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Pre-diabetic, Borderline or Gestational?
Once you know you are pre-diabetic, borderline or gestational diabetic what do you do?
You're probably feeling overwhelmed by the amount of new information you need to know. Count carbohydrates, balance meals, maybe reduce portions and start being more active. Worse yet, you may feel there is nothing wrong with you. Maybe you are not overweight; your life is ok. So why change your habits and add more work to your already busy day?
The reality is, if you don't take action to prevent it, you will be dealing with diabetes down the road and once you have it, all you can do is control it. It may take years for you to notice any symptoms, and because you do not notice it daily, you think: "Nothing is going to happen to me. I have way too many other things to worry about."
Here are some basic steps you can take to delay or prevent developing Type II diabetes.
Steps 1: Learn to Track
Track, for a period of 7 days, all the foods you normally eat. This may seem hard, but the advantage is that after 7 days, you can analyze what you ate to identify the quantities of carbohydrates, which have an impact on your blood sugar level. While you are tracking your food, also track your blood sugars. Measure your sugars at least once a day 2 hours after a meal. Then compare the carbohydrates you ate in that meal with your blood sugars. Based on the carbohydrate level of the foods and how much your sugars rise, it will be easier for you to see what you should avoid eating, as well as which food you need to reduce.
Steps 2: Plan It Out
Follow a pre-established meal plan. You can select a meal plan that contains most of the foods you like. Or personalize it by changing, reducing or replacing certain foods. Then be aware of the changes when you total your daily nutrition facts. Of course after that, you need to stick to your meal plan.
Steps 3: Get Active
Exercise is key. Make it an ongoing habit. This is easiest when you do the physical activities you like to do. It could be walking, biking, or gardening. It is essential that you increase your metabolic rate by exercising.
Whether you follow a meal plan or track what you eat, you will soon understand how to size portions and how certain foods affect your health. These methods also help you quickly learn about carbohydrates in foods, how to count them and more.
Options for Taking Action
Now that you've learned the basics of what to do, here are ways to plan and track your meals, exercises and medication.
- Search websites for diabetic plans, print them out and use them
- Write everything down on paper and buy a nutrition facts book to look up all values of foods, and of course add them up for each meal
- Use a log book to record your sugars
Or...
- Just simply register for
has hundreds of meal plans you can customize to your own taste. As you personalize your meal plans, the service immediately calculates changes in nutrition facts — making it easier to see how adding, deleting or changing portions of foods can affect the overall nutritional values.
The food database is the largest and most complete in the US, so you can find information on any food, including ones from large restaurants and fast food chains.
If you just want to track what you eat, in addition to planning your meals, you can do that, too.
also lets you upload all your glucometer data directly into the service via a cable connected to your computer. This will save you lots of time. You'll have a backup of your glucose levels and meal data stored securely on our service. When you go to your next doctor visit, you can easily print out a report of your progress and take it with you!
takes the pain out of managing diabetes and helps delay or prevent the onset of Type II diabetes. Try it free for 30-days and experience it for yourself!
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Adapted by Editorial Staff,
May, 2005
Last update, July 2008
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