Eating Healthy at Diagnosis

Was anyone eating a “diabetic-like diet” before they were diagnosed?



I switched from potatoes to veggies and white to whole wheat and lost
the tv dinners and pizza pops a year or two before my diagnosis.
I was never a pop drinker to begin with, so I didn’t have to quit that.
And I stopped/slowed the constant weight gain.



When I was diagnosed with insulin resistance - it was a kick in the
pants. I felt like all my efforts to improve how I was eating
were useless, because here I was with this disease!



Now my challenge is really figuring out how to modify my diet any more
than I already had. I eat more regularly, I have oatmeal for breakfast,
I’ve cut out juice and I reduce the amount of starchy foods I eat ( no
more than 1/4 cup at a time), I eat more veggies and fruits (carefully
with the fruits).



But I’m stuck on… what more can I do with my diet? Not a lot unless I
cut carb heavy foods (potatoes,bread,rice) entirely instead of having
small portions.



I’m working on adding regular excerise (low impact, as that;s all my
knees allow) and hopefully that’ll let me keep off insulin or other
meds a bit longer - I’m already at the max dosage of metformin. I’ve lost 30 pounds - and now the weight loss has stopped.



If this is “pre-diabetes”, a less severe amount of insulin resistance,
what will I be dealing with when I hit official “T2” status?

It sounds like you are doing everything right so far. I know that exercise can go a long way to improving insulin sensitivity, but if your still having high numbers then medication of some type would probably become necessary. I’m certainly no expert in Type 2 or even Type 1. Sounds like you have the motivation and a good plan in motion. I would just keep it up.

Not me. I was really overweight and eating anything that crossed before me. :frowning:

If you’ve shed 30 pounds, that will help you in the long run (being a T2 or not). Depending on the level of insulin resistance you may have, more exercise could help you not depend on as much medication.

The way I exercise at home is with a Gazelle like this one:

which puts relatively little strain on your knees.

Last, I recommend you check out this discussion:
http://tudiabetes.com/forum/topic/show?id=583967%3ATopic%3A2801
and get in touch with Andy Bell:
http://tudiabetes.com/profile/roscobell

Hope all of this helps!

I have low numbers like you, but am a very early Type 1 so don’t have insulin resistance. Like you, I ate a very healthy, low glycemic index diet and was astounded when I found that whole grains and yes, oatmeal, hit my system like a ton of bricks. I make my own “muesli” style cereal and cannot eat it any more. It’s the carbs for me, regardless of whether they are whole grain and complex or not. Oatmeal is very high in carbs and I have reluctantly had to let it go. Ditto with the whole wheat bread, brown rice and beans that made up the bulk of my diet. Exercise helps a little bit, but any food high in carbs, regardless of the type, affects my blood sugar. It’s not just a matter of avoiding bread, pasta and rice. Almost everything I used to eat has too many carbs so I am currently experimenting with insulin to see if I can get some more variety into my diet. I really miss fruit and whole grains and especially oatmeal!