Reversing pre diabetes

[Seizethedog]

I’ve had a massive wake up call. I am now in the diabetic range , high BP, high cholesterol. I am four stones overweight. I eat a very healthy diet and walk regularly but over the winter have done a lot less exercise due to awful weather. I’ve also had a horrible virus that has knocked me out for about three weeks.

I intend to up the exercise, have all but given up alcohol. I don’t eat junk at all or snack. What has worked for you if you have reversed all of these? I am in despair. The doctor tells me to fast but other advice is that this spikes blood sugar so I don’t know what to do.

I have back problems so can’t swim or go to the gym.

Portion sizes?

Do you measure out your 40g of porridge oats, for example?

Fast 800 is v good and reversed my DM's pre diabetes 4 years ago and she's stayed within normal Hba1c and blood glucose range.
She also lost nearly 2 stones and kept it off.

I sometimes think putting a photo of this is the size of my dinner would really help a lot of people understand what an ok portion size is.

Also consider an osteopath for your back, I do not rate chiropractors and they are not recognised by the NHS. I have back issues due to scoliosis of the spine. Physio and osteopaths was the way forward.

What are you drinking? If you love a glass of wine and a latte well that’s a lot more calories than you think. Also are dressings are going on those salads?Hidden calories may be doing a lot of this.

What do you call a bit of Greek yogurt? I have it every day for breakfast. Four dessert spoons heaped plus today I had six grapes in it and 4 spoons of bran flakes.

I have asked the doctor for this and he was really dismissive. It’s a last resort for me , but I think drastic action is needed. I might pay for it myself actually.

Oh yes and is the Greek yoghurt plain Fage stuff or Tesco Finest which isn't so good? I agree you might have hidden calories in your meals that aren't immediately obvious,I know I did.

The other thing you could consider - if you can afford it - is to register with the ZOE plan, and get a Continuous Glucose Monitor, which would help you to identify what triggers spikes in your blood sugar.

But you also still haven't said what it is about low carbing that you're finding difficult to embrace?

If you need more support, you could always come and join us on the Low Carb Bootcamp threads. We're coming towards the end of the latest challenge, but there are always people around to chat with/ask questions of.

Good luck with making some positive changes @Seizethedog I decided it was time to make some changes to try and reduce my chance of developing diabetes as we have a family history. I walked around the park when I could to try and get fit enough to go to aquacise. I then went to aquacise until I felt brave enough to go to a personal trainer. My focus was on building muscle to help control sugar levels. Alongside this I moved to a lower carb diet. The reading I found most useful was the diabetes code and “Life without diabetes” by Prof Roy Taylor this last one is well written for a general audience (doctor myself 😳)It details the research done using a very low calorie diet but makes the case for the need to lose around 15kg to improve insulin sensitivity. He describes it as being too heavy for your pancreas! One thing that really helped me was recording everything in Nutracheck as I was not good at estimating amounts.

I reversed my pre-diabetes diagnosis by cutting out alcohol, sugar, caffeine, and randomly tomatoes and potatoes which I realised didn’t agree with me. I don’t eat gluten anyway due to coeliac diagnosis as a kid.

I used the Candida Free cookbook which guides you through the process.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1623156556?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Best of luck to you. It’s really not easy but it’s well worth it.

My DH was the same cut out almost all carbs. Lost 4 stone and is no longer pre diabetic.

My friend reversed her diabetes by going plantbased. You may eat healthy things but if you're 4 stone over weight you're obviously overeating on calories. Cut down on portion sizes and try to cut out snacks and empty calories.

As the OP says ‘ I don’t eat junk at all or snack.’

It is Fage 5 percent mostly. Although sometimes I eat the full fat stuff, because there is contradictory evidence about low fat yoghurt which I find confusing. So I tend to eat a small amount of full fat plain greek yogurt.

I eat very little meat these days.

This is what I need to do, I know. The main struggle is with breakfast for me. I don't really like eggs much and find I really need breakfast. So I eat overnight oats or porridge, which is carbs! However oats lower cholesterol. I have tried yoghurt and fruit and I like that, but eating it every day gets quite dull. It\s just a mindset like everything else, and I need to embrace it. Unfortunately learning to make sourdough bread hasn't helped at all, so sadly will have to give that up. Strangely though I felt a lot better eating that and cutting out all shop bought bread . So it's better than the commercial stuff.

Which CGM would you recommend? The doctor said there is no evidence these are useful, but from the threads on MN I don't think he's right!

Yes I measure it out every time. I started doing this last year as I realised I was eating twice as many as I should have been!

Yes, this is it. I am maintaining, and I should be in deficit and losing. Portion sizes are my problem I think. I need to log everything too. Also though I weigh the same as a few months ago, my muscle tone is much worse due to lack of exercise.

Always homemade.

Yes, crawl would be better, but I think I need some lessons. It's the over extension of the back that causes my problems. I hate having my face in the water so I keep it out of the water and it creates strain on the back. I love swimming, so it's a pain. I need to change my technique.

If you think you are eating healthily just reduce your portion size, say 3/4 or 2/3 of what you are eating now. Less potatoes, smaller slice of cake, a bit less of everything apart from green veg probably.

Read up on ultra-processed food...you might THINK you are eating healthily. Ultra-processed people by Chris Van Tulleken is a great read. That and fasting!

I tend to eat salads when I'm out so I don't know how much oil is in them, most probably far too much. I hardly ever eat cake, but I do have puddings every few weeks if I am out. I only eat chocolate once every few months.

Some herbal supplements might have a small beneficial effect too:

Cinnamon

Fenugreek seeds

And apple cider vinegar

Read up on how best to use .

Good luck OP.

So porridge is good for you if you can handle it. I found with gestational diabetes that it sent my sugars mental despite being a slow release carb.
The zoe app etc let's you know how your body responds to different foods. I also found Greek yogurt was a no go for me no idea why.

The 800 calorie diet does have very good success at reversing pre diabetes in people but it is tough but if you view it as a medical prevention it may help.

I intermittent fast because it helps my long term condition I have less pain as a result.

Simple things are high protein but also the order you eat your food and using fats. So eating high fibre veg first followed by protein then carb on a plate shows lower sugar spike. High natural fats when having carbs also stops sugar spikes but in moderation.

Freezing carbs also reduces the sugar level and having things like pea protein pasta instead. So if having bread freeze it first same with cooked portions of pasta.

I'm sorry, but a diet that has led to you being that much overweight surely can't be a healthy one?

What a silly statement. You can eat a very healthy diet, and gain weight gradually with one extra slice of bread (gasp! a carb!; or the equivalent, for example, slightly too generous amounts of olive oil) or slightly larger portions.

The OP has also said she has been unwell and not walking as much with lousy weather.

It is quite easy to become prediabetic from weight gain alone, while eating well, and develop high blood pressure also, from weight gain alone. High cholesterol in some cases is purely genetic.

That's really helpful. How does the Zoe app work?