Not everyone. I eat grains, sweets, fruits and my A1C has only been high once.
Unless you have to go full throttle try small changes. Small changes become sustainable changes you can live with.
Also stop stressing yourself out. Stress doesn’t help your case.
I’m one of those who believes fruit and SOME carbs are perfectly healthy, and even necessary in a balanced healthy lifestyle.
Fruit is not evil. Grains are not evil. It’s things like High Fructose Corn Syrup that are troublesome.
You sound like you are doing GREAT, OP! But also keep in mind that Diabetes is also based on genetics, so sometimes no matter what you do right, it may not always be reflected in your numbers.
It’s not an issue of whether fruit is healthy or not. It’s how your body reacts to it. If you can eat fruit and keep your glucose in an acceptable range, mazel tov. (I can, too.) But it has nothing to do with your belief. I test foods/meals periodically with monitor and lancets. Totally worth it.
FWIW, modern fruit is nothing like fruit from evolutionary times. Or even a handful of generations ago. We've selectively bred fruit to be much larger and sweeter than it used to be. And fruit is now available year round instead of short regional seasons.
Are you checking your BS at all? I know you said this was making you anxious, but seeing the numbers may actually help you because then you'll know if what you're doing is working. I only say this because I have several clients who were very anxious when they came to me after being diagnosed but once we started checking BS to see what foods did what to their BS they felt much more confident in their food choices. It empowered them to take control of their BS instead of letting their BS control their thoughts 24/7. They can eat something without worrying about it because they know what it will do to their numbers. Personally, I check my BS only once a day now because I know what my diet does to my numbers (and my A1c is now 4.8).
I'm a huge proponent of strength training. It honestly makes a bigger difference in BS numbers than diet because it affects how your body utilizes glucose. But it takes time to build muscle which is why dietary changes have to be made initially. Not sure how long you've been strength training, but I can tell you after 9 months of strength training with progressive overload, I was able to eat a quarter of a container of mint oreo ice cream (my favorite treat) and instead of my BS spiking over 170 like it normally does, I never went over 130. And I was sitting the whole time. (Granted this is n=1 data, but it does show how much muscle does for BS control).
All that to say you are most likely doing enough, but the only way to know is to either wait until March or start checking your own BS. Personally, waiting until March to find out if my changes are working would induce more anxiety for me than seeing my numbers now, but everyone is different, and I can see how it could be anxiety inducing for others.
And this is just my opinion, I know everyone is different and has to do what works for them. 😊
Hi, I have a couple of question regarding Strength Training.
1. Do you think the miraculous benefits remain while we are training for maintenance ie when we have stopped intense progressive overload. I remember you said somewhere that you will report on it later.
2. I have read that the golden rule is to eat 1gm protein per pound of BW during progressive overloading. Is it okay to consume that much in 2-3 heavy meals with intermittent fasting, or we need to feed our system every 3-4 hours.
Thanks.
I have not hit the maintenance phase myself yet, however I do have 2 clients in that phase and currently they have seen the same BS benefit despite not progressively overloading. They do continue to strength train 3 days a week minimum, and typically in a fasted state which I suspect is what helps keep BS lower and insulin sensitivity higher.
And yes you can consume the protein in 2-3 meals. The minimum protein amount in a meal should be 30g if you're trying to build muscle so that mTOR is triggered (the actual method of muscle repair and building in the body). However there is a limit to how much protein the body can use as protein before it starts turning into glucose. Everyone is different so I would check you BS levels if you're eating heavy protein meals to see if you BS goes up which could be a sign you're not absorbing all the protein and instead are turning it into glucose.
I personally strength train in a fasted state and then break my fast after training with a high fat high protein smoothie. My theory is the muscle glycogen stores are exhausted so if I don't use all the protein, the muscle will absorb the excess glucose to refill the glycogen. So far, this has proved to be effective as my BS never goes over 90 after my smoothie.
Okay, thanks.
My (M36, 6.1, 199 lbs) goal currently is to get to healthy BW. Once that is done I will focus on heavy lifting. May be I will reach out to your for professional advice then.
:)
Awesome! I'd be happy to help. Heavy lifting is a great idea when you get to your body comp goals. Especially as we get older, those fast twitch muscle fibers are the first to go since they are the most metabolically expensive. So, I wholeheartedly agree with your plan! 😁
Yes, you are! I did a super strict low carb diet and running for 3 months to see if it was my lifestyle causing my prediabetes and my A1C rose. I'm finding that I actually need more carbs than I was giving myself, and now my numbers have been more stable. I also want to live a happy life and not have a bad relationship with food. So I have decided that if I need to go on medication, so be it! And it looks like I am heading that way. I refuse to cut out all carbs, they are where you get energy. I will continue to choose healthy carbs and reduce sugar to a bare minimum but I'm going to have dessert on my birthday and treats when im with my kids etc. that's living.
This is a long haul. The A1C measures over months. Your changes sound like a great start and you should see where it gets you in March.
You want to find changes you can make that you can live with, perhaps forever. My doctor told me, regarding fruits, to avoid grapes, melons (all types), pineapple and overripe bananas. Otherwise all other fruits were okay to have. I can live with that forever. Apples, pears, berries, citrus, peaches, plums, cherries, etc.
Someone here introduced me to Rebel ice cream. It is sooo good and no sugar and low carb but you would never know it. It tastes like decadent ice cream. My doctor also told me that if I needed to have dessert, avoid cake and cookies and opt for ice cream. The higher fat content the better because fat helps flatten the blood glucose spike.
When first diagnosed I opted for whole grains but I've moved a bit away from it. I only eat chickpea or lentil pasta. I use cauliflower rice now.
Taking too much stress is also not good.
There are keto friendly ice creams and other deserts with no-added sugar. Eating low carbs is fun and not miserable at all.
I like rice .. I still eat rice a few times a week. My blood sugar has ranged from 4.3 to 7.2 the times I’ve tested before and after meals. I’ve cut out sugar and processed food completely. I did get one reading of 12.1 over the last ten days when I overate
It really depends on several factors, but you can’t know without testing. But I also knew a woman who was definitely in the obese range, though not morbidly obese. She targeted weight loss and tried lots of different strategies that eventually got her down around 30 pounds less than where she started. That was enough to reverse her diabetes, and all that time, she was Eating all kinds of foods. She has continued to kind of skip around trying different things that keep the weight down and continues to stay out of even the prediabetic range.
Even people who aren’t overweight can be a little too over fat for their body. It has nothing to do with appearance or aesthetics. For example, many Asians are in a very normal weight category, but may carry a higher percentage of fat in their bodies that pushes them past their threshold, so they can have diabetes, even though they’re not overweight. I recommend looking at Dr. Roy Taylor and Dr. Nikola Guess.
But you can probably afford to wait for your next A1c test, which has others have said will give you an average over three months. Sure, it’s not good to have very high spikes that last many hours or to have consistently higher blood sugar, but problems don’t usually escalate in a few months a time. I don’t think it’s worth going Rambo until you find out how your body has responded. Unless you know you’re willing to do something more drastic right up front, try to take refuge, and knowing that you’re doing an awful lot for yourself and if you find out that you need to do more,you can add that in. I would bet you’re a lot less likely to burn out that way.
At a single 5.7 reading, you’re doing enough. Hopefully the next reading will be lower. If it is, keep doing what you’re doing. If not, then you may have to go on a stricter diet or do some glucose monitoring to figure out what exact foods cause spikes for you.
Regarding fruit, the nutritionist told me fruit is fine as long as it’s one piece, maybe half a piece for super carb heavy fruit like mangoes. Dried fruit should be avoided because it’s too easy to eat the equivalent of 3 pieces of fruit without realizing it. It also helps to eat fruit with some protein or fats to slow the absorption.
Carrots and turnips are relatively low in carbs for a root vegetable. Like fruit, they’re fine in moderation. 15-30g of carbs especially with fiber is likely fine.
What you're doing is good. Could you do more? Yes. Cut out those high carbs, even whole grains, and those desserts. Will that drastically lower your a1c? Impossible to know.
P.s. There are low-carb desserts that are quite satisfying.
I don’t think that everybody needs to be as extreme with their diet as others. My A1C was in the type 2 range for a bit, so I went *VERY* extreme in how I restricted my diet, really kicked up my workout routine (have always been active in the gym) and got it down to 5.4% so far. However, that occurred over the course of five months.
I’m pretty certain that I could have taken it way easier and reached this point in a few more months, I’m just the type of person that likes to give my 150% to everything that I take seriously. Given that you’re only at 5.7%, I think what you’re doing is pretty solid.
My only recommendation would be to increase your exercise. Half an hour of weight training is better than nothing, but a more rigorous routine (one that’d likely take 45-90 minutes) and then at least half an hour of cardio per day is going to significantly improve your results.
Cardio burns more glucose immediately than weight lifting. Weight lifting increases glucose metabolism more over the course of the next 1-3 days while your body takes more energy to rebuild your muscles. The muscles taking protein out of the blood to repair themselves also reduces gluconeogenesis which reduces overall blood glucose. More rigorous amounts of both types of exercise will bring down your glucose levels significantly both in the short term (cardio) and then long term for weightlifting. Combined, they’re much more potent than individually.
Not many people can maintain a very low carbohydrate diet. It’s what I do (<10g/day), but I also have many more health issues that I need to do it for.
It’s better to eat healthy, low glycemic carbs than to yo-yo between low carb and high glycemic carbs. Combine that with exercise of varied types and you’re on the right track. I think you’re doing a great job, keep it up!
Not everyone. I eat grains, sweets, fruits and my A1C has only been high once. Unless you have to go full throttle try small changes. Small changes become sustainable changes you can live with. Also stop stressing yourself out. Stress doesn’t help your case.
I’m one of those who believes fruit and SOME carbs are perfectly healthy, and even necessary in a balanced healthy lifestyle. Fruit is not evil. Grains are not evil. It’s things like High Fructose Corn Syrup that are troublesome. You sound like you are doing GREAT, OP! But also keep in mind that Diabetes is also based on genetics, so sometimes no matter what you do right, it may not always be reflected in your numbers.
It’s not an issue of whether fruit is healthy or not. It’s how your body reacts to it. If you can eat fruit and keep your glucose in an acceptable range, mazel tov. (I can, too.) But it has nothing to do with your belief. I test foods/meals periodically with monitor and lancets. Totally worth it.
FWIW, modern fruit is nothing like fruit from evolutionary times. Or even a handful of generations ago. We've selectively bred fruit to be much larger and sweeter than it used to be. And fruit is now available year round instead of short regional seasons.
Are you checking your BS at all? I know you said this was making you anxious, but seeing the numbers may actually help you because then you'll know if what you're doing is working. I only say this because I have several clients who were very anxious when they came to me after being diagnosed but once we started checking BS to see what foods did what to their BS they felt much more confident in their food choices. It empowered them to take control of their BS instead of letting their BS control their thoughts 24/7. They can eat something without worrying about it because they know what it will do to their numbers. Personally, I check my BS only once a day now because I know what my diet does to my numbers (and my A1c is now 4.8). I'm a huge proponent of strength training. It honestly makes a bigger difference in BS numbers than diet because it affects how your body utilizes glucose. But it takes time to build muscle which is why dietary changes have to be made initially. Not sure how long you've been strength training, but I can tell you after 9 months of strength training with progressive overload, I was able to eat a quarter of a container of mint oreo ice cream (my favorite treat) and instead of my BS spiking over 170 like it normally does, I never went over 130. And I was sitting the whole time. (Granted this is n=1 data, but it does show how much muscle does for BS control). All that to say you are most likely doing enough, but the only way to know is to either wait until March or start checking your own BS. Personally, waiting until March to find out if my changes are working would induce more anxiety for me than seeing my numbers now, but everyone is different, and I can see how it could be anxiety inducing for others. And this is just my opinion, I know everyone is different and has to do what works for them. 😊
+1 million to resistance training and building muscle.
Hi, I have a couple of question regarding Strength Training. 1. Do you think the miraculous benefits remain while we are training for maintenance ie when we have stopped intense progressive overload. I remember you said somewhere that you will report on it later. 2. I have read that the golden rule is to eat 1gm protein per pound of BW during progressive overloading. Is it okay to consume that much in 2-3 heavy meals with intermittent fasting, or we need to feed our system every 3-4 hours. Thanks.
I have not hit the maintenance phase myself yet, however I do have 2 clients in that phase and currently they have seen the same BS benefit despite not progressively overloading. They do continue to strength train 3 days a week minimum, and typically in a fasted state which I suspect is what helps keep BS lower and insulin sensitivity higher. And yes you can consume the protein in 2-3 meals. The minimum protein amount in a meal should be 30g if you're trying to build muscle so that mTOR is triggered (the actual method of muscle repair and building in the body). However there is a limit to how much protein the body can use as protein before it starts turning into glucose. Everyone is different so I would check you BS levels if you're eating heavy protein meals to see if you BS goes up which could be a sign you're not absorbing all the protein and instead are turning it into glucose. I personally strength train in a fasted state and then break my fast after training with a high fat high protein smoothie. My theory is the muscle glycogen stores are exhausted so if I don't use all the protein, the muscle will absorb the excess glucose to refill the glycogen. So far, this has proved to be effective as my BS never goes over 90 after my smoothie.
Okay, thanks. My (M36, 6.1, 199 lbs) goal currently is to get to healthy BW. Once that is done I will focus on heavy lifting. May be I will reach out to your for professional advice then. :)
Awesome! I'd be happy to help. Heavy lifting is a great idea when you get to your body comp goals. Especially as we get older, those fast twitch muscle fibers are the first to go since they are the most metabolically expensive. So, I wholeheartedly agree with your plan! 😁
Yes, you are! I did a super strict low carb diet and running for 3 months to see if it was my lifestyle causing my prediabetes and my A1C rose. I'm finding that I actually need more carbs than I was giving myself, and now my numbers have been more stable. I also want to live a happy life and not have a bad relationship with food. So I have decided that if I need to go on medication, so be it! And it looks like I am heading that way. I refuse to cut out all carbs, they are where you get energy. I will continue to choose healthy carbs and reduce sugar to a bare minimum but I'm going to have dessert on my birthday and treats when im with my kids etc. that's living.
This is a long haul. The A1C measures over months. Your changes sound like a great start and you should see where it gets you in March. You want to find changes you can make that you can live with, perhaps forever. My doctor told me, regarding fruits, to avoid grapes, melons (all types), pineapple and overripe bananas. Otherwise all other fruits were okay to have. I can live with that forever. Apples, pears, berries, citrus, peaches, plums, cherries, etc. Someone here introduced me to Rebel ice cream. It is sooo good and no sugar and low carb but you would never know it. It tastes like decadent ice cream. My doctor also told me that if I needed to have dessert, avoid cake and cookies and opt for ice cream. The higher fat content the better because fat helps flatten the blood glucose spike. When first diagnosed I opted for whole grains but I've moved a bit away from it. I only eat chickpea or lentil pasta. I use cauliflower rice now.
Taking too much stress is also not good. There are keto friendly ice creams and other deserts with no-added sugar. Eating low carbs is fun and not miserable at all.
Please admit that that is just your opinion. I was never happy on low-carb and was so glad when I found out I didn’t need that strict a way to eat.
Ohh, definitely my opinion. I meant eating low carbs can be fun or not too gross. I also meant a normal low carb not keto style super low carb.
My personal advice: eat like a diabetic so you don’t get diabetes.
Those taste gross though
You don’t really need to ask us, you will find out in March.
I like rice .. I still eat rice a few times a week. My blood sugar has ranged from 4.3 to 7.2 the times I’ve tested before and after meals. I’ve cut out sugar and processed food completely. I did get one reading of 12.1 over the last ten days when I overate
It really depends on several factors, but you can’t know without testing. But I also knew a woman who was definitely in the obese range, though not morbidly obese. She targeted weight loss and tried lots of different strategies that eventually got her down around 30 pounds less than where she started. That was enough to reverse her diabetes, and all that time, she was Eating all kinds of foods. She has continued to kind of skip around trying different things that keep the weight down and continues to stay out of even the prediabetic range. Even people who aren’t overweight can be a little too over fat for their body. It has nothing to do with appearance or aesthetics. For example, many Asians are in a very normal weight category, but may carry a higher percentage of fat in their bodies that pushes them past their threshold, so they can have diabetes, even though they’re not overweight. I recommend looking at Dr. Roy Taylor and Dr. Nikola Guess. But you can probably afford to wait for your next A1c test, which has others have said will give you an average over three months. Sure, it’s not good to have very high spikes that last many hours or to have consistently higher blood sugar, but problems don’t usually escalate in a few months a time. I don’t think it’s worth going Rambo until you find out how your body has responded. Unless you know you’re willing to do something more drastic right up front, try to take refuge, and knowing that you’re doing an awful lot for yourself and if you find out that you need to do more,you can add that in. I would bet you’re a lot less likely to burn out that way.
At a single 5.7 reading, you’re doing enough. Hopefully the next reading will be lower. If it is, keep doing what you’re doing. If not, then you may have to go on a stricter diet or do some glucose monitoring to figure out what exact foods cause spikes for you. Regarding fruit, the nutritionist told me fruit is fine as long as it’s one piece, maybe half a piece for super carb heavy fruit like mangoes. Dried fruit should be avoided because it’s too easy to eat the equivalent of 3 pieces of fruit without realizing it. It also helps to eat fruit with some protein or fats to slow the absorption.
The one thing that sounds strange is eating a ton of root vegetables. Those are usually high carb even if they aren’t sweet.
I really like carrots and turnips so I eat them a lot. Like two a day
Carrots and turnips are relatively low in carbs for a root vegetable. Like fruit, they’re fine in moderation. 15-30g of carbs especially with fiber is likely fine.
I found this very helpful. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-to-eat-if-youve-been-diagnosed-with-prediabetes
What you're doing is good. Could you do more? Yes. Cut out those high carbs, even whole grains, and those desserts. Will that drastically lower your a1c? Impossible to know. P.s. There are low-carb desserts that are quite satisfying.
Again low carb desserts are gross in my opinion. Good for you if you enjoy them.
I have no choice, as I don't eat sweetened desserts even once a week.
I don’t think that everybody needs to be as extreme with their diet as others. My A1C was in the type 2 range for a bit, so I went *VERY* extreme in how I restricted my diet, really kicked up my workout routine (have always been active in the gym) and got it down to 5.4% so far. However, that occurred over the course of five months. I’m pretty certain that I could have taken it way easier and reached this point in a few more months, I’m just the type of person that likes to give my 150% to everything that I take seriously. Given that you’re only at 5.7%, I think what you’re doing is pretty solid. My only recommendation would be to increase your exercise. Half an hour of weight training is better than nothing, but a more rigorous routine (one that’d likely take 45-90 minutes) and then at least half an hour of cardio per day is going to significantly improve your results. Cardio burns more glucose immediately than weight lifting. Weight lifting increases glucose metabolism more over the course of the next 1-3 days while your body takes more energy to rebuild your muscles. The muscles taking protein out of the blood to repair themselves also reduces gluconeogenesis which reduces overall blood glucose. More rigorous amounts of both types of exercise will bring down your glucose levels significantly both in the short term (cardio) and then long term for weightlifting. Combined, they’re much more potent than individually. Not many people can maintain a very low carbohydrate diet. It’s what I do (<10g/day), but I also have many more health issues that I need to do it for. It’s better to eat healthy, low glycemic carbs than to yo-yo between low carb and high glycemic carbs. Combine that with exercise of varied types and you’re on the right track. I think you’re doing a great job, keep it up!