I should probably give a brief rundown of what's been going on with me before I ask my question. In February, I had surgery to remove one ovary, fallopian tube and my appendix. My left ovary had a cyst on it bigger than a football (yes, I'm rather notorious to the doctors over there now). At the 6 week mark, my doctor ran a bunch of tests on me. Yesterday, I found out I have "prediabetes" they did an H1C test on me which came out at a 6.0" and it shouldn't be higher than 5.7. I have an appointment with a dietician on the 5th of April which I am entirely dreading. I feel like everything's just falling apart. It's been issue after issue with me lately and I'm not sure I can do this.
I looked on the ADA website, which personally, didn't help me one bit. There weren't many hard and fast guidelines, just recipes that had a bunch of ingredients that I don't like. I don't like most veggies, so this is going to be impossible. It looks like they're going to put me on a 2000 calorie ADA diet. Googled it didn't find much good info. Part of me wants to say to heck with it and just go on about my business because by the way this sounds, I won't be eating anything. I'm overweight, and now I feel like people are going to look at me and go "oh, of course she has prediabetes, she's FAT". I was pretty much inconsolable over this yesterday. I'm overwhelmed and not sure what to think/do. Most of the stuff I saw listed on the ada website is stuff I already do and apparently that didn't work well.
Sorry if I'm ranting, I just don't know what to think or do at the moment.
Glycemic index confuses me. I see the dietician on the 5th of April. I'm just not sure what to expect? Are they going to make me check my blood sugar? Is she going to berate me for my weight, etc etc?
There is a lot of great information online about the glycemic index. It is pretty much eat foods that have a low GI index. Lots of sugar and processed carbs = high GI. I highly recommend the GI Diet Express. I had the idea behind eating low GI in less then 20 minutes.
You will get a lot more and better information from other people here. I am just going by what worked for us. Changing to the low GI lifestyle was easy for us. We don't always stick to it - but we have made lots of permeant changes.
I'm getting so aggravated about this already because some people say count carbs, some say sugar. If so, I just want someone to tell me how much sugar or how many carbs I'm allowed to have, but there is nothing on the ADA website like that. I haven't a clue how I'm supposed to follow a 2000 calorie ADA diet when there are no guidelines for such a diet. I'm really close to just throwing my hands up and saying to heck with it. I haven't the foggiest what I'm looking for.
It also doesn't appear that there are certain foods to avoid, so I have no idea what I'm not supposed to have. I go grocery shopping Thursday and I still haven't a clue what I should buy or not buy. I've been considering canceling the dietician appointment altogether.
Last edited by heather_dw; 03-31-2010 at 04:42 PM.
I know it can be extremely confusing and frustrating. I've been doing so much right with my diet and exercise, yet I find out recently yet something else is seriously wrong with me. It gets hard, but I keep plowing away at it, doing what I can to help myself.
Anyway, hopefully your appointment with the dietician goes well. Please come back and let us know how it went. Most are wonderful, some aren't. Hopefully yours falls in the wonderful category.
As for what to get at the grocery store, here's what I did. Read labels. That's where you find out what you need to know. Look at ingredients and the nutrition info. Compare packages. I look at carbohydrates and calories. I just tried to keep them low.
I'm sure you know that if you're eating cookies, even though you may buy the box that has the lowest carbs and calories it's still likely not that good for you.
I limited my snacks to 15 carbs if it included a cookie, bread or cracker of some sort. That was a simple way for me to start. It often meant 3 cookies for some reason.
When you eat your dinner, eat 1/2 plate of veggies (there's got to be some you like, or some way of cooking them that you may find you in fact like them, experiment). 1/4 plate of meat or your protein source (fish, beans etc) and 1/4 plate of your carb (bread, potato, rice, noodles). That generally kept me in the guidelines for my carbs.
Eat whole grain things when you do eat grains. Labels will let you know what's whole grain - brown bread, whole wheat pasta etc. You've probably heard this - avoid white things.
That is an incredibly simplified way of describing how I started, but I hope it's enough to at least get you through your shopping trip. I think one of the most important things you can do is just take it slow and don't throw your hands up in despair and just give up. If your finding it too difficult, ask for more help or take a step back and do the things that are easier.
The advice you have been given here is very good; all the nutrition labels on foods in the store are based on a 2000 calorie a day plan. Also, that is what your appointment with the dietician is for -- that's her job ... to give you that 2000 calorie diet plan that you can follow for the rest of your life if you want to. 2000 calories allows you quite a bit of food really, esp if you choose wisely ...
Your blood sugar levels are in the pre-diabetes level and that is a good thing; you are not in the diabetic level yet. This gives you the chance to learn to eat well so that you DON'T GET DIABETES in the future. You really don't have anything to worry about; your dietician will work with you about the foods you like and dislikes; again, that her job. You can do this ...
Just remember that it is pre-diabetes, and not full onset diabetes, AND, that you can reverse diabetes by diet and lifestyle.
the easiest way to do this, imo, having known and helped many who have this issue, is to significantly watch the carbs. Yes, whole grains are better than refined grains, but too much of them can still affect your blood sugar. Cut out as much sugar as possible---eat sugar only in the forms of lactose (in milk) or fructose (in fruit). Avoid high sugar fruit like grapes and bananas and dried fruit. Eat tons more fibrous veggies and good quality protein.
You CAN beat this, and you don't have to SETTLE for having this medical issue. You can overcome this and manage it and have a healthy and productive life, as long as you feel in your heart that you can.
I too am pre-diabetic. I have come a long way since early december when I was tested and was symptomatic. (excessive thirst and peeing etc)
You should be starting to test your sugars, so that you can see what makes your sugars spike and what you can tolerate.
Just like any kind of diet, some people do better on some diets than others.
I found atkins ongoing weight loss keeps my sugars in good control. I can lower my carbs further to get the weight loss revved up. the so called diabetic diet is still way to high in carbs for me, no matter what I did to make sure I had whole grains and low glycemic carbs, but other people do very well that way. If you don't eat veggies, you should be getting whole grains and maybe some other sources for your carbs, like soy. I use unsweetened soy milk for calcium and good carbs for instance.
DOn't be scared by this label, but treat it as a wake up call. Actually having diabetes and the repercussions that come with it is far worse, and you can often get it under control.
THe ovarian cyst may have been a symptom of PCOS for instance, and you may need to get that under control too.
If your dietitian isn't helpful, seek help elsewhere. Most places and plans also have diabetes educators to help you out. BUt like any health professional, you have to have respect and a good working relationship for it to help. Keep seeking it! YOu have the right to good information and help. Regular gentle exercise helps a lot to keep the sugars even. I have a dog and just walking her helps a lot. I am in much better shape now than I was 4 months ago. ANd no, I don't spend hours at the gym. I do stuff I enjoy, like cross country skiing and hot yoga and walking.
Diabetes 101 is a very helpful site too.
My a1c has improved and I can keep my sugars on an even keel now. Learn Learn learn and you can control this. It feels crummy when you feel your body is betraying you. I hope you can get your health back. I bet you feel a lot better without that ovarian cyst now. As you get on track you will feel better, but if not, keep seeing your doctor, sometimes other things come up that are connected and they need to get to the bottom of the mystery to help you get well.
I hope you find this group helpful, I think the 3Fc people here are wonderful and supportive, and help me reframe things positively, even when I feel crummy.
best wishes to you.
Coincidentally, I had a complete physical last Tuesday, 3/30/10, and my doctor scared me to death. Apparently being on Weight Watchers and exercising regularly hasn't done the trick for me. I'm now on blood pressure medication, and he gave me a list of foods to avoid because I'm also in your shoes. I was in a fog when I left his office, and I sat in my car and cried. I didn't want to arrive home upset, so I walked around Target for some "retail therapy." I handled explaining everything to my DH and DD okay, but the next morning, my colleague came in to speak with me, and I burst into tears. I cried twice more over the course of the day. I began his "diet" on Wednesday and have followed it to the letter except for a small lapse on Easter Sunday. I didn't have any candy, just dessert. Anyway, he told me that these foods no longer exist for me: potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, baked beans, corn, muffins, cakes, cookies, & beets. It has been a challenge, but I've been losing 1 pound a day! So, I can't really argue with that, can I? Best of luck with your dietician. He/She will design the perfect diet for you.
I think this website, Diabetes 101, is very good and easy to understand.
I second this website. I've learned SO much from it since being dx as pre-diabetic (a1c 6.7). I also find that I've learned a lot from reading the Diabetes Daily site and forum, http://www.diabetesdaily.com/forum/.
Unfortunately, what I've found is that every body reacts differently to different foods when it comes to blood glucose (bg). What's been eye-opening to me has been to get an inexpensive blood monitor from Walmart (the ReliOn brand, which has inexpensive testing strips, too), and testing my blood after various meals.
I've found that oatmeal spikes my bg much more than double fiber bread (even though oatmeal has a lower GI!). And that I can tolerate about 15 grams of carbs with each meal/snack without getting my sugars too high. Each person will need to figure out how their body reacts to the things they eat.
Fortunately, you are early in the process... and there's a LOT of information out there on D and pre-D. The bad part is that there's A LOT of information out there... and some of it is contradictory!
But by participating in this forum and others, and talking with your endocrinologist and doctor and nutritionist, and by taking charge of finding out how your body reacts to various foods, you'll be able to tailor your lifestyle to your disease.
(and there are LOTS of tasty recipes out there for veggie-haters who are trying to learn how to like veggies. We can help!)
Prediabetes? AGH
The advice you have been given here is very good; all the nutrition labels on foods in the store are based on a 2000 calorie a day plan. Also, that is what your appointment with the dietician is for -- that's her job ... to give you that 2000 calorie diet plan that you can follow for the rest of your life if you want to. 2000 calories allows you quite a bit of food really, esp if you choose wisely ...
