot was a vicious cycle of eating too many carbs, being left hungry and dissatisfied, and then eating again mistaking a physical craving for an emotional need. Turns out, I'm not a body who does well with lots of junk carbohydrates. I eat low carb now, having upped my protein and fat portions. I don't crave the carbs so much and I don't have the mood slumps that were very tied in to my eating habits.

I wish you success putting aside the shame and working out what sort of way of eating is healthy, sustainable and emotionally nourishing for you.
 
Its not junk carbs it is any carbs - for decades I was laughed at for reporting that the 'healthy' carbs in the diet printouts made me feel unwell, fragile and weary - very prone to weeping for no reason.
When eating low carb I seem to be made of sterner stuff and cope with life, the universe and everything far better.
 
Drummer said:
Its not junk carbs it is any carbs - for decades I was laughed at for reporting that the 'healthy' carbs in the diet printouts made me feel unwell, fragile and weary - very prone to weeping for no reason.
When eating low carb I seem to be made of sterner stuff and cope with life, the universe and everything
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True. Although there is a discernible difference in my mood with different carbs. The ones that spike my sugars high and fast before dropping me low (wheat is a big culprit for me, alongside the typical culprits like chocolate) were also the ones that left me emotionally fragile - a very apt description. Potatoes don't do my blood sugars any favours but I've not noticed them affecting my mood adversely. And my body told me to avoid pasta long before my diagnosis but that was definitely a physical reaction rather than an emotional one.
 
BobbleHat said:
True. Although there is a discernible difference in my mood with different carbs. The ones that spike my sugars high and fast before dropping me low (wheat is a big culprit for me, alongside the typical culprits like chocolate) were also the ones that left me emotionally fragile - a very apt description. Potatoes don't do my blood sugars any favours but I've not noticed them affecting my mood adversely. And my body told me to avoid pasta long before my diagnosis but that was definitely a physical reaction rather than an emotional one.
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Potatoes are a gift from the gods 😉


 
BobbleHat said:
True. Although there is a discernible difference in my mood with different carbs. The ones that spike my sugars high and fast before dropping me low (wheat is a big culprit for me, alongside the typical culprits like chocolate) were also the ones that left me emotionally fragile - a very apt description. Potatoes don't do my blood sugars any favours but I've not noticed them affecting my mood adversely. And my body told me to avoid pasta long before my diagnosis but that was definitely a physical reaction rather than an emotional one.
Click to expand...
Chocolate, though, is not the thing to blame, but the sugar and other taste sensations added to make the bars cheaper to produce.
 
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