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Diagnosed Prediabetic: Does honest, practical info exist?

2

Posts

  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    Druhim wrote: »
    Nope. The primal lifestyle is not the right answer for everybody and asserting that's it's diabetic appropriate is absurd. Stop spewing that bullshit all over the forums.

    Sorry, but as someone who has been where the OP is and is now healthier than probably almost anyone on this forum, I guess we can agree to disagree here.

    Although I must wonder how eliminating refined sugars from the diet is NOT appropriate for someone prediagnosed diabetic? I mean you can't be that stupid, can you?

  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    Beltaine wrote: »
    Can anyone suggest something I can eat for breakfast having only a refrigerator and microwave available to me? My wife and I carpool to work, she has to be there 45 minutes earlier than I do, so that 45 minutes at the office is when I do breakfast.

    oatmeal.

    get some nuts or dried fruit ad a bit of brown sugar or honey.

    1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, microwave 3 minutes.

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  • Aurora BorealisAurora Borealis runs and runs and runs away BrooklynRegistered User regular
    Can anyone suggest something I can eat for breakfast having only a refrigerator and microwave available to me? My wife and I carpool to work, she has to be there 45 minutes earlier than I do, so that 45 minutes at the office is when I do breakfast.

    Can you keep a cereal bowl at the office? Coz that's what I immediately thought of to do in that situation.
    Milk + cherrios + whatever fruit you got. Bananas or blueberries would be my pick. Also OJ, or apple 100% juice instead of coke. It's not super amazing healthy but it's a damned sight better than pop tarts and coke.

  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    See this? I'm not trying to tell you that you have to be primal or you can't be healthy, but suggesting a pre-diabetic should have a breakfast that consists of almost 100% sugar is just ridiculous and is the reason almost every type-2 diabetic I see complains about their health and squats around still overweight munching on loads of refined carbohydrates and sugar. I can't tell if people just ignore the blatantly obvious (do people REALLY NOT KNOW where type 2 diabetes comes from?) or if they're completely ignorant.

    You got this way from consuming way too many sugars. Stop eating them.

    Karrmer on
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Jesus, let it go Karrmer. No one's buying your bullshit. Milk+Cheerios+a little fruit is not anything close to 100% sugar, so quit the hyperbolic diatribe.

    Carbs are fine and even a good energy source for diabetics in moderation. For the majority of diabetics it's not about eliminating carbs, it's about carefully balancing the carb intake. Sugar should be consumed in very limited quantities of course, and carbs with high fiber are better options. I would cut out the fruit juice as in general it's recommended that diabetics only have a couple of small servings of fruit a day. So some blueberries with that would be fine, but leave the juice out.

    belruelotterav-1.jpg
  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    Oatmeal was actually recommended to my father as his breakfast when he was diagnosed with Type 2.

    Now, he eats just plain oatmeal, not the instant stuff in packets, but it takes water, a bowl, and microwave. Sometimes he'd add in some splenda or something, or even raisins.

    There are microwavable egg cooking things that apparently work really well.

    But yeah, making big dinners and things and then pre-portioning them out and freezing them in smaller things of tupperware.

  • Cultural Geek GirlCultural Geek Girl Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I am not a doctor, but I know several pre-diabetics and have done diabetic-safe baking.

    Hard-boiled eggs are good for breakfast a couple days a week. Also, try mixed nuts, unsweetened. It has a little sugar, but a bunch of raw walnuts and almonds with maybe a couple raisins tucked in for variety is really delicious and filling for breakfast.

    I know everyone is panicking the second anyone recommends anything that contains a tiny bit of sugar, but if the baseline we're starting with is pop-tarts and diet cokes, we can take baby steps to a lower-sugar lifestyle.

    You can also do something like oatmeal sweetened with a healthier, lower glycemic index sugar like stevia, xylitol, agave nectar, or raw honey. Make sure you get steel cut or rolled oats rather than quick oats, they are whole grain, unprocessed, and less likely to have preservatives and sweeteners mixed in.

    My mom is pre-diabetic and her dietician recommended all these alternative sweetneners. A few notes about them:

    Stevia is awesome, if you can tolerate it. It has a bit of an odd bitter aftertaste for me, so I can't stand it, but my grandfather has completely replaced sugar with Stevia in his coffee, tea, and cereal and he loves it. I like it sometimes in baked goods, but I can taste it too clearly in coffee. Still, everyone should try this: lowest glycemic index, not very expensive, and 200 times sweeter than sugar, so a small jar or bag lasts a LONG time.

    Xylitol: this is my low glycemic index sweetener of choice, but be very careful trying it out for the first time. Some people experience gas or stomach issues if they eat too much of it at once. When I started, I did coffee with half a teaspoon of Xylitol and half a teaspoon of agave. Test it out and monitor yourself. For me, this is the low GI sweetener that has the most similar taste to normal sugar. I got totally addicted to Xylitol-sweetened gum in Japan, too.

    Agave Nectar: I've heard mixed reports of how good this is for you. Some say it's too processed, but the point is it has a pretty darn low glycemic index. It is a thin, light-colored liquid that comes in squirt bottles and can be used to easily sweeten just about anything. It does have a bit of its own taste which is sort of hard to describe. I don't like to use it by itself due to its slight aftertaste, but my mom uses it all the time. Again experimentation is the key.

    Raw Honey: Raw Honey has a GI of 30. Processed, pasteurized honey (the kind you are probably most used to seeing and using) has a GI of 75, very similar to normal table sugar. Raw honey is a thick, opaque, pale yellow paste with a consistency similar to peanut butter. It can't be poured, you have to scoop it out with a spoon and stir it into a hot drink or cereal to dissolve it. It is delicious, however, and just as sweet as pasteurized honey. I suggest making unsweetened oatmeal and sweetening it with honey (especially if you try stevia/agave and they aren't for you). You're going to be weaning yourself off of intense sweetness: make an unsweetened bowl of oatmeal and add tiny amounts of honey until it is edible. Stick to that amount of honey for a week or so and eventually it will taste sweet and you'll be able to reduce the amount of sweetener you're using even further.

    There are a few more recommended sugar substitutes I don't have as much experience with: Barley Malt sugar (taste like goldencrisp, according to a friend of mine), black strap molasses, cocconut palm sugar.

    I don't want to give the impression that I'm suggesting "oh, just replace all your sugars with equal amounts of these alternatives and everything will be great!" but it's also pretty unreasonable to expect someone to have the willpower to just completely cut out anything sweet altogether. Switching to healthier choices with healthier varieties of sweetener is a good starting step.

    Some people who like oatmeal will make a big batch of steel-cut oatmeal in a crockpot during the weekend and take the already-prepared oatmeal into work in a tupperware container and reheat some every morning.

    Cultural Geek Girl on
    Buttoneer, Brigadeer, and Keeper of the Book of Wil Wheaton.
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  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    Druhim wrote: »
    Jesus, let it go Karrmer. No one's buying your bullshit. Milk+Cheerios+a little fruit is not anything close to 100% sugar, so quit the hyperbolic diatribe.

    Carbs are fine and even a good energy source for diabetics in moderation. For the majority of diabetics it's not about eliminating carbs, it's about carefully balancing the carb intake. Sugar should be consumed in very limited quantities of course, and carbs with high fiber are better options. I would cut out the fruit juice as in general it's recommended that diabetics only have a couple of small servings of fruit a day. So some blueberries with that would be fine, but leave the juice out.

    So people actually think Cheerios constitutes a healthy breakfast?

    If people believes this stuff I don't know what to say. PM me if you're interested in talking to someone who's lived the overweight lifestyle and tried everything under the sun to fix it and finally found something that helped. The same thing doesn't work for everyone but it sure does work for a lot of people, and it's not particularly hard.

    Cheerio's definitely isn't a part of it, and shouldn't really be in any healthy person's diet. Eat some eggs or something.

  • EntriechEntriech ? ? ? ? ? Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    Beltaine wrote: »
    Can anyone suggest something I can eat for breakfast having only a refrigerator and microwave available to me? My wife and I carpool to work, she has to be there 45 minutes earlier than I do, so that 45 minutes at the office is when I do breakfast.
    I'm a big fan of steel cut oats for a fast, healthy breakfast. The method I use involves cooking them overnight so they're ready in the morning. They refrigerate extremely well and can be reheated with just a microwave. I regularly prepare a triple batch, then stash it into containers the next morning and pop them in the fridge. I you wanted to eat one at work, all you'd have to do is dump in whatever you want to flavour it (fruit, spices, a bit of milk, a bit of sugar or maple syrup, some nuts), take it to work, and microwave it. I tend to add just a bit of brown sugar, and a few raisins. My wife likes to add a diced up apple and some cinnamon.

  • EsseeEssee The pinkest of hair. Victoria, BCRegistered User regular
    Karrmer wrote: »
    Druhim wrote: »
    Jesus, let it go Karrmer. No one's buying your bullshit. Milk+Cheerios+a little fruit is not anything close to 100% sugar, so quit the hyperbolic diatribe.

    Carbs are fine and even a good energy source for diabetics in moderation. For the majority of diabetics it's not about eliminating carbs, it's about carefully balancing the carb intake. Sugar should be consumed in very limited quantities of course, and carbs with high fiber are better options. I would cut out the fruit juice as in general it's recommended that diabetics only have a couple of small servings of fruit a day. So some blueberries with that would be fine, but leave the juice out.

    So people actually think Cheerios constitutes a healthy breakfast?

    If people believes this stuff I don't know what to say. PM me if you're interested in talking to someone who's lived the overweight lifestyle and tried everything under the sun to fix it and finally found something that helped. The same thing doesn't work for everyone but it sure does work for a lot of people, and it's not particularly hard.

    Cheerio's definitely isn't a part of it, and shouldn't really be in any healthy person's diet. Eat some eggs or something.

    I'm not exactly directly involved in this discussion, but I think we can all agree that there is a middle ground between Pop-tarts and Diet Coke for breakfast and all eggs (etc.), all the time, right? We can agree that regular Cheerios are better than Pop-tarts? Certainly they aren't worse than Pop-Tarts. So by your standards they may not be a "healthy" breakfast, but they are almost certainly a "healthier" breakfast. Some people can't just jump straight to any new lifestyle someone proposes for them, and in fact not every diet (diet meaning "set of rules a person follows when they decide what to eat") works for everyone in the first place. It's great that the paleo diet worked for you (and I do find it somewhat interesting myself) but that doesn't mean other people's suggestions that aren't "go eat doughnuts every day" aren't a step in the right direction from where he's starting. Someone did already suggest eggs, and people have made several other helpful suggestions I think you could agree with.

    Remember, too, that the primary point of this discussion is getting him used to lesser amounts of sugar, and sugar likely isn't something you can just drop out of your diet like THAT. Similarly, dropping carbs is a gradual process, so getting him used to eating healthier carbs (especially stuff containing good amounts of fiber) is a great first step, and then greatly dropping the amount of these, if that is what seems to be a good plan for him, is something that can be done later on. What a lot of people are suggesting are suggestions that aren't a drastic change in diet, but are still going to improve his health and get him used to foods that are better for him because they're not full of sugar. Cutting down on pointless sugar should come first considering his situation.

  • InfidelInfidel Heretic Registered User regular
    I'm eating Cheerios as I read this right now.

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  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited April 2012
    Again, as a diabetic myself, it's not about eliminating carbs. It's about carefully moderating the amount of carbs you eat with each meal. For the majority of diabetics and pre-diabetics, you still want carbs in your diet. Even a little bit of sugar here and there isn't bad. 2-3 servings of fruit a day is generally fine, especially fruit with fiber. Fruit juice is different. You should be very careful with fruit juice and drink it in very small amounts. The general medical consensus is that you should limit yourself to about 4 oz of juice a day. No, you're not going to die if you drink 8 oz one day. It's a matter of understanding the cost of the dietary transaction both in the short and long term. That's how I'm able to keep myself from eating cookies and ice cream. I look at a cookie or a cupcake and I just know that it's not worth paying that price, so it's really easy for me to resist it and keep feeling great instead of indulging and feeling like shit afterwards.

    But I totally still eat carbs in moderation which is precisely what my dietitian advised. Often for breakfast I'll put some chicken breast in a whole wheat tortilla with some fresh (not jarred) salsa that's low in sodium and has no added sugar. A couple of those and I'm getting about 40g of carbs with about 8g of fiber. I could go a little higher on the carbs, but it's a good breakfast for me.

    Druhim on
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  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    Essee wrote: »
    Karrmer wrote: »
    Druhim wrote: »
    Jesus, let it go Karrmer. No one's buying your bullshit. Milk+Cheerios+a little fruit is not anything close to 100% sugar, so quit the hyperbolic diatribe.

    Carbs are fine and even a good energy source for diabetics in moderation. For the majority of diabetics it's not about eliminating carbs, it's about carefully balancing the carb intake. Sugar should be consumed in very limited quantities of course, and carbs with high fiber are better options. I would cut out the fruit juice as in general it's recommended that diabetics only have a couple of small servings of fruit a day. So some blueberries with that would be fine, but leave the juice out.

    So people actually think Cheerios constitutes a healthy breakfast?

    If people believes this stuff I don't know what to say. PM me if you're interested in talking to someone who's lived the overweight lifestyle and tried everything under the sun to fix it and finally found something that helped. The same thing doesn't work for everyone but it sure does work for a lot of people, and it's not particularly hard.

    Cheerio's definitely isn't a part of it, and shouldn't really be in any healthy person's diet. Eat some eggs or something.

    I'm not exactly directly involved in this discussion, but I think we can all agree that there is a middle ground between Pop-tarts and Diet Coke for breakfast and all eggs (etc.), all the time, right? We can agree that regular Cheerios are better than Pop-tarts? Certainly they aren't worse than Pop-Tarts. So by your standards they may not be a "healthy" breakfast, but they are almost certainly a "healthier" breakfast. Some people can't just jump straight to any new lifestyle someone proposes for them, and in fact not every diet (diet meaning "set of rules a person follows when they decide what to eat") works for everyone in the first place. It's great that the paleo diet worked for you (and I do find it somewhat interesting myself) but that doesn't mean other people's suggestions that aren't "go eat doughnuts every day" aren't a step in the right direction from where he's starting. Someone did already suggest eggs, and people have made several other helpful suggestions I think you could agree with.

    Remember, too, that the primary point of this discussion is getting him used to lesser amounts of sugar, and sugar likely isn't something you can just drop out of your diet like THAT. Similarly, dropping carbs is a gradual process, so getting him used to eating healthier carbs (especially stuff containing good amounts of fiber) is a great first step, and then greatly dropping the amount of these, if that is what seems to be a good plan for him, is something that can be done later on. What a lot of people are suggesting are suggestions that aren't a drastic change in diet, but are still going to improve his health and get him used to foods that are better for him because they're not full of sugar. Cutting down on pointless sugar should come first considering his situation.

    I'd agree with most of this. All I'm saying is I'm posting advice from the perspective of someone that was in the OP's exact position - I was obese my entire life, trying every diet imaginable from just the regular low fat high carb standard diet to veganism for two years to dumb cleanses to whatever else, and always ended up fatter than ever. When I was hitting nearly 350 pounds and was diagnosed prediabetic, I was getting pretty desperate and, hey, a poster on this forum (geckhan) told me to look into the primal stuff and, more particularly, Gary Taubes' research, so I bought his book and decided he made a lot of sense and gave it a shot.

    So here I am about two years later at 180 pounds, fit as can be, amazing blood test results, and am about to leave in two days to thru-hike the Appalachian trail so if anyone is around there and wants to see me if you think I'm full of it because primal/me is just "bullshit" as another poster repeatedly claims without repercussion, let me know. I'll show you some awesome pictures of my huge self, and maybe then, if you're like me and have been overweight and trying everything except this primal thing, you'll consider doing your own research and maybe giving it a shot yourself.

    I thought this kind of advice, first hand and what not, was kind of the point here but I guess not? All I can say is geckhan quite literally saved my life.

  • Cultural Geek GirlCultural Geek Girl Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I thought the primal diet was more commonly called "paleo." Or is that just in the northeast? (Googles: ah, primal allows saturated fats (ok) and artificial sweeteners (ew). Weird.)

    Paleo is interesting, but I've found it to be expensive and often difficult to jump directly to without a staging-down process. It's especially difficult if you're in an office environment a lot; you have to do a lot of prep work that it can be difficult to find time for. That's on me, though. I did once lose a bit of weight on a diet a friend suggested that is "paleo for cheaters;" you can have small amounts of certain paleo-friendly sweets like honeycomb and dark chocolate with nuts.

    Still, there's a difference between saying "Hey, I've been trying paleo/primal and it really worked for me. Here are some links," and saying "everything else everyone has been telling you is horrible." That's what people were responding negatively to. If you'd arrived with a positive experience with primal/paleo and just pitched that as an alternative, you would definitely have gotten positive responses and been more productive in the conversation.

    Cultural Geek Girl on
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  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    At the time I was working as a 9-1-1 dispatcher, which required 12+ hour shifts of sitting in a chair, and was one of the big reasons that I kept getting fatter. I had no real issue switching to primal, but to stop this thread turning into a primal debate, I'll just say that if anyone is interested in it and needs any tips or ideas on how to handle the food situation while dealing with that sort of work environment they can PM me, as many others already have.

    I apologize for seeming brash but being overweight my whole life and being given awful advice for years just makes me wish I had been told about this kind of stuff a lot sooner, I guess, and all I'm trying to do is let other people in a similar spot know so they can do their own research and decide if they think it's worth a try.

  • Cultural Geek GirlCultural Geek Girl Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Karrmer wrote: »
    At the time I was working as a 9-1-1 dispatcher, which required 12+ hour shifts of sitting in a chair, and was one of the big reasons that I kept getting fatter. I had no real issue switching to primal, but to stop this thread turning into a primal debate, I'll just say that if anyone is interested in it and needs any tips or ideas on how to handle the food situation while dealing with that sort of work environment they can PM me, as many others already have.

    I apologize for seeming brash but being overweight my whole life and being given awful advice for years just makes me wish I had been told about this kind of stuff a lot sooner, I guess, and all I'm trying to do is let other people in a similar spot know so they can do their own research and decide if they think it's worth a try.

    True, but everybody's got a story like that.

    For instance, I was thin 'til my thyroid stopped working really well at about 11, and I went undiagnosed from then 'til 17. Then I was on meds so I stopped gaining, but I couldn't lose. I was told that exercise doesn't actually really enable weight loss so much as diet and calorie control and low carbs do. So I tried all the crazy diets (including paleo) with no luck.

    Then I got into a situation where I had to have a bicycle commute. I was also eating tons of white rice, ice cream, refined sugar, and drinking soda like it was going out of style. No HFCS, though. (I was living in Japan.)

    I lost 45 pounds in under a year, after years of trying various diets did nothing.

    So yeah, Paleo/Primal are great. I know a half dozen people on Paleo for whom it has been a complete miracle, and not just for weight loss. One of them was a girl prone to allergies and low energy, and now she's doing great. They're a good option. But they won't work for everyone and if you show up acting aggro, people will be less likely to listen to you, and you'll be less likely to help them.

    I DO think those diets are worth a try for pretty much anyone, just make sure you keep seeing a doctor while doing it. The most weight I ever lost without a bike commute was on an accidental diet I tried one summer when I was living with someone who was part of an organic coop. It was basically grass fed/organic meat, eggs, fresh fruits veggies and nuts, and the occasional cheese or oatmeal. Lord I wish I could afford to live like that normally.

    Cultural Geek Girl on
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  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    You said paleo didn't work for you but then described a paleo diet as working the best, so I'm a little confused by that, but I agree on most points. It may not work for everyone but it's the only thing that has worked for me and many people I know so it's something I recommend, as most other advice will be very contrary

  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Then I got into a situation where I had to have a bicycle commute. I was also eating tons of white rice, ice cream, refined sugar, and drinking soda like it was going out of style. No HFCS, though. (I was living in Japan.)

    I lost 45 pounds in under a year, after years of trying various diets did nothing.

    What she actually said about losing 45 lbs.

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  • Cultural Geek GirlCultural Geek Girl Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Yep. To clarify further:

    Eating my "Whatever foods you like that are available to a college student in Japan" diet and walking everywhere/commuting by bicycle helped more than anything ever has. I lost 45 pounds and went from a size 12-14 to a size 8.

    The pseudo-paleo anecdote is different. I did lose like ten pounds by accident one summer when I was eating organic mostly-paleo, with exceptions related to chocolate, oatmeal, wild rice, and the occasional home-baked cookie or pie. It made me feel super healthy, however eating paleo with the quality of food I enjoy would be almost prohibitively expensive if I'm not in an rural area where I was sort-of-sponging off someone with good organic food connections. I can't afford to spend $40 on fresh sweet peas in a week (though god damn they were delicious. Every time we showed up at the market and asked for six pounds of peas they'd laugh, but they are the best snack in history. Omnomnom.)

    I know you can do paleo on a budget, but cheap paleo food is less appealing and more work so it's harder for me to stick to, personally. The one summer I was eating pseudo-paleo I was doing it without trying... they were just the best and tastiest foods that were available to me.

    Cultural Geek Girl on
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  • EsseeEssee The pinkest of hair. Victoria, BCRegistered User regular
    Karrmer wrote: »
    You said paleo didn't work for you but then described a paleo diet as working the best, so I'm a little confused by that, but I agree on most points. It may not work for everyone but it's the only thing that has worked for me and many people I know so it's something I recommend, as most other advice will be very contrary

    I don't think people usually recommend things contrary to what you're suggesting, more like they will recommend things in the same general direction without recommending cutting certain stuff out entirely the way you would like. And that's okay. You don't have to be aggressive in response, you can just say that you would personally go even further than people are suggesting because here's some research about the topic. You're not arguing against people who think the things you've cut out of your diet are good for you no matter how much you have of them, you're arguing against people who think having these things in moderation is okay and at least a good start. You're talking like you're being persecuted, but people are mostly just saying that you can have a little bit of these things (especially at the beginning of a lifestyle change) and still come out the other side better than before. You've kind of been saying "Oh god you guys, stop telling a diabetic to eat a ton of sugar and/or carbs!" but I don't see anyone suggesting anything like that. People are saying "Hey, I know you want all these carbs and sugar right now, so here are things that taste like that and do still contain some carbs/sugar, but are a lot healthier, so you can wean yourself off the really sweet stuff. These things won't kill you in controlled amounts, and here is what the conventional wisdom says about good amounts to stick with." I understand that a couple people have been prickly toward you, but you did also recently bring up the same diet for two relatively different situations, you're getting combative when people suggest things your diet recommends against even when they are very knowledgeable about the specific dietary difficulties of diabetes/pre-diabetes people (and you are not considering the greater context around what they have said), and it can also be pricey to switch to the lifestyle you've got going on, so you need to be mindful of how these things look to other people when you recommend the diet. (Otherwise you'll sound a bit like the book the OP wasted his money on! Or that one guy I've noticed that shows up in here and recommends the "Blood Type Diet" or whatever it was called for every single problem people have.)

    Relax, dude. You and the people you disagree with can both bring useful advice to the table without either of you having to be suggesting something dangerous to the OP just because you disagree on what he should do right now. Your ideas aren't so insanely different, I promise you. Be mindful that everyone has specific dietary issues, so while your diet may be the "best" diet, it's still good for the OP to learn about other options that will also not likely worsen his (I think?) health because the "ideal" diet may not work out for somebody, even if it's only because of a difference in taste. The important thing to focus on is getting the OP in a healthier situation, and no one (as far as I've read) has suggested anything that points in the opposite direction. (Suggesting he eat Cheerios is still better than what he was doing before, even if you think wheat is the devil.) I think there's been a lot of good advice in here for the OP, so let's try to keep the thread focused on that part.

    (Hopefully I'm not derailing this further by posting about it, just hoping to help with an understanding of why things have gone in this direction.)

  • BeltaineBeltaine BOO BOO DOO DE DOORegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    First off, I'm loving the discussion and don't feel nearly so freaked out now.

    Looking in to everything suggested. I've pretty much been overweight my entire life. Even back in school when I was playing football and running my ass off at practice 3-5 days a week, I was overweight.

    One good thing, once I get into a habit, I pretty much stick with it. Going to drop soda, diet or otherwise, in favor of water. Bought a filter pitcher for home so I can use tap, and can use water-cooler water at work.

    My office is in the same building as the school nutrition office, and they have offered to keep milk stocked in the fridge for me, so I'm going to try Cheerios for breakfast for a while.

    Pop-tarts breakfast: 400 calories, 10g fat, 74g carbs, 2g fiber
    Cheerios w/skim milk breakfast: 150 calories, 2g fat, 20g carbs, 5g fiber

    That's a big difference.

    Also going to try my hand at growing some vegetables in the back yard. I spent this weekend clearing a spot in the yard. It's not quite time to plant yet, but I'm going to give it a try.

    Beltaine on
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  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Glad you're not as freaked out. You can totally do this!

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  • EsseeEssee The pinkest of hair. Victoria, BCRegistered User regular
    Beltaine wrote: »
    Also going to try my hand at growing some vegetables in the back yard. I spent this weekend clearing a spot in the yard. It's not quite time to plant yet, but I'm going to give it a try.

    If you can stick with this, you will love it. You won't have to buy plenty of the veggies you fix food with, and you'll have so much of what you grow that you can use 'em in just about everything you want, then freeze the rest to cook when they stop producing for the year. My mom has been doing this for about a year and a half, loves it, and feels so much healthier than before now that she's having her own veggies all the time. They taste really great, too, and honestly, when you grow your own stuff it just tastes better anyway because of the effort. :P

  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    Essee wrote: »
    Beltaine wrote: »
    Also going to try my hand at growing some vegetables in the back yard. I spent this weekend clearing a spot in the yard. It's not quite time to plant yet, but I'm going to give it a try.

    If you can stick with this, you will love it. You won't have to buy plenty of the veggies you fix food with, and you'll have so much of what you grow that you can use 'em in just about everything you want, then freeze the rest to cook when they stop producing for the year. My mom has been doing this for about a year and a half, loves it, and feels so much healthier than before now that she's having her own veggies all the time. They taste really great, too, and honestly, when you grow your own stuff it just tastes better anyway because of the effort. :P

    Seriously.

    I've only got a small container thing going now, with lettuce and spinach and some herbs.

    Since the lettuce and spinach have been able to be harvested, we've been eating salad on an almost daily basis.

    it's been a huge difference in everything, including how I've been feeling overall.

    Closer to spring (southern hemisphere) I'll start planting even more and basically just trying to live off that stuff.

  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    Infidel wrote: »
    I'm eating Cheerios as I read this right now.

    I'm just eating a banana but I'm not diabetic.

    But I'd be cautious of anyone that tells someone who's diabetic or prediabetic that gatorade is a good drink, or cutting out refined sugar and switching to fruit. You shouldn't eat that shit either, at least not as type 2, or rather, it shouldn't be a large part of your diet as that will send your blood sugar into a tizzy.

    Gatorade is just as bad as soda, by the way.

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • InfidelInfidel Heretic Registered User regular
    bowen wrote: »
    Infidel wrote: »
    I'm eating Cheerios as I read this right now.

    I'm just eating a banana but I'm not diabetic.

    But I'd be cautious of anyone that tells someone who's diabetic or prediabetic that gatorade is a good drink, or cutting out refined sugar and switching to fruit. You shouldn't eat that shit either, at least not as type 2, or rather, it shouldn't be a large part of your diet as that will send your blood sugar into a tizzy.

    Gatorade is just as bad as soda, by the way.

    A few friends used to drink a good bit of Gatorade. I demonstrated just how much sugar is in it compared to soda, and then held one up and pointed out that I could drink that, period, or eat my entire dinner. Either or.

    That is a lot of carbs.

    OrokosPA.png
  • wonderpugwonderpug Registered User regular
    SugarStacks.com is a great resource for hammering it home to people just how much sugar is in their food.

    No Gatorade pictured, unfortunately, but even Vitamin Water has more than most people think:
    A8kkz.jpg

    And just because it's been discussed and may be useful to the OP, not trying to stir the pot:
    SEEz9.jpg
    o7leb.jpg

    The merits and demerits of Cheerios are definitely more complex than just sugar count, but it's still a big step up from a pop tart breakfast.

  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    For instance:

    Gatorade (12 fl oz):
    78.0g carb (26%)
    310 calories
    200mg sodium (8%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-gatorade-energy-drink-i88302
    2/3 corrections:
    [52.0g carb]
    [207 calories]
    [133mg sodium]

    Pepsi (8 fl oz):
    27.0g carb (9%)
    100 calories
    25mg sodium (1%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-pepsi-i111213

    Coca-Cola (8 fl oz):
    27.0g carb (9%)
    97 calories
    33mg sodium (1%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-coca-cola-classic-i98047

    Diet Coke (8 fl oz):
    0g carb
    1 calorie
    28mg sodium (1%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-coca-cola-diet-coke-i98053

    For a diabetic, you'd be crazy to pick gatorade over soda. Even accounting for 8 fl oz of gatorade in a 2:3 ratio, you're still going to have a bad time. Oh yeah, heavy sodium beverages are terrible in general, let alone for someone with pre-diabetes.

    Water water water. If you must, crystal light or any of the low sodium/0 calorie sweeteners.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited April 2012
    Part of the problem is that gatorade was originally intended as a sport recovery drink, but most people treat it as an any time soft drink. The relatively high sodium makes sense to replenish what you've sweated off if you've been engaging in pretty intensive exercise and sweating heavily for a couple of hours. For most people, most of the time, that doesn't apply and the extra sodium is completely unnecessary.

    Druhim on
    belruelotterav-1.jpg
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    Exactly, which is also indicative of the increased carbs too. Until I started hunkering down and reading all these labels I had no idea how much worse it was to just drink it. G2 isn't a bad alternative with it's 7.0g of carbs though, though still not for someone diabetic/pre-diabetic.

    Wattterrrrrrrr.

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    I just spent 20 min on the stationary bike! I need to replace my electrolytes! I don't know what they are, but I know I need them! :P

    belruelotterav-1.jpg
  • Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt (effective against Russian warships) Registered User regular
    Beltaine wrote: »
    First off, I'm loving the discussion and don't feel nearly so freaked out now.

    Looking in to everything suggested. I've pretty much been overweight my entire life. Even back in school when I was playing football and running my ass off at practice 3-5 days a week, I was overweight.

    This is the big thing to tackle - since one of the instigators of type II is your pancreas not being able to produce enough insulin for your body mass, getting your weight down into a healthier range could have a very palliative effect. Cutting out the extra calories you pick from snacks, soda, etc is an excellent first step. Try and figure out how many calories you need in a day - you want to minimize your intake and not overtax your insulin production, but you also need to make sure you're eating enough to function properly. I literally feel awful if I leave protein out of my breakfast, and while you get some from the milk, I would try adding peanut butter, an egg, or some cottage cheese to the breakfast, and then making sure to carefully regulate lunch and dinner is vitally important too. If you eat out and the restaurant doesn't have a nutritional breakdown available, it's amazing what you can pull up in 30 seconds with a smart phone.

    For establishing a regular exercise routine, especially if you're doing something vaguely monotonous like a treadmile or stationary bike, repurpose your TV viewing time and do that as the same time as exercising, or put on an audio book, or whatever distracts you best. It's much easier to get through an hour of exercise when you have something other than the readout to occupy your mind.

  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    The only mention of Gatorade in this thread was when I stated that you don't need any processed sugars but if you start becoming a world class athlete competing in triathlons you can maybe consider a Gatorade as something with some use. I also wasn't suggesting switching to eating a lot of fruit, my suggestions for foods clearly stated "some fruit" aka sparing amounts of fruit aka occasional berries or something if you really want but I rarely eat any. I still consume 150+ carbs a day in the form of vegetables and nuts - more than enough for my brain to function, even though it functions perfectly fine without any carbohydrates as ketosis handles the rest. Not that I'm suggesting a person shouldn't eat any carbohydrates (as noted I eat plenty) but I spent a good 8 months eating less than 5g a day and didn't have an issue. I'd think by then I'd probably die if my brain needed carbohydrates to function?

    I won't even bother linking research or anything because I'm sure someone will fly in claiming that this is impossible and anything stating otherwise is bogus.

    Karrmer on
  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    edit: iPhone is dumb

    Karrmer on
  • KarrmerKarrmer Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    bowen wrote: »
    For instance:

    Gatorade (12 fl oz):
    78.0g carb (26%)
    310 calories
    200mg sodium (8%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-gatorade-energy-drink-i88302
    2/3 corrections:
    [52.0g carb]
    [207 calories]
    [133mg sodium]

    Pepsi (8 fl oz):
    27.0g carb (9%)
    100 calories
    25mg sodium (1%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-pepsi-i111213

    Coca-Cola (8 fl oz):
    27.0g carb (9%)
    97 calories
    33mg sodium (1%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-coca-cola-classic-i98047

    Diet Coke (8 fl oz):
    0g carb
    1 calorie
    28mg sodium (1%)
    http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-coca-cola-diet-coke-i98053

    For a diabetic, you'd be crazy to pick gatorade over soda. Even accounting for 8 fl oz of gatorade in a 2:3 ratio, you're still going to have a bad time. Oh yeah, heavy sodium beverages are terrible in general, let alone for someone with pre-diabetes.

    Water water water. If you must, crystal light or any of the low sodium/0 calorie sweeteners.

    And linking stats for the Gatorade energy drink is a little ridiculous, real gatorade is 50 calories per 8 ounces. Not that it makes it some great drink or anything, just drink water

    Gatorade (8 fl oz)
    14.0g carb
    50 calories
    110 mg sodium

    Karrmer on
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Let's move past the gatorade, guys.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • Cultural Geek GirlCultural Geek Girl Registered User regular
    If you get tired of straight water or need caffeine, I suggest unsweetened green tea. I actually really like the macha (powdered green tea) iced tea packs you can get.

    If you get tired of straight water and don't need the caffeine, I suggest barley tea. A little harder to track down, but delicious even unsweetened.

    For growing veggies in your back yard: it depends on where you live, but you do have to be careful sometimes. In old suburbs or post-urban areas, sometimes there's a some soil contamination to worry about. That's why some people use lined beds.

    Not that you should be super paranoid, just use your best judgment. A house built recently on farmland or forest is probably OK (my development growing up was on old farmland and pinewoods), but backyards in the city or near places where there used to be industry take a bit more caution.

    Buttoneer, Brigadeer, and Keeper of the Book of Wil Wheaton.
    Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
    Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
  • CelestialBadgerCelestialBadger Registered User regular
    Most supermarkets have a large range of zero calorie natural teas. I recommend peppermint, it has no caffeine, and it is not as bitter as green tea. An electric kettle takes the tedium out of brewing it with the stovetop kettles most Americans favour.

  • BeltaineBeltaine BOO BOO DOO DE DOORegistered User regular
    Looking at getting into more teas. I really like Chai, just need to find a sugar substitute to put in it :P

    XdDBi4F.jpg
    PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    honey or agave might work.

    I've started drinking mostly water, but I do still have a glass/mug of tea at least once a day. On windy, rainy, chilly days I have more.

    Something that I saw on facebook (yes i know shut up) from somebody who's doing a major weight-loss attempt was adding fruit to your water. She would get a big 2 gallon jug and slice up lemons and oranges and just let them sit in the water in her fridge. I tried this, it wasn't really for me. BUT, I have taken my water jug, filled it with fresh mint from my garden, and put that in the fridge. I'd imagine if I had a stevia plant I could try that too.

    The mint was refreshing, made the water seem even more satisfying and didn't require any kind of sweetener to make it palatable. Just slightly flavored water.

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