genec

No, most of the food I eat is not prepared except by me... Most of it is raw food... raw veggies and fruits... mostly veggies. The main prepared food I eat is tofu. I get it in various forms... soft, firm and very firm, which I use in different ways, depending on my desired results. The very firm works well to make a meat like material that is chewable. The soft tofu is best used like one might use a cream cheese or yogart.... salad dressings or sauces.

Prepared foods taste salty and oily to me, so I tend to avoid them.

I eat lots of black beans for taste and roughage... one of my favorite things to prepare are wraps using whole wheat or spinach tortillas... chopped walnuts, broccoli chopped and sauteed in olive oil with mushrooms and a bit of raw cheese and an egg, usually seasoned with tarragon and sage and a touch of pepper or with black beans with cumin... the seasonings and ingredients are varied, but it always looks like wrap. This recipe can be varied for flavor and texture depending on ingredients available... but the big key is lots of chopped broccoli, walnuts and mushrooms for nutrition balance in a convenient wrap.

My wife loves my asian stirfry "salad." This is just a bed of chopped romaine lettuce, sometimes with avocado, on top of that is a mix of stir fry veggies... can be almost any veggies in season, cut and quick fried to remain crunchy with rice wine vinegar and soy sauce for seasoning... the veggies can be anything from portabello mushrooms to shiitake mushrooms plus sugar snap peas + broccoli + carrots to cabbage to zucchini... etc; whatever is in season and makes a good combination. The result is a green leafy salad topped with warmed seasoned veggies.(allow stir fry to cool a bit to avoid wilting romaine)

So again, no real prepared foods... they just don't taste good. Oh I love a bit of "heat" in my foods, so I tend to use various chilies...

I do have a weakness... maybe every 6 months or so I get some Onion rings... I know of one place in town that does a great tempera batter onion ring... light and crispy. These are my treat... Sometimes I just get the rings, sometimes I order the tempera veggies... which come with soy sauce and wasabi. When my wife comes along, she gets sushi. Sometimes I get the miso soup. So tasty. This is a treat... too salty and too oily, and rare.

Most of the time if I want onions, I just grill them myself and use those for flavoring in a dish. Again, not prepared food.

OldsCOOL

I've been "pre-hypertensive" for the past 20yrs. Am I taking the "shoved in my face" oxidase inhibitor? Pffft.

My doc reminds me that we all get thrown together into one big study and the meds are prescribed accordingly....no matter what.

ofgit

20 years ago the normal range for one's blood glucose level was 80 to 120. Now if a finger stick or lab result is 105 it is considered high!?!? Have seen MDs, PAs and NPs want to label you as a diabetic and start you on a medication for a one time result of 120!?!

If you take metformin, heed Jack Nicholson's advice and "Never trust a fart." That stuff will make you scheisse brown gravy.

Mvcrash

I have a close friend of over 30 years who almost dropped dead one day from his sugar levels. He was 25, I was 24 YOA when we were walking into a 7-11 in the middle of the night. Neither of us made it. He hit the cement like a lump of coal, i went to aid him and called for help. Eventually he got to the hospital and was in a diabetic coma (their words, not mine) for three days. They were able to balance his sugar/insulin and sent him home with needles and insulin after he was there 5 days. At the time, he was a triathlete. He was diagnosed as an "Adult onset Juvenile Diabetic." Again his words not mine. His pancreas just stopped working.
My point is that Type 2 runs in my family as does old age. I always discuss diet with him and his advice is simple:"Follow a diabetics diet and you'll keep your blood sugar level." I am hoping to beat genetics. I learned from him the difference between fast, medium and slow sugar and eat accordingly. Yes I cheat, I love ice cream. I'm hoping exercise and diet will keep me off pills and needles. It seems with your history, you may be fighting genetics.

My buddy tells me fruit is big time sugar. He also says if I'm going to eat fruit, eat the ones that are highest in fiber. They break down release sugar slower.

Good luck and I hope you win the battle.

mjh365

+1...Yes. Eliminate grains including rice. As for the diet drinks... They are loaded with sugar too.

donheff

Wow, with your diet and only 15 pounds overweight you are heading towards diabetes? Are your numbers really that bad? I would parrot the low carb recommendation (works for lots of us) but it sounds like you are pretty good there already. So, in addition to staying away from anything with added sugars and highly refined wheat, etc., maybe it is time to get a bit more radical - for 60 days start eating bacon and eggs every morning, whole fat dairy, real butter, toss in some chicken or a steak for dinner. Then do the labs and see what's happened to your numbers. What the heck, you're over 50. What's the worst that can happen?

OldTryGuy

I use my incisors and canines on more than just vegies, fruits and roots. Maybe it's time for a change.

SERRIOUSLY, I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted.

Coal Buster

Are you getting enough cooked foods? It sounds like your diet consists of mostly raw Veggies except for tofu. I know human evolution depended on the development of fire because as a species we need a more concentrated source of nutrition than raw foods can provide.

Null66

Wow, every post by OP, it just gets worse and worse...

Pretty much doing all the standard behavioral modifications. Lifting, and lifting heavy might help dampening the blood sugar swings.

However as someone pointed out this look like a slow motion onset of adult onset diabetes... SO sorry dude. I believe it usually hits in the 20's...

Friend had a similar experience as the 7-11 story, except he went home and a while later his SO found him.

Good Fortune... Wish you all the best.

Dave Cutter

Your post reads like you see yourself as a victim of some sort. Although I am sure the idea of the post was mostly for humor.... I think you pointed out your problem behaviors even if you didn't recognize it.

I guess if we count walking as exercise.... we are all world class athletes aren't we. Walking isn't just good for us. If we can walk.... it is the way we get around. But walking is more like pre-exercise. It doesn't really read here like you have a real exercise program. You just move around like a normal person that is still mobile... and call that exercise.

15 pounds over-weight?!?!?!? That is a lot. Not for everybody.... but for YOU..... apparently. Too heavy is too heavy... even 15 pounds. BTW would losing 15 pounds put you at a BMI of 24 which is just acceptable.... or closer to a BMI of say 21?

And you're a vegetarian? Well no wonder you have health problems. An overweight vegetarian sounds like someone with a reckless disregard for dietary hygiene. You have obviously made some "pre-diabetic" poor dietary choices.

Proper sleep patterns are probably the easiest lifestyle choice a person can make. And one that has great health rewards. But the ways people manage to disrupt normal sleep could fill many books.

I am currently watching my brother die from the same rationalizing I read in your post. Reasoning with him doesn't seem to work. The family has tried an intervention of sorts and it all falls on perfectly working.... deaf ears.

You are very, very lucky! You may have the time and opportunity to recreate your lifestyle choices and continue with a long and healthy life. But... on the other hand it might just be a lot easier to think of yourself as a victim and complain and find excuses for this problem. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

qcpmsame 

Agreed with Cutter, just being a vegetarian doesn't mean that your nutrition is healthy. There are plenty of ways to eat yourself into diabetes with just eliminating meats and most sugars, the amount of carbs you are taking in must be overwhelming your system some how. What are your portions like? You indicated that you ate a HUGE salad (your words), and you also say you are 15 lbs overweight, somewhere you are taking in more calories than you are burning, but the overweight doesn't mean much to me with the standards out the public goes by now, however. His thoughts on total lifestyle and actions hits home for me. Finding fault with the fact the doctors have diagnosed something and rationalizing not making further changes won't help beat the odds at all. Something you are doing, something environmental, or something genetic is causing the problems with your body, not a diagnosis.

Finding out what the members here are experiencing is helpful in some cases, I'd be asking the questions you've put forth to us to an endocrinologist, and a nutritional specialist, if you haven't done so.. I have kidney disease (Stage 3B) and when I was diagnosed I went to a nutrition plan similar to yours in the lack of meats, processed meats and foods, and sugars. The difference I see is that my portions are strictly controlled and the protein levels are watched so I get enough of them to keep a balance that the doctors approve and my lab work shows is doing the job properly. I won't rationalize any exceptions to the nutrition plan for any reason, being told I could be on dialysis or need a transplant was plenty of reason to make me toe the line. The thought of eating something with salts, sugars or fried anything makes me feel nauseated.

Good luck on keeping the diabetes at bay, it can be done. Attitude will play a big part in your success, or lack of.

Bill

OldsCOOL

How is your thyroid output doing? If you dont know, better get it checked. Thyroid and Pancreas have related issues.

phoebeisis

Eat more protein and fat.
But-EXACTLY WHAT are they basing this prediabetic diagnosis on??
If they are just eyeing your Hgb 1 AC-(which measures the percentage of glucose binding sites on your hemoglobin molecules that are occupied by glucose usually about 5.5% or so in normal older folks)
They MIGHT be over estimating your actual "diabetes" risk.
Vegetarians- eat LOTS AND LOTS of glucose-hell "not from animal foods" are mainly glucose and some fat- with small amounts of proteins.
No surprise a GLUCOSE EATER would have a slightly "high" average glucose exposure-
and no meat means whatever glucose you eat-is pretty quickly absorbed-meaning you get spikes in you blood glucose-and more glucose binds to hemoglobin

So you could just ignore those warnings-
or eat more protein and fat(maybe eggs milk??)-don't some folks "eat" coconut "oil"-sounds horrible,but
or just ignore the warning- you eat a lot of glucose if you are a VEG person

PS PLAN B- take TINY TINY doses of insulin with you glucose loads-heck insulin is anabolic-a poor mans PED(just ask body builders-those crazy folks KNOW PEDS much better than MDs)
And there is GOOD evidence that early insulin will to some extent head off type 2 diabetes-or at least mitigate it a bit
Yeah early insulin for type 2 DM is making a comeback
No it won't "hurt you" Insulin is used by VERY OLD VERY SICK folks-who fumble around with the various needles-
and it RARELY KILLS THEM
so for a fully intact middle aged guy-it could be helpful-
Might even improve your times if you race

But I would just ignore any prediabetic warning if I were you-it is just your VEG diet
(depending on just what they are basing this prediabetic warning on Hgb1AC or fasting glucose)
If it is the fasting glucose-I would consider tiny tiny doses of insulin(especially if T2 DM runs in the family)

OldsCOOL

I totally echo the struggle with genetics. When I was 28 I had lost all motivation, strength and had a mysterious loss of 30lbs over Christmas. I would stand at the sink and gulp large glasses of cold water and then an hour later pee huge amounts on the hour. Not long after that I went to the doc and hosp for diabetic regulation, 1980's style. I was a picture of health, vigorous powerlifter/bodybuilder and on the go. Bam! Out of nowhere came Type 1. Treat it and live.

OldsCOOL

Absolutely! I posted a recent thread here and some shouted me down for it, but hey it's true. I figure if you have to suffer with a potentially fatal (complications) disease you just might as well wring out a few benefits. The anabolic effect only works if you can keep your numbers under 180. I know....I was a national champion powerlifter in the naturals with national records in benchpress. No steroids, I benched 346lbs at 165 class and jumped to the 181's and benched 375. Squat was 535. Insulin helped, genetics and much hard work also helped. At the age of 53 I could still casually benchpress 350 and freak the kids out and get shouts from the old guys.

Be very careful with small amounts of insulin and check blood sugar often. This is NOT my recommendation outside of medical advice but if the doc says to inject, I can help. I am now 57 with my A1C coming in at 6.9 last week.

Mvcrash

His was 1980's style as well. He now has the built in pump. He told me last week the pump is great at keeping his sugar stable through the day since it monitors his blood sugar constantly.

Coal Buster

Very interesting post, @phoebeisis. Do you have any links or articles you can reference about heading off type 2 using small insulin injections? I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while and he told me he'd just been diagnosed as early type 2 (seems to be a pretty common conversation for people in this age group). I'd like to show point him to this line of research.

FWIW, in my experience, they won't test for hgb1AC unless the fasting glucose has already come back high.

Hangtownmatt

I recently went through a similar diagnoses after a colonoscopy. The doc said I had diverticulosis which is a precursor to diverticulitis. He said to drink more water, eat more fiber and exercise more. Of course I was still sedated and wasn't in a position to argue but I don't know ANYBODY who does more of those three things than me.

In your case I think you should lose the 15lbs. If you don't do any resistance exercises than you should start. Not only will this help to quickly shed those 15 lbs. it has many other benefits as we age as well.

Matt

Mvcrash

Someone on this website shouted you down about something?.....Tell me it ain't so......

OldsCOOL

I confess.....my diet contains red meat (I hunt), chicken, fish and love oatmeal for breakfast with my vitamins.

Jinkster

Dave?...Bill?....just thought I'd toss this out there...

I can relate to the OP's apparent angst...as I recall?...I was much the same (and still am to a degree but I'm working on it)...and now onto my point...

As a Former U.S. Marine, Hard working Machinist and 25 year married father of 3 grown daughters?....and outside of wrestling with addiction/alcoholism since my adolescent years?...it was a huge blow to my pride and ego to get diagnosed with TYPEII at age 52...it was hard for me to accept that I had become "Damaged Goods"....and even harder for me to accept the trauma of realizing the reality of my own mortality.

The depression was crushing...as in my mind at the time?...I too was doing everything right....not drinking...no drugging....no more partying through the nights and weekends....had been clean & sober for well over a year just staying home being a good boy and going to bed after coming home from my many 12 step meetings...and then I get hit with this chit?...closely followed with gobs of self pity and fear....along with thinking "i knew"...that a serious weakness had befallen me and that I was no longer....."A Whole Man"

My family making a big deal of things didn't help....I felt like I went from "Man Of The House" too "The New Baby In The Cradle"....my wife constantly scoffing at me anytime I ate anything (even though I was keeping a close eye on it all and only eating meats and veggies) harping at me that I wasn't taking care of myself and that I'm going to lose my legs and when I do she ain't pushing me around to my daughters doing things like ripping ketchup and steak sauce bottles out of my hand scolding me that "Look Dad!...There's Sugar In That!"

Talk about humbling?....did I feel "victimized"?....You Bet Your Brooks I Did! LOL!

Here's the things I learned and mindsets I've adopted along the way that might help the OP....

1. The first pill or shot is always the hardest to swallow and take.

2. "Living" is easy...it's the getting old part that requires strength and wisdom and IS what separates the men from the boys.

3. If you are reading this forum?..chances are you're over 50 years old...this is a 1964 Ford Falcon...



a 50 year old car....they made over 126K of them...how many do you see rolling around today?...and they were made of steel and iron....where you are only flesh and bone...so feel blessed.

4. Any body...just like any car?...no matter how well you maintain it and buy the best of fuel and oils?....sooner or later?...somethings going to break.

5. "Vegetarian": is an old Indian term for "Bad Hunter"...and millions of helpless living plants are mercilessly slaughtered by them everyday...stop the insanity! LOL!

6. Cowboys didn't pack celery sticks for that long drive....but they kept a close eye on their sack full of jerky.

7. I was a troubled teen...and I had a biology teacher who knew I liked bow hunting and took me to the side one day to explain to me...

"Did you know that you don't have to shoot a deer?...and that if it were running across a desert where you could easily see it's tracks that you could quite literally run him down?"

Explaining to me that because I'm a carnivore that the proteins I eat would fuel my body far longer than the nuts, leaves and bark deer eat and that the deer would exhaust it's fuel to run long before I.

BTW?....what is the average lifespan of a herbivore?...nevermind...I just googled it and apparently?...it goes by the size of the creature...for instance...while hippos and elephants can live upwards of 50-70 years?...gorillas only last about 35-40 years....and I would assume most of those live a vice and stress free life getting plenty of sleep and drinking nothing but water...and as the creatures get smaller in size?...they don't last as long...and gorillas are what?...3-4 times our mass?...enjoy that carrot juice there bunky!...I'll take my ribeye medium/rare! LOL!

8. It seems to me that Doctors over the past few decades have been very up in the air regarding cholesterol...at first?...none of it was good for you...then they went with the findings that there's "good and bad" cholesterol...and now?...many seem split over that as well...but the one thing I think is the worst thing anyone can do?...is to "Get Extreme" with anything as far as it relates to fueling the body....as I'm of the belief that suddenly switching too to low of an octane (or not enough) WILL harm your engine.

9. Survey Says!...10 out of 10 people don't get off this ball of dirt alive....and it's not always a quick easy trip.

and finally?...

10. When I help others?...it gets me out of myself...when I do my will?...I get consequences...when I do Gods Will?...I get results...10% is a lot too tithe...and not everyone can...but the retirement plan is out of this world!

Eat Healthy, Pedal On and Ride Safe! L8R, Bill.

OldsCOOL

It was minor, really. But I did have a thread locked on the topic of statins.

OldsCOOL

Bill, I loved reading the whole post but especially got a chuckle over 5 and 6! Then reading about your biology teacher? Hmmm. And lastly, being a believer I give a smiling "amen" to number 10. I appreciate the humor and perspective.

howeeee

So I have been a diabetic for over 20 years I am now 61. At first I could control it with diet and exercise. Then I was told the longer you have it the more difficult it will be to control it. Then I have been on many medicines on and off. So i think the obsession with white rice and white potatoes is way over blown. Probably more important is to eat small portions at a time. More important also is to eat low fat. High fat diets make it harder for insulin to work.

So the last few weeks I have been trying to get from 172 lbs to 145, the weight I was at about 25 years ago. I am eating about 1200 to 1400 calories a day and riding about 100 miles a week. I am off the medicine and my sugar is better than when eating regular and taking the medicine. I am down to 155 pounds, when I get to 145 I think my sugar will be even better. I have no problem eating white bread and white rice in small portions, this probably due to eating very low fat and lower calories in total.

The moral of the story is, more important than just eating whole wheat bread lol is being very thin. 15 pounds to 20 pounds less is a big diffrence At my worse I was about 190 and had to take a lot medicine I am on a small frame so 145 is where I think I have to be.

Mvcrash

#2 : Only one alternative to living. I would like to stay on this side of the dirt a while longer.

#3 : One of my toys is currently a 1955 Chevrolet Belair. It too is over 50.......pushing 60. Runs great but has rattles and squeeks....Just Like me.

#5 : Haaaaa....I have to steal that line.

#6 : Love Jerky but I'm no cowboy

#7 : Back in the day Troubled teens wound up in the USMC by order of the local Judge. I was lucky, they shipped me off to provate school instead.