[ivgarrett]

I have no family history of diabetes, I am a 185 lbs 19% body fat 31 year old soldier. I do not live an unhealthy lifestyle and my A1C was 8.4 at my last check. How does one fight something the he does not understand, nor does he have a chance of beating?

[veridian]

Originally Posted by ivgarrett

I have no family history of diabetes, I am a 185 lbs 19% body fat 31 year old soldier. I do not live an unhealthy lifestyle and my A1C was 8.4 at my last check. How does one fight something the he does not understand, nor does he have a chance of beating?

Define unhealthy. For years I thought I was eating healthy but actually I was slowly killing myself with processed food, meat, sodas, etc and the list goes on. You can beat diabetes. As a soldier I know you are getting plenty of excerise so thats one hurdle you crossed. The next is diet. Give up junk food, fast food, dairy, processed food, animal meat including fish and chicken, and smoking if you do smoke and adopt a plant based whole food diet. Fresh veggies and fruits are the way to go. I promise you will feel better and your A1C numbers will go down. Type 2 can be cured by a simple diet change. I'm 51 years old and a few months ago I went to the doctor with a blood sugar over 400 and I had already been several times for anginia, irregular heartbeat, and high blood pressure and I could not walk to the parking lot without my back hurting so bad I wanted to cry, and my chest hurting and being out of breath. Three weeks ago I switched to 90% plant based whole food diet. I hope to be 98% by the end of the year. Now I feel wonderful. I checked my sugar it was 99, my BP is down from 150/101 to 135/85. Read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell or go to drmcdougall.com or do your own research. Former President Clinton adopted a plant based whole food diet and is down to his high school weight and feeling better than ever. Do your own research on a vegan diet and lifestyle don't take my word for it. You can beat diabetes and the cure is at the end of your fork.

[dpawley]

First you can control, maybe even reverse/delay and I concurr with veridian. I was diagnosed with prediabetes a lil over 2 yrs ago. I would recommend starting here with educating yourself.... blood sugar 101. But there is a lot available on the web and in print. But you need know everyone is different and what might work for some may not work for you. I might suggest Dr Gundry's Diet Evolution which details 3 phases which starts with Atkins style diet to loose weight and finishes with a paleo style diet.

Good luck. :-)

[veridian]

I have to disagree with the Atkins. Plant based whole food diet is the only way to go. Cut out all meats, especially processed meats as much as you can. Ditch as many dairy products as you can. Thats the road to good health.

[spacecadette]

To a certain extent, the plant based diet advice is sound.
HOWEVER...it's a very hard place to start from.

First easy steps are to

A eat more veggies and whole fruits - avoid fruit JUICE like the plague, as it's pure fruit sugar with no fiber

B cut back as far as you can from processed starch (no white rice, white pasta or white bread [except sourdough, that's okay] - eat brown rice, whole grain breads and pastas)

C cut your usual starch servings in half -- if you have two slices of bread with your sandwiches, have them open-faced style, on 1 slice, OR wrap your sandwich fillers, meat, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, in a wheat tortilla. If you're used to having a mound of rice or pasta with your meals, only eat half what you usually would.

If you do those three things, it will start you in the right direction. Trying to do it all at once will defeat you, and this is too important to give up on! Take it in small moves and fine tune as you go.

-- Dee, 32 years type 2 and still all here.

[veridian]

Originally Posted by spacecadette

To a certain extent, the plant based diet advice is sound.
HOWEVER...it's a very hard place to start from.


If you do those three things, it will start you in the right direction. Trying to do it all at once will defeat you, and this is too important to give up on! Take it in small moves and fine tune as you go.

-- Dee, 32 years type 2 and still all here.

Agreed

[dpawley]

Diet Evolution is working/worked for me!
Phase 1 I lost 80+ lbs and got down to a normal BMI, and all my blood work improved during this time, even tho I had stopped all my BP & cholesterol meds.
When I did reach my goal weight, my numbers did start to slide, so I moved on to phase 2.
I had stated phase one was Atkins like but it is not Atkins!
And DE progresses to a raw plant based diet in phase 3.

Good luck if you jump directly from SAD to plant based.

[lap222]

You have every. Chance of being healthy. Follow your diet take your meds and check tour blood sugar before every meal. Adjust meds per your doc and your diet as needed. You may have to learn to have smaller portions or increase your exercise and lose weight. And most of all educate yourself instead of feeling sorry for yourself. Empower yourself. Diabetes is one of the few diseases that can be controlled and managed well with little or no complications if you take control and refuse to be beaten by it.

[jinja]

I got diagnosed with type 2 8 years ago and have always considered I've eaten healthy and followed the 'recommended diet/lifestyle' for people 'like me'. This is my first post on here and its probably risky given i know nothing compared to others living with this. But my sugars have just started going seriously wonky so I hit the books to catch up on modern theories as so much changes and i discovered even just too much healthy food can be an issue. My reading led in two directions - protein with low carb or vegan. Being an intermittent vegetarian I can't do regular meat eating for a lot of reasons so I'm with veridian. But I already have the cookbooks and a love of veggies. The gradual response above with changing over and in the meantime go the meds might work best for you. Check out Dr Neal Barnards books (and he is just one) and see if it resonates with you.

[cboutros3]

Hi I am 25 years old recently had some high sugars and went to the doc had an A1c and got 6.6. not as high as some I have heard but enough for my doc to give me a meter and strips and keep me on a diet for now. I am still new to all of this and glad to see that I am not the only one confused. I am only 124 pounds so it's not weight and my mom and dad have no issues so I am not sure as to why I have this problem. I have cut out soda and I have never really liked carbs to begin with but I am still getting some high sugars. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I am also having trouble with the idea of never having sweets? I don't eat them often but cutting them out all together does not bode well with me. Is there some trick around it? Perhaps timing, type of sweets or perhaps amount. I would like some feedback please. Thanks