Yay genetics!

[Elizaeve]

Hello,
I come from a longline on diabetics and I appear to be due my ‘inheritance’ (why couldn’t they be wealthy landowners instead!?) I’m mid 30’s recently diagnosed pre diabetic, my father is now insulin dependant type 2 (diagnosed at my age) and mother is type 1 diagnosed a few years ago at 61 years old. I assume this is from dads side as his father was also type 2 but sadly treatment was limited in the 1960’s and he passed away at 45.
I have been put onto the oviva app diabetes prevention program, I don‘t feel it’s overly suitable for me as it is geared towards weight loss. I’ve already got a good grasp of a balanced diet (and implement it) GI, carb counting etc from living in a diabetic household. And a part of me feels that it’s all bit inevitable despite all previous efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Is there any info or support out there for pre diabetics that doesn’t feel hyper focused on weight loss? I’ve struggled with ED’s through my 20’s, now I’m a healthy weight I find all this is battering my mental health a bit.
Beyond all this, I’m a dog lover, artist and house plant enthusiast. Thank you for giving me space to deflate my worries.

 

[RichardsUsername]

Welcome @Elizaeve

I am also a dog lover. There's a lot of them about.

Enjoy your day.

And good luck with your diabetes and health in general.

 

[EmmaL76]

Hi there, I’m glad you are considering your history of ED as something to be wary of with any new approach to your diet. I have a similar past and being diagnosed type 2 really messed with me. I was a healthy weight until that point but proceeded to use my blood sugar meter results as punishment and dropped a lot of weight. After some testing it was discovered I was actually a LADA (slow onset type 1) this creeps up really slowly and I had many years in prediabetic numbers before being diagnosed so don’t discount this for yourself especially as you have a familiar history of both.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @Elizaeve 🙂 If the Oviva programme isn’t working for you, don’t do it. Sometimes it seems to be a one-size fits all approach. You’re quite right that most of the advice seems to be aimed at people who need to lose weight and ignores the slim Type 2s. There are a few here.

You could try an app like MyFitnessPal where you can keep your carbs moderate but make sure you’re getting enough calories. You can increase your fat and protein to do this.

 

[Catbanj]

Hi and welcome.

I use Nutracheck https://www.nutracheck.co.uk/ to check the carb content of food easily.

As Inka suggested, I'd try and moderate the carbs in your diet to about 130g a day but increase the protein and fat content to make up the calories, so you don't lose weight.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @Elizaeve and welcome to the forum.
I was a TOFI (Thin outside, fat Inside) Type 2 diabetic, now in remission (Normal HbA1C without medication).
I used a Blood Glucose meter to gauge which foods I could handle OK. Sadly most medium or high carb foods were too high for me (caused more than a 2 mmol spike from pre to 2hrs post prandial).
This meant limiting my fruit intake to mainly berries.
Initially I only tried to replace the lost calories (from cutting carbs) by one half protein and one half fat, but once in remission with my weight having dropped to what it was in my mid twenties I decided to increase the fats a bit more , so it has now stabilised and if it goes up/down by more than 2lbs I adjust the fats accordingly.