I went to my doctor for a check up and she ran some blood work.
She told me that I have PCOS which apparently might make it hard to lose weight. She also told me that although I wasn't a diabetic that I was heading in that direction.
She is giving me 3 months to lose some weight and exercise more (over the last 6 months I've quit the gym, and eaten whatever I've wanted to). After the 3 months she is putting me on some kind of diabetic medication (she said it would help my body process sugar, but I don't know the name).
ANYWAY
What should I be eating? I eat way too many sweets which I know should be cut. If I cut those will that be enough or do I need to cut things like potatoes? I've heard on this forum that they are not ideal. I don't drink soft drinks and have started to stay away from drinks with calories all together.
I'm just confused about what I can eat. I thought sweet potato was better than white potato, but it has more sugar. I don't know the science behind diabetes or anything either.
If anyone has any suggestions for me or things you wish you knew please let me know. I'm looking through the forum for things but thought I'd put it out there anyway.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,394
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Hi Emmy 1991. You are fortunate to get this news before it became full blown diabetes. I have heard that PCOS makes it harder to lose weight and in many cases leads to diabetes.
As far as your diet, I would try to eliminate sugar. I know it's hard when you're used to having it. As far as other carbs, like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, you should be able to still eat them as long as you keep your portions very small. Sweet potatoes are good because they contain fiber. Vegetables have fiber too, and fiber helps to control blood sugar. And exercise helps to lower blood sugar, so it would be good if you could go back to the gym, or maybe just do some walking.
Good luck to you!
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 10-01-2015 at 09:21 AM.
Did your doctor offer you to go see a dietician? One that works w/diabetes? That was a big help to me when I was diagnosed w/gestational diabetes. For myself it was eye opening what the serving sizes were that were appropriate for what I had to do. If it were me, I'd contact the doctor and ask to be referred to a dietician who can help me make smarter choices. What will help the dietician is if you keep a food diary for a week, logging all your food choices/sizes of servings and approximate times of day so they can help you work w/what you have been taking in. When I met with mine she offered a lot of snack ideas and protein ideas that would help throughout the day. The simple thing said to me, was you do a carb, you need to do a protein with it. My fill in proteins were almonds or a piece of string cheese in these events. She also worked w/me on what a food serving size looked like and how to plan my meals appropriately. When I began I did a lot of journaling until I had an idea of what my carb numbers were at.
Good luck in this journey. Moving the body is one of the best things to help keep those pesky numbers at bay as well. If your doctor hasn't given you an idea of how much exercise to include, also ask them this as well.
It's all going to depend on your body and how it handles certain foods. Carbs and sugars should be limited. Find out what 1 portion should be for foods. As said it is eye opening. To do it all at once is overwhelming,,,,start with cutting out your sweets and getting exercise back into your lifestyle and go from there. A nutritionist is a great idea..she can give you meal/food suggestions. There is an app called my fitness pal that has a huge food data base with carb and sugar counts included...you can track your meals, exercise, weight, carbs and sugars.
I've got PCOS as well - which led to metabolic syndrome - which led to being diagnosed two weeks ago as a type 2 diabetic. I should have expected it because of the PCOS/metabolic syndrome AND my family history that is just lousy with diabetics (both type 1 and type 2). The doctor has allowed me 6 months to attempt to bring this under control with diet and exercise before putting me on Metformin.
I understand the freak out fear factor that comes with this but you can do this. For my body what has worked best in the past is a low carb/high fat Atkins type diet so that's what I've gone back to. In the last two weeks I've lost 13 pounds and my fasting glucose has dropped from 199 (YIKES) to an average of 125 (still yikes but not nearly as bad) and I've lost 13 pounds into the bargain.
Whatever diet plan you ultimately decide to follow I would strongly recommend doing research into the science of carbohydrates and diabetes. I firmly believe that the current carb recommendations that come from even the 'experts' are way too high to be healthy for anyone who has an issue with blood sugar levels.
Hang in there! You'll be overwhelmed with info but you'll learn and soon you'll be right on track to reversing the process!
Thank you every one for the information and the support.
Wannabehealthy - Thanks so much for explaining a bit more about veggies/fibre.
Lemonthyme - Yes! I have seen the dietician, but some of the advice I received was contrary to other things I've read/been told etc. For instance the dietician encouraged eating small portions of fat free yoghurt (100grams) as a snack, i've heard from others that fat free things have MORE sugar so I kinda thought it might be better to eat full fat and low sugar? I'm not really sure, but I'm following her advice and will continue to ask questions.
p.a. - thank you! I will have to start tracking more carefully from now on.
Sunshine73 - Thanks for this. I too am concerned about the whole carbo debate! I guess this is a big learning curve as well so I just need to try to stay on top of things and keep myself informed.
Again, thank you all so much for the informations and sharing your ideas.
I have a suggestion for you. Try doing the Whole30. It isn't a diet although people do lose weight. It's an elimination diet to see how your body reacts to different foods. At the end of 30 days you begin adding back foods and then you can figure out what foods bother you. The website is www.Whole30.com. A lot of people have gotten off diabetic meds in the 30 days. Just go take a look at it. It helped me a lot. I now have no cravings whatsoever and no desire for sweets and other chemical laden foods.
Emmy: I hear you on the yogurt. I can't stand fat free or those w/sugar substitute (they all give me horrible headaches). I would have for my morning snack Greek Gods plain yogurt 1/2 serving size and cut in 8 grapes to it. It's an acquired taste, but easier for me to do. The reason she is saying fat free if I recall is that the fat is not a great thing for the blood sugars to be reacting with. But when I brought in the nutrition label the dietician looked at the other things and deemed it ok for my intake as the other numbers weren't crazy.
It can be a hard time starting a diet like this. That's why I recommend the food journal, even if for yourself until you are comfortable w/what you are doing. The one great thing I found w/the diet I was placed on - I wasn't usually hungry and in fact some days felt I couldn't hit my carb number.
Good luck to you! You can do this with time and perseverance.
I have PCOS, have been insulin resistant for years, and am pre-diabetic. When I was first dx with pre-D, I got online and did a LOT of research. I highly suggest you look at the Bloodsugar 101 web site. She lays out a lot about food, meds, research, etc.
The takeaway for me from her, which has been echoed again and again by the diabetes boards I read/post on, is the "eat to your meter." Even as "just" a pre-Diabetic, what I eat influences my blood glucose.
So with an inexpensive meter, I tested after breakfast for a while, to see what was truly healthy for my blood sugar. Out went the oatmeal and fruit, and in came the yogurt and eggs... or even now, fasting for breakfast. Once I had a safe repertoire of breakfasts, I started doing the same with lunches. Out went the sub sandwiches with chips and in came the bunless burgers, salads with chicken or tuna, and pureed veg soups with bone broth. Now I have 6-10 lunch options (including fast food, which I eat with my family all-too-frequently) that I know won't raise my blood sugar too high. Then I did the same with dinners, though that continues even years into it because we're always trying new foods.
A dietician can give you overall recommendations, but nothing can beat keeping your blood glucose under 140 by choosing foods that don't spike it. It's immediate feedback.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,394
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
As far as the sugar is concerned, one time when I was in the hospital, they were giving me things like pudding that I could tell was regular pudding with sugar. I mentioned it to the doctor who complained to the dietitian. She came up and talked to me and said that if it contains 15 gm of carb or less it can have sugar in it for a diabetic. I followed their recommendations of 45gm of carb at each meal and 15 gm of carb at each snack, and I did well controlling my BS for several months. But as time went on, my portions became larger and the control was gone. I have found that I am better off if I eliminate things altogether rather than try to stick to a very small portion.
As far as the sugar is concerned, one time when I was in the hospital, they were giving me things like pudding that I could tell was regular pudding with sugar. I mentioned it to the doctor who complained to the dietitian. She came up and talked to me and said that if it contains 15 gm of carb or less it can have sugar in it for a diabetic. I followed their recommendations of 45gm of carb at each meal and 15 gm of carb at each snack, and I did well controlling my BS for several months. But as time went on, my portions became larger and the control was gone. I have found that I am better off if I eliminate things altogether rather than try to stick to a very small portion.
Yes, the 45 gram/meal, 15 gram/snack guideline for diabetics is often what you hear from dietitians. Many pre-D folks can get away with that much carb without their blood glucose rising too much. But I've known a LOT of diabetics who just can't eat that much carb (from sugar or starch) without seeing quite a rise in their BG.
The Insulin Resistant Diet framework that I use when I do eat carbs is two servings (30 grams of carb) always paired with at LEAST two servings (18 grams) of protein. I find that the lower level of carbs allows me flexibility in my food choices (especially when eating out) and yet doesn't give me higher blood glucose numbers that I might get with 45 grams.
This is especially true if you are not taking any medication. When you take insulin and other blood glucose lowering meds, you NEED to have a certain amount of carb. THat's why I don't nag my friend or my father-in-law when they eat fries and pies with their meals... they are on specific meds and they know their carb tolerances and needs.
But when you're not taking blood glucose-lowering meds, then limiting carbs is one of the only sure ways to limit blood glucose spikes after meals.
Definitely look at the Blood Sugar 101 site. She has great info on how to determine how much carb you, specifically, can tolerate.
I've read through this info and I think I need to do a bit more research on getting a blood sugar reader.
And also I'm having a look at the whole 30 program.
I know that this is probably a common problem but I seem to have heaps of motivation after reading other people's stories about when they reach goal, or seeing a beautiful dress that'd I'd love to wear etc but then my motivation just drops off really quickly - the healthy eating gets worse and then I find myself having to "start again". The cycle is exhausting and I'm always left with less resistance rather than more.
Synger - I like what you're saying about gradually changing things as that might be easier then changing all 3 meals at once. This might help a bit to combat the "stop-start dieting" mentality.
Thanks again for all the support everyone. I've got a lot to learn, including re-learning everything I thought I knew about food and exercise but I'm hoping to make a change and stick to it!
I just found out I'm pre diabetes and I'm SCARED
I should have expected it because of the PCOS/metabolic syndrome AND my family history that is just lousy with diabetics (both type 1 and type 2). The doctor has allowed me 6 months to attempt to bring this under control with diet and exercise before putting me on Metformin.
