Just Found Out I'm Pre Diabetic!

As title says so been booked in for ECG and additional blood test and 20min Drs appointment in three weeks time. I’ve already anticipated that I’m on my way to diabetes due to my symptoms which are peeing a lot at night, itching, occasional blurred vision. I am upping my exercise so more cycling 😀 and being carful about what I eat and drink.

I need to learn more about the condition and relationship to sugar and exercise i.e energy gels & drinks on long rides dos and don’ts. Any tips appreciated.

Any tips appreciated.

Vegan plant based whole food diet will sort you out – just log easy on the starch

Vegan eh better start growing some dreadlocks then 😆

peeing a lot at night

I’ve put this down to an aging prostate not being able to take the pressure any more.

Should I be worried?

Blurred vision a worry! Eye damage could affect your ability to ride. Peripheral vision ok?
Lay off the carbs as much as possible, remember fruit juice is lots of carbs.
Work on that waistline.

Depending on what type of diabetes you have you might be able to control it just by having a sensible diet so I would wait until you’ve spoken with your doctor first before making any drastic changes.

I’ve just booked a similar appointment. Its a just in case thing and maybe combination of things. Recently my children have started putting labels on things they want because I’ve been complaining about left arm aching (old crash injury) hot flushes (the sun’s out), slight tightness in chest (hay fever which I haven’t had since I was 14). Sure its to do with working to much and not exercising enough but feeling knackered/stressed isn’t pleasant. Seriously watching my diet and upped riding. Better safe than sorry.

Hope its ok and let us know how it goes.

Best thing I think is to be positive about my diagnosis and for it to be a motivator for a healthier lifestyle and get that Adonis like body for real that I’ve always had in my minds eye.

Vegan plant based whole food diet will sort you out

How will losing the will to live help ?

Type II diabetes can be not just controlled but beaten by diet. I know because I have. 3 or 4 years ago I was diagnosed as type II diabetic, doc gave me all the diet info. I’ve since lost over 3 stones* and my blood sugar levels are now back in a normal range. Doctor took me off the diabetes register, although I do still need to have a blood test once a year.

*I’m still overweight but much nearer a healthy weight

That’s self-induced type 2 right? You don’t develop type 1 in later life as if by magic do you? Fill me in if I’m wrong. Surely type 2 is to a large degree reversible seeing as it’s something of a lifestyle affliction.

Nope, sorry john drummer, but no it cant. You’re either diabetic or not. You cant be a little bit diabetic, or and ex-diabetic, but you can stay within normal blood sugar range with great control, excersize and diet. Something that very few of my patients manage!
Its a progressive disease, with no cure yet, just ways of controlling the ineviatble – so it would seem as if you were back to normal.

pre-diabetic isn’t diabetic, it just means that you’re potentially on the way. first thing you might want to do is confirm how pre-diabetic you are or aren’t. easy to do, pop into boots and buy a blood glucose meter (about £12) and some testing strips. also get yourself a set of gi (glycaemic index) tables, about £5 from waterstones.
before eating in the morning, take a blood glucose reading. if it’s consistently below 7, you can try not changing your eating for a few days to se how much it changes, if it’s higher than 7 you need to change now. Once you decide there’s a need to change you eating habits, use the gi tables and cut out the red stuff (white bread, potatoes, beer, wine, chocolate) and concentrate on the green (wholemeal/multigrain brad, sweet potatoes, spirits).
i did and now get a full nights sleep without the middle of the night going for a pee carry on.

My weight is under control apart from a bet of a gut which is rapidly disappearing, I am 5’11 and just under 82kg so not really overweight. I want to get down to 79kg or perhaps 76kg to improve my climbing prowess.

Meal planning is going to need some consideration as can’t leave that up to Mrs FH even though she insists on doing the weekly shop she will struggle to come up with meal ideas based on my new dietary requirements.

iDave diet. Being very low GI.

Best thing I think is to be positive about my diagnosis and for it to be a motivator for a healthier lifestyle and get that Adonis like body for real that I’ve always had in my minds eye.

I thought that after my diagnosis for hypercholesterolemia. After two weeks my ‘self-destruct’ superpower switched on. I’ve started to dream of cheese. And, unfortunately, eat it. 😕

I stand corrected 😳

either way I’m ok at the moment

I am 5’11 and just under 82kg so not really overweight.

Dunno how old you are, but on the NHS BMI calculator, you’re overweight (BMI over 25) Sorry to burst your bubble

As others have said above, if you can lose some weight then you may never stray in to the diabetes zone.

Pre diabetes is a bit of a vague concept as it is measures by blood sugar, its a bit like looking at a paint chart and deciding where black starts on a range of white to black!

Low GI foods would be a good idea as they reduce the spike of sugar after a meal (this stimulates a spike of insulin).

Your body basically is becoming resistant to the insulin that it makes, don’t underestimate the good that exercise can do to restore this.

Diabetes uk is a good website to look at, there is lots of nonsense on the web related to diabetes!

Just look at it as the perfect excuse to spend more time on the bike!

BMI 😆 good one!

Dunno how old you are, but on the NHS BMI calculator, you’re overweight (BMI over 25) Sorry to burst your bubble

I hit the big 50 in July and yes I’m a bit past my fighting weight 😀

use the gi tables and cut out the red good stuff (white bread, potatoes, beer, wine, chocolate) and concentrate on the green boring (wholemeal/multigrain brad, sweet potatoes, spirits).

😉

BMI good one!

Aaah, are you now going to quote the example of elite rugby players being ‘obese’ due to having lots of muscle mass, thus discrediting it? Gotta love the number of cyclists who trot that one out as a defence for their excessive weight, when they compete in a sport which will make you very lean.

>82kg at 5’11” is overweight, in fact it’s nearer “obese” than “normal”.

let me get the BMI calculation right…

weigh in kg / (height in metres * height in metres). Yes?

5’11 = 71in = 1.80m. squared = 3.24

82 / 3.24 = 25.31

that’s hardly “obese”. I think it has to be > 30 to be “obese”. or have I got something wrong here?

Ah yes, shows how good I am at reading charts! Not nearer obese at all, on the cusp of normal, but still overweight!

Point on cyclists decrying BMI still stands!

I am 5’11 and just under 82kg so not really overweight.

Dunno how old you are, but on the NHS BMI calculator, you’re overweight (BMI over 25) Sorry to burst your bubble

Bejaysus, I’m 5’11 and a half and come in at 100kg! I better get measured up for my coffin now… No moobs, but a round pot belly. People don’t flinch/gag when I take my top off on holiday on the beach or round the pool.

If I were my ‘ideal BMI weight’ I would look seriously ill.

Gotta love the number of cyclists who trot that one out as a defence for their excessive weight, when they compete in a sport which will make you very lean.

Er yeah but lean isn’t the same as light, is it?

Headfirst, I’m 178cm and weigh 69-70kgs depending on which side of dinner you weigh me, and I’ve got spare. In fact I could probs do with losing a bit of my tum myself

Er yeah but lean isn’t the same as light, is it?

Its those heavy bones I reckon 😉

Er yeah but lean isn’t the same as light, is it?

Well, in this context yes, pretty much. People say BMI doesn’t work for ‘athletes’, as a convenient way to bury their head in the sand as to their weight. Find me a pro cyclist (some sprinters or downhillers aside) who are even ‘overweight’, let alone ‘obese’.

If you do a lot of weight training there’s perhaps more in it.

Waist / Hip ratio is a better guide for cardiovascular disease (and diabetes) than BMI.

I better get measured up for my coffin now…

Never mind that, you need to start saving up for all that extra mahogany.
🙂

I’m about to go for checks myself – had a temporarily blurry eye on a ride a week or so ago, although I’ve been fine since. Have probably got a bit too much timber around the waist too – I’ve been using cycling as an excuse to neck loads of biscuits.

Er yeah but lean isn’t the same as light, is it?

I’m willing to bet with your money that someone who’s 180cm and weighs 83kg and lean isn’t going to be pre-diabetic though…

Someone who’s 180cm and 83kg isn’t lean! They might be broad and muscular, or they might just be a bit chubbier than they like to think, but they aren’t what I would call lean.

As Alibongo says. A 37 inch waist seems to be the current point to worry.

surely that’s another arbitrary number though? a 37in waist on someone who’s say 6’7″ is going to be a lot better than a 37in waist on someone who’s 5’7″

incidentally I’m 5’8″ & my waist is under 37in

Well, in this context yes, pretty much. People say BMI doesn’t work for ‘athletes’, as a convenient way to bury their head in the sand as to their weight. Find me a pro cyclist (some sprinters or downhillers aside) who are even ‘overweight’, let alone ‘obese’.

How did Big Jan do? Offseason 🙂

But still better than a waist that’s measured in the 40s

A lot of these numbers are a bit ‘wafty’ but they’re just indicators

surely that’s another arbitrary number though? a 37in waist on someone who’s say 6’7″ is going to be a lot better than a 37in waist on someone who’s 5’7″

It’s based on statistical averages.

There’ll be people at the ‘tail’ at either end of the spectrum for whom this isn;t an appropriate way of measuring it.

For 95% of the population it’s probably not a bad starting point though.

Find me a pro cyclist (some sprinters or downhillers aside) who are even ‘overweight’, let alone ‘obese’.

Bit of a daft thing to say. Some people bulk up when they exercise, that’s just how it is. Those people tend not to go on to become pro cyclists, cos they are too heavy. Doesn’t mean they are obese though. And by excluding people who aren’t XC racers or tour athletes, you’re only allowing skinny people into your point about weight. Crap reasoning from all sides.

Someone who’s 180cm and 83kg isn’t lean! They might be broad and muscular, or they might just be a bit chubbier than they like to think, but they aren’t what I would call lean.

Lean means low fat. You can be big and heavy and still have low bodyfat and hence be lean.