eating properly with prediabetes

well about a month ago now i was diagnosed as prediabetes.

all mylife i was taught to eat this way....whole grains, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, a little meat and practically no fat.

so now in the past few weeks i'm having to retrain my entire way of thinking..after baking homemade whole grain breads and loving them, making whole grain pizzas and pies and crackers and ..well you get the picture.

now i really can't even put any grains or fruit in my mouth as my blood sugar spikes really high..my entire property is now planted with fruits and vegetables and berries..and the like, my garden stuffed with potatoes and corn and beets and carrots and well you get the picture.

ok so now i'm learning all over..i have to test my blood sugar 3 to 4 times a day to see how i'm doing..i'm best now if i eat nuts, meats, cheese, and non starchy  non sugary vegetables.

my brain is doing flip flops..after nearly 59 years of being taught ..whole grains..fruits..veetables..now i'm forcing myself to eat meat, fat and just a few vegetables..and it is totally freaking with my head.

my numbers are better when i have NO carbs, or very few..so i'm being very very thankful that this spring i have some things cocming up in my garden now that i can eat..and believe it or not, my lifesaver right now is lambsquarters.

i have some swiss chard and a little spinach growing, and some onions..but basically they aren't enough to feed me, but my garden is blessing me with lambsuarters by the gobs..i picked my first batch of full grown ones yesterady and it was so wonderful to have a nice butter wilted dish of lambquarters on the table..oh i've also been eating asparagus every day from my newly redug asparagus bed but that won't last for long..and thank God my other plants are now coing on (Michigan here) ..but god love lambsquarters !!

I have completely whacky blood sugars too.  I have extreme insulin resistance, and a pancreas that just won't give up and when it finally decides to make insulin, it makes it big time, sending me into a hypo, which makes my adrenaline levels go crazy as I have manic adrenal gland too.  I live like a kind of yo-yo unless I keep my carbs down to about 20 grams a day and my stress levels down, which is tricky as I'm doing 24 hour nursing at the moment.  In my experience, I need to eat sufficiently little carbohydrate to keep me *just* in ketosis else my blood sugars and adrenaline levels yo-yo to the point that my mood swings and brain fog are intolerable. 

It's not actually compulsory to eat meat - fish is good.  And eggs.  And home made coleslaw made with grated cabbage and zuccini is a good 'filler'.  I also have to totally ban bread and biscuits from the house else I end up pigging out on them - if you've ever had a hypo, you'll know how impossible it is to resist!  But one thing I've found is that if I'm in good ketosis and have been stable all week, I get away with one day a week on a 'fruit fast' and can stuff myself with whatever fruit I like so long as I only do it for one day and eat nothing but fruit for that day.  Your milage might vary on that though. 

When I first figured out what was wrong with me I had a terrific battle with pretty well everyone as not even the doctors believed it was my blood sugars and in any case they didn't approve of low carb diets at the time, so I was left figuring it all out by myelf.  Go for lots of salads.  Have cheese or cream with any berries you eat.  Keep your stress levels down - adrenaline causes a release of blood sugar and sets the whole thing yo-yo-ing.  I've found that the longer I stay low carb, the more I can get away with - the insulin resistance seems to diminish over time if you give it a chance. 

thanks Burra, good information. I got a call from a member and a personal message from another that have given me some good information.

I just went and checked out the food lists over at the Atkins site yesteday and typed them off..the phase 1 (first 2 weeks 20 grams or less carbs) phase 2 (after first two weeks 25 grams or less adding in a few berries, etc.) and the phase 3 (when you are 10 pounds from any weightloss goal adding in another 10 grams of carbs including a little oat, wheat or rice).

I'm going to try to stick with this plan although i also have been doing some reading on Lyle McDonald's site and trying to learn from that too. a movie "Fathead" was suggested for me to watch so i'll call the library when they open tomorrow and see if it is available through them.

even with only 8 grams of carbs yeterday my numbers were still yo yo ing..but they still haven't gone above 170 or below 110..the 110 was the lowest and that was yesterday afternon, the 170 was last week sometime.

in 10 days i'm scheduled to see the nutritionist (i guess that is what she is??) and i'm going to be very skeptical of the advice that she gives me, making sure it lines up with all the reading and advice ive been getting from people i trust.

the advice i have gotten have been so varied as to suggesting 40 grams of carbs per meal to less than 20 per day..so hey, therre is a lot of varied advice out there.

right now i have been just keeping a good check on my numbers and using  www.fitday.com  to record every thing i eat and all my exercises..so i know what makes my numbers high and low etc.

thanks for your advice..brenda

ok for those that know..tell me what should I do..

I'm thinking of cancelling my dr appt.

I went on a few online sites that said that the morning fasting blood sugar should be between 90 and 130 ...best around 110, and that non fasting 2 hours after a meal, should be no higher than 180...but better around 130 or less.

OK...

well my numbers have never been above those..except for an occasional morning BS that was in the 140's..but generally the numbers for the entire day are in the 115 to 135 area.

it seems to me that those numbers aren't worth seeing the dr/nutritionish or whatever she is..for.

i'm thinking that my numbers ARE IN the normal range aren't they??? I think the dr that told me i had a diabetic problem with a non fasting blood sugar range of 166 was wrong.

i have had one day that my blood sugar went to 170..but generally it is below 135...and this morning my wake up nunbers were 120 and then my 2 hour after eating numbers were around 114..etc.

have even had them as low as 102 2 hours after a meal.

so aren't these nunbers OK???

I have also lost 17 pounds in the past month as well..i'm keeing my carbs somewhere between 10 and 30, but net carbs have only gone over 20 once in the past week..so i'm keeping them pretty low.

I'm planning on staying on the low carb diet, at least until I get most of the excess weight off..etc..

my dr appt is June 10, and i'm thinking of cancelling it..i don't have insurance..and i can't really afford to pay for it.

I don't know if I would be considered prediabetes since I haven't bothered talking to a doctor about it - just doing my own research. And my wife used to edit books on health, so I have more info than I need.

Yes, grain can really cause problems - so can potatoes. Surprising enough, sweet potatoes are better than a regular potato. It isn't so much about how much carbs, though that is important, but how fast your body can absorb them. Beer is REALLY out.

One thing that often is not stressed enough is vigorous exercise will do a wonderful job of getting you blood sugar back in line.  Since I still like to have a treat now and then, I make sure to ride my bike to go get it - and that the round trip will be at least 45 minutes. Works like a charm.

One thing to realize is your body can easily handle 500 calories of carbs - but no more. Insulin will cause it to be pushed to fat. Try smaller meals.

Yes, a lot to unlearn. 

The numbers mean nothing to me I'm afraid - we use different units in Europe, but if they seem to be in the normal range I don't think I'd bother going to the doctor and risk being given unnecessary meds.  The things that helped me most were...

Keeping my carbs down to around 25 grams per day.  I had extreme insulin resistance, so the amount was critical for me, not just how fast it hit. 

Staying permanently in ketosis - to lose weight I needed to get the little strips turning to the 'second level' of pink, but once I'd lost it all I could keep my blood sugars stable so long as just the merest hint of pink was visible.

Minimum 45 mins sustained exercise per day, not necessarily intense but sustained.  In fact, intense proved to be counterproductive for me.  If I got out of breath I seemed to be unable to supply enough 'fast' energy using fats alone and would throw a mega hypo as my body attemptied to burn up any available carbs in my system and couldn't get enough ketones to my brain as my muscles had used them all.  But it seemed to be the 'out of breath' factor rather than the effort I was putting in.  Walking so fast I could only just keep it up was worse than lifting weights, which *never* triggered a hypo for me.   I learned to monitor my breathing and make sure I never got too close to my danger level, then over about 8 months I went from barely able to walk out the door to running 5k, albeit amazingly slowly.  I did invest in a heart rate monitor, but the heart rate turned out to be so closely related to the breathing rate that I found it easier and less stressful just monitoring my breathing. 

Taking a broad spectrum mineral/vitamin supplement just in case I was deficient in anything - it turned out that I needed to include chromium in my diet and for about a year I would tend to throw hypos if I stopped taking a chromium supplement.  After that time it seemed like my body have recovered but I don't know if it was because the deficiency was 'cured' or if my insulin resistance had dropped. 

I also had my blood parameters checked when I first went low carb and it turned out my uric acid levels were really high. My doctor wanted to put me on meds but he let me try to lower them myself and, as it turned out that Atkins tends to raise and not lower uric acid levels, I tried a multi-pronged attack with loads of antioxidants (I can't actually remember them all) and 20 cherries a day (served with cream to slow supress the insulin spike, and with all carbs counted!) as they were supposed to help. I don't know what did it, but within a month my uric acid levels were on the low side of normal and my doctor was impressed and stopped trying to force meds down my throat.

Keeping stress levels down to stop adrenaline release, which sets the yo-yo effect off again.  So no worrying about any of this, just implement a plan of action and enjoy the benefits!

For what it's worth, I rarely check my blood sugar levels any more.  If I'm not gaining weight, not throwing hypos, not losing my temper with my family over the slightest thing, capable of thinking straight, not tired all the time, and can get those little test-strips turning just the palest shade of pink then I'm happy and refuse to worry about numbers. 

Brenda Groth wrote:

well my numbers have never been above those..except for an occasional morning BS that was in the 140's..but generally the numbers for the entire day are in the 115 to 135 area.

Brenda,  if you are keeping your numbers in the 115-135 area you are doing well. 

I've been type II for about 12 years now.  Went from being first diagnosed with a 300 BS to getting it down to 80-120 the first week using a 1200 a day caloric intake.  Lost 35 pounds, walked everyday and did fairly well for years.  Did a lot of whole grain eating and was able to maintain.

Your liver will produce glucose when it feels you are going hypo and that could have been why your fasting number of 166 is what the doctor saw.  This whole thing is quite tricky.  Losing weight and exercising, like just simply doing yard work, is the first course of action.  The older you get the worse it could possibly become. So stay vigilant and always check those glucose levels.

I had reached the point of having to go on meds and insulin last year.  As we get older, beta cells die off, we can become more insulin resistant as well.  And injecting insulin will make you gain weight if you don't modify eating habits.  It pushes that glucose into your cells and creates body fat.

After almost a year I have been able to lose most of the 20 pounds the insulin put on and have cut back my insulin usage a lot.  Do not over exercise as you will become hungry and eat more.  Just be more active.  Since this spring had been the first in a long time that we are planting a garden and trees and bushes on our slope, spending many hours moving around, I have been able to go a day or two without injecting insulin at all.

Learn the foods that make your sugar spike.  The new thought is that the spikes are very bad.  Stay away from processed anything if you can.  It is almost like chemical fertilizer with everything being predigested and ready for your body to turn into sugar.

Also another point.  Low carb diets can make you take in too may fat calories which in turn will have your sugar bump up simply because you either burn or store those calories.  My doctor always said a modified Atkins was good.  Full Atkins was asking for trouble.

It is your body and you know it best.  Genetics and a host of other factors will play a part in this.  Get your blood A1c tested and you will know your long term BS average. 

Almost forgot.  Cinnamon helps, but keep it to a tablespoon a day.  Fruit is better than juice as it takes time for you to process the sugar.  Beans are good too.  Always think whole foods.

Good luck and keep an eye on those levels.


Al

One more small tip.  Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day.  Think how a Deer browses and never gorges.  Believe it or not, this helps quite a bit in keeping your liver from producing glucose.

Hi, Brenda, I am new to the forums but not new to prediabetes and I am a nurse and well versed in natural health. The best number you want to keep track of is your HgA1c. Has this been tested? You want it to be less than 7, but less than 6 and even closer to 5 is optimal if you are not on any diabetes meds. The HgA1c measures the average blood sugar over the lst 3 months rather than just a random time here and there... much better for getting the whole picture. The fasting blood sugar is best below 90 if you are not on any meds. Too many diabetics are told that their FBS should be around 110 but that is ONLY if you are on insulin, because you don't like it to get too low as that is dangerous. For a diabetic on no meds, the lower the better. Even 60 as a FBS is great.

I conquered my prediabetes by switching to a raw diet. I eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I don't do a lot of grains, but now that my weight and blood sugar are normal, I plan to venture into sprouted grains. I enjoy fruit and raw desserts (divine) though a year ago when I started this life I limited them a lot. I lost 50 pounds and dropped my HgA1c from 6.8 to 5.6.
I do enjoy raw pizza and crackers....they can really be delicious. I don't worry about fat, but raw fat is naturally the healthy kind. Berries are very healthy and have a low glycemic index. I enjoy carrots and would eat beets if I could stand them, lol. I do not eat potatoes raw, of course, but there are some raw dishes that have a comparable taste and texture. The raw life is an adventure and a bit of a learning curve,  but since you have a huge garden and berries, etc, you have a great start.

Since you have a bunch of the ingredients for a raw diet already growing on your land, you might want to investigate this. Feel free to contact me if you want to know more.

evidently i did not mention that my A1c (over the counter test at home 4 weeks ago) was 6.2  I undersand i shouldn't do another one for another 2 months..but i'll do it then

my fasting blood levels when i get up in the morning are the only areas of concern for me as they are higher than they should be..but my before and after meals are fine

right now i'm restricting my net carbs to around the 20  gram range, a little below or a little above, until I get things under a better control and then i'll add back in a few grams of things like berries, apples and other vegetables that are more carbs.

my daytime numbers are all really good and i'm not hungry..my calorie intake is super low, but as I said I'm not hungry, so I'm not worried too much about it.

I have lost about 17 pounds over the past several weeks, and I have always, always, always been very active.

Right now i have been walking 2 1/2 miles a day besides all my other exercise and garden work etc.

I also do understand that i should be trying to eat something at night before i go to bed to keep the numbers down in the morning..but it is just so hard to even want to eat anything at that time for me right now it is fairly hard to remember..but i'm trying to do that.

i have studied the 'dawn syndrome' and understand about the glucose dump when you go too long without food.

i'm still debating the visit on June 10, as I am thinking that I don't want things on my medical records that aren't true..and it would effect how the insurance companies charge me for things like insurance rates..etc..that is someting i'm quite concerned about..wondering if i'm not better off just monitoring it and getting my numbers down and NOT getting things on my permanent record that might jeopardize my future insurance rates.

cancelled my appt with nutritionist as i spoke with her on the telephone, my blood sugar numbers were good enough to where she said all she would do is encourage me to use a diet to try to get them lower and exercise..i already knew that so going in and seeing her would have been a waste of her time and my money

so i'm continuing on the super low carb diet and my normal exercise which is a lot..and this morning my numbers were the best i've seen since i started checking them over 4 weeks ago.

Brenda Groth wrote:
cancelled my appt with nutritionist as i spoke with her on the telephone, my blood sugar numbers were good enough to where she said all she would do is encourage me to use a diet to try to get them lower and exercise..i already knew that so going in and seeing her would have been a waste of her time and my money

so i'm continuing on the super low carb diet and my normal exercise which is a lot..and this morning my numbers were the best i've seen since i started checking them over 4 weeks ago.

Way to go, Brenda.  I believe you are going to be fine.  Just keep vigilant and consistently monitor your glucose levels.

All the best,
Al

if it had not been for the support from people on this forum and HT forums, I likely would have just gone along with going to the stupid nutritionist and taking that information as gospel, but would have wondered if it was right..as a lot of the diabetes assoc information is very similar to what she said to me on the telephone yesterday..and i would have wasted a lot of $ on drs, meds, etc.

now at least i'm going in a direction i'm comfortable with, with no meds, real food, not hungry, loseing weight, good blood glucose numbers although still not perfect, better guidelines to go buy and knowing what to expect if i get this straightened out on my own.

had i gone the other way, likely i wouldn't lose any weight, i'd be medicating myself for ever, and dying very much earlier than i likely will if i do it the right way.

thanks so much every one..esp the one that called me last sunday you know who you are..movie is in at the library.

I've read some of the legume flours, like carob and mesquite, can be better for blood sugar than grains are.

Hang in there!

When I had my first A1c done, the pamplet they gave me said something like "If your A1c is above 6.0, you are diabetic." and somewhere else it said, "If your A1c is below 7.0, your diabetes is under control."  I asked the Dr what that meant if I was 6.3.  His reply was "Just keep an eye on it, but don't panic."

I try to avoid quick carbs that make my sugar spike, and I never did eat much refined sugar, but once I get started it can be hard to stop.  I did have a reading of 6.7 once, but that was in January: after the holydays and when I wasn't as active as usual.

One thing I have learned, ask a dozen Drs, and you'll get a dozen different targets for what the numbers should be.

here is a book that I'm reading right now on the difference between lowfat/high carb diets and high fat/low carb diets..it is a compilation of a lot of studies over about 80 to 90 years..very good information..a lot of technical stuff but I'm enjoying it.

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
avail at amazon

isbn 978-1-4000-3346-1

am still waiting for the Fathead movie to make it to my local library, should be there today or tomorrow..

did an experiement with a few extra carbs yesterday...oh oh  not good..going to have to stop playing around with those

Another good book is "Good carbs, Bad Carbs" by Johanna C. Burani.  also available from Amazon.

Be careful of those carbs that give you the spike.  Experimenting a little will help you learn which ones to avoid, but Brenda, please be careful.

Wishing you the best of health.


Al

Gotta endorse the five or more small meals a day thing.

I think it is good for you to try things and see how you are doing. 

If you are losing weight, then I strongly suggest that you think about your metabolism.  Do not try to lose weight for more than three weeks.  Then spend a week holding your weight steady.  Then you can do another three weeks.  Etc.

super highly recommend the book i'm reading..Gary  Taubes Good calorie, bad calorie, avail thru amazon

also i did watch the movie FATHEAD and OMG I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone, what an eye opener..thanks for that suggestion ..hoping my husband will watch it before i have to return it next week.

(he is a carboholic)

well after 13 weeks of watching the carbs was able to bring my A1c down to normal..it was only really slightly elevated on May 15 when it was taken..it was 6.2 but i took another test on August 16 and it was normal.

I realize that i probably will spend the rest of my life very carefully watching every carb i eat, if any or many, cause i have had to really limit carbs to bring the level down to normal..but at least it is normal.

I tried adding back in a few carbs last week and my blood sugar shot up to 229..so...i know i can't be doing that.

that won't be happening.

i don't want to end up where i was.

i really want to thank all of you that really helped me during this past 13 weeks..you know who you are.


the recommendation of the film Fathead was a huge help..

and the recommendation of the book "Good Calorie Bad Calorie" by GaryTaubes..livesaver..thanks so much

and thanks Dr. Atkins

Brenda, good job!   Stay healthy.


Al

Please listen to this lady.

katchmoleen wrote:
Hi, Brenda, I am new to the forums but not new to prediabetes and I am a nurse and well versed in natural health. The best number you want to keep track of is your HgA1c. Has this been tested? You want it to be less than 7, but less than 6 and even closer to 5 is optimal if you are not on any diabetes meds. The HgA1c measures the average blood sugar over the lst 3 months rather than just a random time here and there... much better for getting the whole picture. The fasting blood sugar is best below 90 if you are not on any meds. Too many diabetics are told that their FBS should be around 110 but that is ONLY if you are on insulin, because you don't like it to get too low as that is dangerous. For a diabetic on no meds, the lower the better. Even 60 as a FBS is great.

I conquered my prediabetes by switching to a raw diet. I eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I don't do a lot of grains, but now that my weight and blood sugar are normal, I plan to venture into sprouted grains. I enjoy fruit and raw desserts (divine) though a year ago when I started this life I limited them a lot. I lost 50 pounds and dropped my HgA1c from 6.8 to 5.6.
I do enjoy raw pizza and crackers....they can really be delicious. I don't worry about fat, but raw fat is naturally the healthy kind. Berries are very healthy and have a low glycemic index. I enjoy carrots and would eat beets if I could stand them, lol. I do not eat potatoes raw, of course, but there are some raw dishes that have a comparable taste and texture. The raw life is an adventure and a bit of a learning curve,  but since you have a huge garden and berries, etc, you have a great start.

Since you have a bunch of the ingredients for a raw diet already growing on your land, you might want to investigate this. Feel free to contact me if you want to know more.

thanks Plankl ..sent her off an email

Just found this thread.  Welcome to the low carb world!  I am willing to bet you will be much happier here

thanks, i've been kicking around here for 14 weeks now and i do feel better..

Brenda, when I lived a few years in western NE, it seemed that everyone and his brother had diabetes, even children and children born with it. Personally I think it is all the gmo corn and gmo sugarbeets there, but hey, thats my opinion. At any rate, I was curious about this since so many friends had it in different stages. After some basic research on various herbs and spices that helped, I came across two books that dealt with natural heath and diabetes. Well, actually 3.

The first book that got me interested into looking at the food perspective was Blue Zones, http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Zones-Lessons-Living-Longest/dp/1426204000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282845626&sr=8-1

Blue Zones is all about groups of people, in various parts of the world, labeled Blue zones for consistently popping out centenarians (people that live into their hundreds). These people are healthy, not living off of medicine.

The next was Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine
http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Foods-Your-Best-Medicine/dp/0892817356/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282845767&sr=1-1
They discuss diabetes in here as well.

Then I found There Is A Cure For Diabetes
http://www.amazon.com/There-Cure-Diabetes-21-Day-Program/dp/1556436912/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282845853&sr=1-1

This one was great and they apparently have a whole program for it and a dvd about a group of people that they worked with to cure the diabetes called Simply Raw
http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Raw-Reversing-Diabetes-Days/dp/B001BKLCCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1282845920&sr=8-1

Hope some of this might help.

my mother is 90 years old..so hopefully i have inherited some strong genes there..i'll check them out thanks

prolly not your issue brenda
but there are lots of folks out there who have managed to control their diabetes just by shedding the 70-80 pounds of fat they don't need and getting active

seems to me that if you let your body know its gonna need energy everyday it'll usually find a way to break down that sugar

Kathryn reminded me about a trailer i have seen.
Here is a video. http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/44775/Raw_in_30_Days_Part_1_8/

Plankl, thank you for posting that. I have seen the trailers and kept looking every couple of months, to see if anyone had the dvd posted for viewing, but it was not available yet. Glad to see that it is and I can watch what I have read about in his book. I bookmarked it to watch this evening.

Hi Brenda, what you hae described sounds similar to my experience, i tried for a year to control my sugars as described by others here, the 5-6 smaller meals helps a lot , in the first year i lost about 60 lbs through diet and exercise, about 100 lbs total in the last 5 years, i did end up going with a daily low dose of metformin 2 tablets a day, morning and evening, and things have stabilized, as they did i was able to add back some carbs, jerusalem artichokes are said to be a great low glycemic index carb. it takes some adjustments, reducing stress as mentioned is very helpful as well. it's been about 6 years now and things are stable, i can eat what i want , within reason, i just stay away from all pkgd and processed foods, due to the incorporated sugars and salts.

the 2 1/2 mile walks will help a lot, keep doing what you are trying, but dont go full atkins, it puts stress on other body organs. liver and kidneys. its fine for short periods of time but not suited to a lifetime plan.
also don't work yourself tired regularly, always stop before you feel beat and worn out. don't want the body burning all it's fuel and hungrily trying to boost the sugars back up, the classic yo yo effect. moderation and the small meals should be it an amount that is less than the size of your closed fist,  as  in most cases your closed fist is about the size of your stomach. 
my plates are half veggies  a quarter meat and a quarter carbs. fruit i normally eat between meals in moderation.

good luck and don't worry yourself, you are on the right track.

cheers

thought I'd better update. I wasn't doing the LOW carb thing quite right and was messing up and gaining weight back and messing with my blood sugar again, so I went out and bought the new atkins book The New Atkins for a New YOu and found out what I had been doing wrong and NOW I have a lot more confidence in what I'm doing..lost 10 pounds back off that I had regained and now feel much better. Blood sugar more normal now too, but I still have my high days..a long ways to go.

With winter coming on here it brings me a lot of challenges, but I'm also finding a lot of help on a few sites, one is the atkins website but another one that I really like is
www.fatsecret.com  where I can go and put every single bit of food I put in my mouth down on a food log and it will record my fats, proteins and even my net carbs so I know exactly how many grams of what I'm eating..and I can record my exercise there too.

there are some forums on both sites that have been helping. I found a few people on Homesteading Today forum that are on low carb diets, but hard to find very many..would like to have a thread that I can go to where there are more people with likemindedness to me but I do what I can do.

Right now I'm making headway and that is a good thing. I highly appreciate all the help I have gotten from people on here

I also wouldn't mind a low-carb thread as I'm just starting a low carb diet and need support! 

Low-carb is a diet I can grow in my garden, whereas it would be almost impossible for me to aspire to grow grains in sufficient quantity to support myself.

Ludi a great place of support is www.fatsecret.com I'm using their forum and have joined a challenge that starts today, 20 pounds by Christmas.
Also the Atkins web site is really great  www.atkins.com  if you need questions answered

a great recipe site is
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/dessert_recipes.html

If you join the sites send me a personal message on there..on Atkins I'm Ronbre and on Fatsecret I'm Brenda Groth

Thanks, Brenda! 

Pre Diabetes sounds Familiar, 8 years ago i was told that, 6 mos later i was no longer pre. my sugars  yo-yo ed  around really badly and i went on a low dose of metformin for the last 7 years, recntly it was showing numerous side affects and i stopped taking it, my sugar levels are steady and low now. i was a carb junkie, now i can handle a little refined carbs, but find if i stay away from white bread and sugar, i can eat some whole grains daily, organic whole rolled oats are great they will help with  moderating sugar levels.  It sounds like you are fine just montior the sugar levels as you are already doing, and you are adjusting your diet, thats all they will tell you to do anyways for pre diabetes. also personally i never use sugar substitutes Honey or brown sugar in moderation, but i also refuse to use margerine , butter is better.

good luck

I'm doing pretty well with the low-carb (paleo) diet.  I've eaten a little grain product or potato a couple times a week, but not more than that.  Not as a basis for the diet anymore.  No sugar except what is in red wine.    Just vegetables, meat,eggs, and some dairy (cheese,yogurt, a little milk in my coffee) I've lost a few pounds and am not as hungry most of the time though I think I am eating fewer calories.

So over all, I think it is going well. 

I've been diabetic for over 30 years (since the age of 6 - I take two kinds of insulin and also have to check my blood sugars multiple times a day) and have had the best control when eating a diet of mainly meat and vegetables as well as fermented foods.  I also grew up with the notion that whole grains were the basis of a nutritious diet but many of them kill my blood sugars.  I find that wheat, rice and pastas are the worst.  I can eat millet and buckwheat but only a small amount.  You might want to experiment with some grains but only a small amount at a time. 

You might also try cooking with coconut flour -- there's an inexpensive little book called Cooking With Coconut Flour.  A friend gave it to me, and I've tried quite a few of the recipes in it so far -- I haven't found one that I didn't like!  Can't say that about my gluten-free cookbooks!  Coconut flour is both gluten-free AND low-carb, which is what we needed.  It's expensive, but you use smaller quantities of it, so it evens out.

Kathleen

Brenda, good to know its going well.
I recently read in the news that the big culprit is sucrose.
Other sugars such as fructose being ok , but that the body metabolises sucrose into fats directly and that we need glucose for energy.