[Floridagirl]

Last year, I was diagnosed as prediabetic and placed on Metformin. I was at 180 pounds which is a heavy weight for me.

I am a female, 5'5", slightly over 50, active but could be more active, a workaholic because I have to be (I do move around a lot).

Since October 2010, I have only lost 10 pounds and need to get an additional 25 off fairly quickly as I have 2 events later this year where I need to look better. I also do not look my age and I need to continue working and actually want to. I'm self employed so there are a lot of stress factors.

Food is a big problem for me because I love all the bad stuff. Out of the 10 items that a diabetics forum called the SuperFoods, I only like maybe 1 or 2. (salmon and oatmeal).

I do want to be healthy and so I'm looking for education, help, encouragement and all that. Thanks!

 

[Patdart]

I don't know if I can help, but we seem similar. I asked for an A1C test at the end of June last year. I'd never had one and that struck me as strange. The result was a 6.9. At the time I weighed 183, more than I'd ever experienced. On July 1 I had read Dr. Bernstein's book and also Atkins and immediately went on a sorta combo diet. I ate less than 20 carbs per day until I had lost 50 lbs. this June. Now, I'm slowly adding them in @ 5 per week or so.

My A1C went from 6.9 to 5.2 and I'm a new gal. My doctor and I agree I need no medicines as long as this works for me.

I'm older (71) and have problems working out, but I am 5'5" and currently weigh 138 or so. So, it will go faster for you with your ability to exercise.

Feel free to ask any questions you want. The only dumb question is the one unasked.

Good luck and glad to meet you!

 

[Floridagirl]

More info on me that I just found...

I don't know if I can help, but we seem similar. I asked for an A1C test at the end of June last year. I'd never had one and that struck me as strange. The result was a 6.9. At the time I weighed 183, more than I'd ever experienced. On July 1 I had read Dr. Bernstein's book and also Atkins and immediately went on a sorta combo diet. I ate less than 20 carbs per day until I had lost 50 lbs. this June. Now, I'm slowly adding them in @ 5 per week or so.

My A1C went from 6.9 to 5.2 and I'm a new gal. My doctor and I agree I need no medicines as long as this works for me.

I'm older (71) and have problems working out, but I am 5'5" and currently weigh 138 or so. So, it will go faster for you with your ability to exercise.

Feel free to ask any questions you want. The only dumb question is the one unasked.

Good luck and glad to meet you!

I just found out I was tested in October 2009 and then September 2010. My A1C (have no clue what it means) was 6.1% both times.
In 10/09, the glucose test was 106, in 09/10, it was 102.

My worst thing is with the food. I was thin as a child and my parents, wonderful as they were, forced me to eat certain foods. I can't even be around those foods without gagging and those foods are on the "good" list!!

 

[Shanny]

Y'know, those "super foods" are straight outta the ADA, and many of us have discovered they aren't so "super". Many, if not most of them, spike our blood sugar. Most of us don't fall for the blather that comes from the ADA - they're bought & paid for by the grain growers' lobby, and other politicians with agendas of their own. Why else would the food plate/pyramid rules fall under the auspices of the USDA? Agriculture!

Here's a rundown of how the superfoods affect me - only half of them make the cut:
Beans: only in very small portions
Greens: free food - both cooked & raw
Citrus fruit This is so bad for us that orange juice is recommended in treating hypos!
Sweet potato: A rare treat for me, if they're slathered with enough real dairy butter
Berries: Okay for me in very small portions, drowning in sweetened heavy cream
Tomato: Not too bad, if I don't go hogwild
Oily fish: Great! Salmon & tuna are almost free foods at my house.
Cereal grains - even whole grains (wheat, corn, oats, rice) & anything made with them, will shoot my blood sugar over the moon, and that includes oatmeal. Most diabetics can't eat grain products without meds or insulin to cover it
Nuts & nut butters are lifesavers for me - I eat them almost without limit
Milk is a villain too - I never use it, and any low-fat or fat-free products are absolutely verboten

Take Pat's advice & read Dr Bernstein's book - have a look at Atkins, South Beach or other low-carb programs & build your own food plan from things you do like. Naturally there are things we have to avoid, but there are so many things we've been taught are bad which AREN'T bad and never were!

Get a meter & start testing - right after wakening in the morning, and after meals. If any foods boost your blood sugar over 130 or 140, stop eating those foods. You'll no doubt find yourself restricting bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc., but here's the clincher: You can enjoy bacon, butter, sour cream, mayonnaise, heavy cream . . . and LOSE WEIGHT! The fats & proteins are not what puts weight on us - it's the carbohydrates. So instead of slathering real dairy butter on a biscuit, make it into hollandaise sauce & pour it over a one-egg cheese omelet. Honest! It's the biscuit/bread/muffins that wreck us.

Welcome to DF, Floridagirl . . . I expect you'll hear this story over & over, but that's because it's true & it works. Take care & visit us often!

 

[ColaJim]

Unfortunately when one becomes diabetic, one must decide between "living to eat (food gratification)" and "eating to live (restricting foods and amounts to reduce diabetic complications)".

ColaJim

 

[rmarty2]

Introduction

Hi:

I have been a type 2 diabetic since 1989, and now have my GS under control.

Took a diabetic foods class at Kaiser. and learned that a woman is allowed 45 carbs, and a man 60 carbs per meal. What works for me is a light breakfast (Bowl of cereal), main meal in the middle of the day, and a light snack of almonds in the evening. At 69, I don't need a lot to sustain my weight (160 lbs.). I occasionally have icecream (small portion) so I don't binge. Similar approach with other cravings. This happens about once a month.

I take:
Glyburide10 mg and
Metforrmin 1,000 mg
twice a day, and

Simvastatin 20 mg
Pioglitazone 30 mg
Asprin 81 mg
once a day
also take Lantus Insulin15U at bed time.

My blood sugars run between 100-120
Dr. says that I shouldn't let it drop below 115

I continue to do odd jobs around the house and garden, and keep myself active with church activities and woodworking.

Been married for 48 years, have 2 adult children, 2 grand-daughters, and one great-grand-daughter.

Life is great, and I am much better than I deserve.

 

[jwags]

First welcome to the forum. Be careful of ADA lists of diabetic super foods. The only way you know if a super food works for is to test 2 hours after you eat the food. I try to keep my bgs as close to normal as possible which means for me my bgs after meals should be no higher than 120, hopefully lower. I can't handle oatmeal, fruit or most yogurts. I mainly eat proteins like meat, cheese, eggs. I eat lots of veggies and make all my own baked goods with almond flour, flaxseed meal, coconut flour and alernative sweetners. At my heaviest, around the age of 50 I was close to 200 pounds which I hated. I worked at it with diet, exercise and metformin. I am now 118-120 at the age of 61. It came off farily slowly and I had lots of plateaus for as much as 6 months to a year, so be patient. Stick to a low carb diet, take any meds needed and get out and exercise every day, no matter the weather.

 

[Jen]

Here are my diabetic super foods: Meats, cheeses, loads of veggies excluding spuds, cauliflower in place of rice or potatoes, spaghetti squash in place of pasta, and zillions of recipes found here and in low carb cookbooks like Dana Carpender's great compiliations. I use berries and cream for desserts, eat a bit of chocolate now and then, and enjoy cooking and entertaining just as much as I did before my T1 diagnosis. My meter's one of my best friends and my Salter nutritional scale is one of the best tools in the kitchen!

Jen

 

[Jen]

Hi:

My blood sugars run between 100-120
Dr. says that I shouldn't let it drop below 115

I know this is off topic, but why doesn't your doctor want your blood sugar under 115? Isn't it interesting how different all our target ranges are? My fasting target is between 70 and 90 and it hasn't resulted in any serious hypos. Vive la difference!

Jen

 

[Chesney]

I know this is off topic, but why doesn't your doctor want your blood sugar under 115? Isn't it interesting how different all our target ranges are? My fasting target is between 70 and 90 and it hasn't resulted in any serious hypos. Vive la difference!

Jen

I was wondering that too

 

[Gene]

The Bad Foods

Last year, I was diagnosed as prediabetic and placed on Metformin. I was at 180 pounds which is a heavy weight for me.

I am a female, 5'5", slightly over 50, active but could be more active, a workaholic because I have to be (I do move around a lot).

Since October 2010, I have only lost 10 pounds and need to get an additional 25 off fairly quickly as I have 2 events later this year where I need to look better. I also do not look my age and I need to continue working and actually want to. I'm self employed so there are a lot of stress factors.

Food is a big problem for me because I love all the bad stuff. Out of the 10 items that a diabetics forum called the SuperFoods, I only like maybe 1 or 2. (salmon and oatmeal).

I do want to be healthy and so I'm looking for education, help, encouragement and all that. Thanks!

Hi Florida Girl,

Welcome to the site. Hmmm I think most of us are attracted to the foods that we shouldn't have--me included.
Glad you found us and hope you get the information you need and make some friends here as well.

Gene

 

[Floridagirl]

Thanks for your kind words!

Already, I have learned quite a bit reading this forum. Sometimes, it's better to get online and talk about these things.

No one likes a person constantly talking about their health!!

Thanks for the tips on the Super Foods which may or may not be.
I did check my BGS - it was 106 in 10/09 and 102 in 09/10.

I need to just take it day by day - dumb question, if you go to a yogurt shop/ice cream place (not a chain) and you order non fat vanilla yogurt, how do you know how many carbs? (They say they don't know). Is that a really bad thing to have - twice a week?

 

[HardBackStrider]

Florida girl. I have yogurt everyday for breakfast but it has very little sugar and low carb. A lot of yogurt tends to be fairly high in sugar. My morning meal consists of about 250 to 300 grams of yogurt plus 2 table spoons of flax meal and a scoop of iso whey protein and berries. Sometimes some almonds.

 

[Shanny]

I guess you might be talking about frozen yogurt, eh, Floridagirl? I don't recommend eating ANY non-fat products, because when the fats are removed, they're replaced with carbs. The fewer processed foods we eat, the better off we are, and low-fat or fat-free foods are REALLY not good for diabetics, regardless of what the pseudo-experts (ADA included) preach.

Most of us get a lot of mileage out of real full-fat live-culture yogurt.

 

[ColaJim]

Jen

Jen:

I read somewhere that doctors use to want to keep a diabetic's blood sugar around 250 mg/dl because if a diabetic died of complications it was considered normal, but if a diabetic died of a hypo they could get sued for malpractice. It's a strange world but a doctor has to protect his butt from several patients.

ColaJim

I know this is off topic, but why doesn't your doctor want your blood sugar under 115? Isn't it interesting how different all our target ranges are? My fasting target is between 70 and 90 and it hasn't resulted in any serious hypos. Vive la difference!

Jen