Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

[Jules1980]

Hi everyone,

I was recently at the Dr. and blood sugar levels were 8.8 (Bad!!!!) Diabetes is in my family, My Grandmother, Father and both uncles have type 2 diabetes. My Dr. has advised me to jump into action and get my diet and exercise into play. So I have decided to give Atkins a try. I have the book and have read it....my only fear is cutting out so many carbs...will I be able to stick to that. I love my fruit!! I actually dont eat badly...never eat junk food or fast food or candy. But I love my breads, and my fruit and on the weekends I like to unwind with a couple of drinks!
Soooooooo.......is it possible to have a bowl of berries a day or a banana? And is it possible to have a slice of toast in the morning? And on weekends how do I take the stress off (or break the habit of having a drink or two?)
Any suggestions? I know my main goal is to bring my sugar levels down so this is my motivation....but a couple of cheats in a week...is it possible???

Thanks for any response

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

>> But I love my breads, and my fruit and on the weekends I like to unwind with a couple of drinks!>>

Do any of those foods love you back?

<<a couple of cheats in a week...is it possible???<<

Of course it's possible. Forums like this are littered with people who cheat because <insert reason here>. They're not doing Atkins, and they're not being successful with their goals.

>>is it possible to have a bowl of berries a day or a banana?>>

Not on Atkins Induction. When you get to the appropriate rung in OWL, you can have berries. Bananas? Hard to say ... when you get that far, you can see how they work for you.

>>on weekends how do I take the stress off (or break the habit of having a drink or two?)>>

You break the habit by saying, "I'm not drinking alcohol". Repeat as necessary. You take the stress off by finding other ways to cope than drinking.

I suspect you haven't figured out yet that this: "love my breads, and my fruit and on the weekends I like to unwind with a couple of drinks!" is what caused this: "blood sugar levels were 8.8".

So ... in order to change "blood sugar levels were 8.8", you're going to have to give up "my breads, and my fruit and on the weekends I like to unwind with a couple of drinks!"

You're going to have to decide which is more important to you ... the breads, fruits, and alcohol or good blood sugar levels.

If any members of your family that already have diabetes are sick ... look at them as ask yourself if that's the life you want for yourself.

[liv]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

If you get one of those things that measure how your blood sugar level rises with certain foods you would know that what you are thinking is not going to work.
You need to put your health first here. Take it serious.
I suggest that you do Atkins induction by the book which includes absolutely no cheats (and no alcohol) and see how well your blood sugar resonds so that you have a good idea of what you need to to do to say healthy.
Once you get familiar with low carb it is possibel to have a bit of this and a bit of that but always with fats and protein. I eat some strawberries (which is the lowest glycemic berry and which I tolerate well) I hardly ever touch banana - I can just feel my bloodsugar rise just looking at it.
Good luck. You can do it.

[Jules1980]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

Hi Atkinsgal08,
while I appreciate your reply...I do not appreciate your suggestive quotes assuming that I "haven't figured it out yet"
I have grown up in a family of diabetics and know the rules. I was simply asking ppl how they cope with the transition. Like many other ppl with stress filled lives a social drink is not to assume being addicted. I know many diabetics who have a "Social Drink" and yet still control their blood levels. I know many diabetics who have fruit bowls for lunch and don't take insulin...I have read the book and know what atkins says, but I was asking real people what they do...for example does anyone modify the diet?
Thanks again for your input.

[nat11]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

Hi Jules!

I don't think Atkinsgal08 wrote or even insinuated that you are addicted to alcohol. But I think you are looking for excuses to have a drink or to have "a couple of cheats in a week". You know having a glass of alcohol is not the way to cope with stress, or else you would not have asked: "how do I take the stress off (or break the habit of having a drink or two?)" But a few sentences later you are wondering if maybe you could get away with "a couple of cheats in a week". Are you serious about making Atkins a lifestyle or are you looking for a compromise, such as eating Atkins 4x a week and cheating the other 3 days? Because if you are decided to change your life and are decided that Atkins is the way to go, then you need to change your current eating and drinking habits. Not 4 days a week, but 7.

You say you know many diabetics who have an occasional drink. I also know many people following the Atkins way of eating for whom a drink doesn't screw up their blood sugar levels. But I also know many who can't drink at all. When you reach the 5th rung of Phase 2, you can try adding back alcohol and see what is your reaction to it. The problem with drinking alcohol on Induction is that it won't allow you to find out how it affects you, not other people.

Maybe you should create a new habit to "take the stress off". You could watch a movie or visit a new place every weekend.

Then you say you know many diabetics who have bowls of fruit for lunch. As Atkinsgal08 and liv wrote, you will probably be able to have berries in the 4th rung of Phase 2, and later you might be able to have other fruits as well, but not during Phase 1. You will need to reintroduce fruits following the rules of OWL, so that you learn how they affect you. I know people who can eat a whole cup of berries with cream at a time without any problems, but I also know people who can't have any berries or people who can't have bananas at all.

"I was asking real people what they do"

I'm pretty real () and I have been following Atkins without having "a couple of cheats in a week". Do you think the successful people you see on this forum have reached their goals by cheating a few times a week?

[Georgiana]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

Eating a lot of carbs (cheating/binging) after following a very low carbohydrate diet for a period of time, especially as a diabetic or pre-diabetic, is likely to increase your blood sugar by more than if you had eaten the same number of carbs while following a high carbohydrate diet.

And I agree with Natalie. You need to be careful with what you're doing and decide on one well-tested diet, not on a combination of many.

If you want to read more, check out:

M. A. Permutt, J. Delmez, W. Stenson, Effects of carbohydrate restriction on the hypoglycemic phase of the glucose tolerance test., 1976, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 43(5):1088-93

P. Y. Wang et al., Impairement of glucose tolerance in normal adults following a lowered carbohydrate intake., 1999, The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 189(1):59-70

Y. Wang et al., Decreased carbohydrate intake is more important than increased fat intake in the glucose intolerance by a low-carbohydrate/high-fat diet., 2002, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 55(1):61-63

[Georgiana]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

Also this:

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/35558-before-you-take-one-bite.html

[ziggy]

Re: Pre Diabetes starting Atkins 02/28/10

the atkins diet is great and a MUST for people who are diabetic

berries are ok on rung 4 but for diabetics the rungs id think are harder to climb but still doable

but as for a slice of toast.. that is just out of the question refined grains reek havok on are bodies last time i ate whitecorn/whole wheat tortilla chips i gained 5 pounds in water weight it was soo hard on my body to process now for someone with insulin resistance.. that toxic blood sugar spike would cause alot of problems

but if your able to make it to rung 9 then you can eat sertain grains but they need to be whole natural ones like whole oats which would have a less impack on your blood sugar than a horrible refined grains slice of bread

and like others have said cheating is out of the question a toxic food like a slice of bread could easily knock you out of a fat burning metabolism and ketosis for who knows how many days but if you end up cheating by mistake get right back on the wagon so less damage is done

heres more info about diabetes
Diabetes - The Cause, Prevention, Treatment and Control of Hypoglycemia and Types 1 & 2 Diabetes.