Prediabetic

[Perfect10]

At the moment I eat Hi-lo bread,there is also Livlife, Burgen, Hovis lower carb, Hovis Nimble and a few others I forget the names of. It depends on what your supermarkets sell, I have never found more than one type in any supermarket.
Cauliflower rice - just grate cauliflower and fry in a little oil.
Or grate and roast for 20 mins to make cous cous and then add chopped tomato, mint, toasted almonds and some lemon juice and oil.
I have also found some different nut bars for a sweet treat such as Nine bars or Kind bars.
Celeriac makes ok chips or again mash.
I have also switched to normal fat things such as yoghurt rather than low fat as fuller fat keeps you feeling full and reduces the cravings for sweet stuff.
Fruit - berries are lower carb than most fruit.
I also have the Nutracheck app and this is really useful for checking carbs in food.

 

[Sulfate]

At the moment I eat Hi-lo bread,there is also Livlife, Burgen, Hovis lower carb, Hovis Nimble and a few others I forget the names of. It depends on what your supermarkets sell, I have never found more than one type in any supermarket.
Cauliflower rice - just grate cauliflower and fry in a little oil.
Or grate and roast for 20 mins to make cous cous and then add chopped tomato, mint, toasted almonds and some lemon juice and oil.
I have also found some different nut bars for a sweet treat such as Nine bars or Kind bars.
Celeriac makes ok chips or again mash.
I have also switched to normal fat things such as yoghurt rather than low fat as fuller fat keeps you feeling full and reduces the cravings for sweet stuff.
Fruit - berries are lower carb than most fruit.
I also have the Nutracheck app and this is really useful for checking carbs in food.

That's great thanks so much.
I have noticed that yourself and others put your HbA1c and cholesterol readings and BMI on your posts which is helpful how do you do that?

 

[Perfect10]

You go to your profile and edit signature

 

[Sulfate]

I had a session of the diabetic prevention program and told the coach that I was very disappointed that my blood sugars had not reduced even though I have lost nearly half a stone since March. She said that I'm going the right way and I've lost weight and that it's not sensible to check blood sugar until the end of the course which will be January. I wondered if other people would agree with that. Does it take months to reduce blood sugars?

 

[Leadinglights]

She has obviously decided to leave it 6 months before repeating your HbA1C which is quite a long time unless you are already on a good track of reducing your blood glucose levels. The problem is you don't know if you are making the right dietary choices unless you also have a monitor and can check the effects of your meals and overall levels day to day.
Depending on how much you have modified your lifestyle the time it takes to bring levels down will vary from person to person and also on your starting point and what meds people are on. Bringing it down slowly is better to avoid some of the side effects some people get when dropping their levels too quickly but it is important to see them coming down.
By some quite severe carb reduction (too much too quickly really) I came down from 50mmol/mol to 42 in 3 months and to 36 in another 6 months.
As your level hadn't come down then a repeat in 3 months would perhaps be wiser.

 

[Perfect10]

When I was at the prediabetes level I was told 6 months before next blood test. I went from 44 to 39 in that period. It was frustrating not knowing in that time.

 

[Sulfate]

I'm 9st stone 3 down from 9st 10 in March and my husband keeps telling me that I don't need to lose more weight. I would think reducing my carbs I will continue to. Perfect 10 did you use a glucose monitor?

 

[Sulfate]

How do I do it in 6months??

 

[Leadinglights]

How do I do it in 6months??

You really don't have far to go to get below 42mmol/mol, so some modest reduction in the portions of any carbohydrates you are having should be all that is needed. Maybe start with a food diary and then see if there are any carbs you wouldn't really miss. You could add a bit more protein or some cheese or full fat Greek yoghurt id you don't want to lose more weight. Even just increasing exercise a bit should help make it very possible even in a couple of months.

 

[Perfect10]

I had some weight to lose and altogether have now lost over 2 stone and am now a healthy weight so going low carb for me worked well to lose the weight. The downside is eating a higher fat content has increased my cholesterol!
yes I have a glucose monitor and have found it useful just to check levels after eating new foods, you quickly learn what is ok to eat so I only find I use it now when I eat something different that I think may increase levels.
I did go as low as 50g carbs per day for a while but have increased this to about 80g to try to balance the cholesterol levels more. I’m still learning and getting it right for me. Everyone is different and what works for one will be different for others.
I think keeping a food diary initially and just seeing how many carbs you were eating and then reducing that amount gradually finding alternatives to the highest carb foods in your diet.

 

[Sulfate]

Can you recommend a blood glucose monitor as I am clueless about such things?

 

[Leadinglights]

Can you recommend a blood glucose monitor as I am clueless about such things?

A couple people find reliable and inexpensive are the GlucoNavil and Spirit TEE2 both about £15 for the initial monitor which comes with a few strips and lancets, extra strips you will need are £13 for 100 so better to order at the same time, I'm not sure about the lancets but some people do reuse them. You should not need to pay VAT if you tick the box. Amazon or directly from the company.

 

[Sulfate]

A couple people find reliable and inexpensive are the GlucoNavil and Spirit TEE2 both about £15 for the initial monitor which comes with a few strips and lancets, extra strips you will need are £13 for 100 so better to order at the same time, I'm not sure about the lancets but some people do reuse them. You should not need to pay VAT if you tick the box. Amazon or directly from the company.

Lovely thanks so much.

 

[Sulfate]

I have ordered a Gluconavil and all the stuff with it. When do I take readings before or after food?how many times a day please?

 

[Leadinglights]

I have ordered a Gluconavil and all the stuff with it. When do I take readings before or after food?how many times a day please?

Having a testing regime that will give you useful information and not over testing is the thing to do. Most people test before they eat and then 2 hours from the first bite, you hope that you will not see more than 2mmol/l increase and not more than 8mmol/l.
You could start with the meal of the day which you feel would have the highest amount of carbohydrate and see what you get, if more than suggested above then reduce your portion of the carbs for next time. You will soon build up a repertoire of meals which are 'safe' so wouldn't need to test those each time. You can then test another meal, maybe breakfast and do the same, people usually have quite a restricted number of things they would normally have for that meal so that can be maybe a good one to start with.
You are only in the lower end of prediabetic so you will probably find only small changes are needed.
The other time people test is in the morning (on waking) to give them a fasting level which you may see drop by a small amount but people do seem to vary a lot with that reading. I never see lower than 6.5mmol/l even though my HbA1C is 36mmol/mol, other people will be in the fives.
Make sure you record your reading alongside your meals and quantity of any carbs.
Make sure you wash and dry your hands before doing the finger prick.

 

[Sulfate]

Hi can I anyone tell me where I can buy low carb bread?we have an Aldi, Lidl, tesco,morrisons, waitrose. Nothing in Aldi or Sainsbury's. Waitrose out of stock!! Or alternative ideas for taking lunch for my job as a TA in a secondary school. Thanks

 

[Leadinglights]

When I was at work I used to take a tupperware (showing my age now) of mixed salad with some added seeds and maybe tuna, cheese or cooked meat. Some mayo and a couple of ryvitas or similar. Maybe a yoghurt, a few nuts or a piece of fruit.
I think you have to search quite hard for the low carb bread as they sell out quickly.

 

[Drummer]

I had a session of the diabetic prevention program and told the coach that I was very disappointed that my blood sugars had not reduced even though I have lost nearly half a stone since March. She said that I'm going the right way and I've lost weight and that it's not sensible to check blood sugar until the end of the course which will be January. I wondered if other people would agree with that. Does it take months to reduce blood sugars?

Unfortunately it isn't your weight which makes you diabetic, so you will not be working to the right script according to the nurse.
If you eat fewer carbs and reduce your blood glucose levels then your Hba1c should go down.
I'll be having a blood test tomorrow - at long last, so I hope to find that my levels have not changed as I am still eating low carb day to day, out of habit now.
I had to tighten the straps on my melodeon to stop it sliding about, as I am losing volume bit by bit, and changing shape.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Unfortunately it isn't your weight which makes you diabetic, so you will not be working to the right script according to the nurse.
If you eat fewer carbs and reduce your blood glucose levels then your Hba1c should go down.
I'll be having a blood test tomorrow - at long last, so I hope to find that my levels have not changed as I am still eating low carb day to day, out of habit now.
I had to tighten the straps on my melodeon to stop it sliding about, as I am losing volume bit by bit, and changing shape.

100 percent weight that made me diabetic.
It's easy to be thin on the outside, fat on the inside.

 

[Sulfate]

When I was at work I used to take a tupperware (showing my age now) of mixed salad with some added seeds and maybe tuna, cheese or cooked meat. Some mayo and a couple of ryvitas or similar. Maybe a yoghurt, a few nuts or a piece of fruit.
I think you have to search quite hard for the low carb bread as they sell out quickly.

Thanks that has given me some ideas for lunches.