I'm pre diabetic been told to loose weight. Help me

[Imfat]

This morning I've been told I'm pre diabetic and need to loose weight to hopefully reverse it.
The only advice this GP gave me was to cut out anything white or beige foods.
Please can someone give me your advice and experiences.
At the moment I weigh 11stone 12 pounds.
5ft 1inch. I carry most of it around my tummy and bottom.

What’s your diet like ?

Have a look at the Fast 800.

@Snorlaxo I need to increase my fruit intake and drink more water.
Zero fat yoghurt and cereal for breakfast (she said no cereal)
Usually fish for lunch and chicken dinner. (No to potatoes)
I do need to cut out snacks.
Then increase my exercise.

What do you currently eat?

Do You have any symptoms of PCOS? If so you may be insulin resistant in which case low GI/meditearanean style of eating would likely help you the most. Reduce but don’t eliminate carbs and focus on high protein, high fibre and good fats. Lots of veg, and low GI fruits.

Increase low carb veg not fruit- any veg (mostly) grown above ground.

Yep, swap white bread or pasta for wholemeal.

More protein and veg. Less carbs and sugar (highly recommend measuring or weighing portion sizes for those. Sadly a portion of chips is tiny 😆) Drink more, ideally water.

As a newly-diagnosed obese diabetic who'd never been on a diet, I started out just by entering my food and drinks calories on My Fitness Pal. That automatically led me to make changes (eg, portion sizes). I am now only half a stone overweight and my blood sugar is normal. It did take a year to lose 3.5st but the blood sugar started to drop very quickly.

Don't panic...

Essentially you need to reduce food intake. And up exercise.

Focus on protein and veg/fruit and drinking 2-3 liters of water. Reduce carbs. Cut out cakes, biscuits fizzy drinks and alcohol.

If you eat a lot of processed beige stuff you may need to make significant changes.

Good luck.

Forgot to say I'm 65 so not periods since I was 47.

There was a Jamie Oliver show on channel 4 last night that was all about healthy eating. I thought the recipes looked fairly simple and easy to do.

Fast 800, keto, New You Plan, 1:1, Lighter Life, WW, Shake that Weight think the NHS pays for these in some circumstances

I was prediabetic at a BMI of 23 and at age 48..Runs in the family. Reversed it by reducing carbs, eating more veg, eliminating sugar and walking everywhere. No UPF or fizzy drinks or alcohol except v rarely.

I am still not overweight but have to watch my diet regardless.

Have a look at the Second Nature app, which is aimed at people in just your situation.

Head over to YouTube and watch Dr Unwin speaking at the Public Health Collaboration conference. The PHS also has a website with free info on reversing diabetes, or preventing it, by switching to a simple whole food diet.

Best of luck.

https://phcuk.org/

The best thing for diabetes is up the fat and lower the sugar. So ditch the low fat yoghurt and get real Greek yoghurt.

A typical day might be (this is just what I had yesterday!)

• Greek yoghurt with almond butter and seeds, a slice of whole meal toast with avocado and egg
• Greek salad with chicken
• Chicken and prawn jambalaya with a side salad.

The rule is basically ‘never eat a naked carb’. So if you want a carb, make sure it’s ‘outweighed’ by protein and fat.

It also helps to eat the carbs last, and freezing bread makes it less likely to spike blood sugar.

Ditch all fizzy drinks / juice etc

I was slightly heavier than you and same height. Ive gone from a 14/16 to a 4/6 and kept it off for 2 years now. I think the difference between now and previous experiences was that this time I did life style changes rather than strict diets. You really need to find out what works for you.
For me I meal planned three 10 day plans and know how many calories in each meal and portion size. This meant no making separate meals for me and the rest of the family. I often add sides to teen dcs meals eg tortillas, garlic bread or pittas but will add extra salad/veg to mine if needed.
I monitor my calories over a week on mfp so I didn't give up if I had a bad day because it wasn't a bad week, just reduced my intake on other days.
I never deprived myself of anything but often naturally stopped myself having something because I know how many calories are in it and it isn’t worth it anymore.
I was really shocked how little calories I needed as a petite person.
I also did Intermittent fasting to stop myself from snacking of an evening. I started with 14 hours and then did 16-20 hours depending on how I felt. Now its more like 15-17 hours.
I still do all this with slightly more flexibility.
I implemented this over about 8 weeks and just stuck with what has worked for me and my family.

I was 12 stone and am now 10 stone 4 (still working on it) by cutting out snacks,chocolate, cake etc and most bread although I do eat it occasionally. and by not eating breakfast , not eating after about 7.30 and by moving more.
I sort of counted calories but not religiously as I sort of can gauge how many calories I'm eating. I haven't felt particularly hungry if I have I've eaten fruit. I also weigh myself every day to keep track, previously I hadn't weighed myself for years as I was scared about what I would see!
It took a while for the weight to start coming off but I am losing about a pound a week. I feel so much better now than I did so it's definitely worth it.

I recommend tracking your daily food and drink consumption eg use MyFitnessPal which is free and very simple.

Cutting out sugar will help a lot - replace with vegetables not fruit.

No alcohol and avoid fruit juices.

Set yourself a target that you won’t eat anything and will only drink water between 8.30pm and 8am next day.

After two weeks the cravings and hunger pangs will start to subside and you won’t feel inclined to raid cupboards. Get yourself an Advent Calendar and open the windows each day to help you count down - if you can keep your healthy habits for 24 days it will be a lot easier to keep going after that.

You have to treat it like a challenge - imagine your life truly depends on it. If your diet already seems healthy then look at how much processed food you are eating as often there is hidden sugar in these foods.

Look for foods that have low GI and can help you regulate your blood sugars - chia, garlic, legumes like chick peas and whole grains, boiled potatoes not mash, almonds, apples,blackberries, edamame, olives, Greek yoghurt ,air popped popcorn!

It doesn’t have to be a boring diet.

I reversed my type 2 after a month on mounjaro ( what it's intended for) loosing four stone was a bonus.

I was in your position a few years ago, BMI 32, pre-diabetic and high BP. I went low calorie (under 1000 per day - weighed and measured everything), low carb, 16/8 fasting, no UPFs. It was really about changing my relationship with food permanently. This was before WLI, so not an option for me. It took 18 months to lose 6st while working full time in a moderately active full time job. I have been stable at BMI 20 since then, and my blood sugar is within normal limits. My BP has dropped a lot, and cholesterol is now normal.

I do fingerprick tests after meals, and I know that I continue to have a bit of an issue with insulin resistance, but now I normally eat pretty low carb, so the diabetes is under control. It can be done, but it takes persistent and patience - it’s not a quick fix - and unless you change your relationship with food while you are doing it, the chances are that you’ll be back where you started quite quickly when you resume your previous eating habits. I had the incentive of fear - both Mum (T2) and ex husband (T1) were insulin dependent diabetics, and I really, really didn’t want to go that way.

I’m 4’ 11” and was the same weight as you six months ago. I second the recommendation of trying the Fast 800. I’ve lost two stone fairly easily and I’m 54.

Its not as hard as the other diets I’ve done over the years and I’m very optimistic that I can eat this way on the 5:2 long term.