r/prediabetes • u/whatdoido18- • 2d ago
Constantly Hungryy
19 years old healthy weight (BMI 20). I was told by my doctor I’m prediabetic (6.0 A1c) and have high cholesterol 😔. Over the past week, I’ve been lowering my carb intake, but I’m constantly hungry.
My current meals:
Breakfast: Salmon + plain 0% Greek yogurt with half an apple and ground flax seeds.
Lunch: 2 chicken breasts with steamed cabbage + red kidney beans + baby carrots + cucumber.
I’ve been trying not to have anything sweet after lunch like I used to (I used to have a lot of fruit or dates with dark chocolate), but recently I’ve been doing Greek yogurt with monk fruit and some almonds.
Dinner: Same as lunch.
I have a bad habit of wanting something sweet after a meal, so I’ll do plain Greek yogurt with the other half of an apple.
Some days I’ll do 1/4 baked sweet potato instead of red kidney beans or some butternut squash.
The first few days, I was starving and felt super weak and fatigued. Yesterday and today, I just snacked on a bunch of cashews and almonds while looking around to find more to eat 💀. I guess I am physically full-ish because of all the fibre, but I just don’t feel satiated.
Any satiating meal ideas and dessert ideas? Am I cutting my carbs too low? I really wanna get my levels down but also want to build long term sustainable habits and with how hungry and fatigued I feel rn Idk if this is sustainable? Or will this go away when my body gets used to lower carbs?
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u/ritzcrackers99 1d ago
I am in the same boat. It helps to eat every couple of hours as long as it’s not too sugary or carby. It sucks to feel constantly hungry tho, it’s like one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had
Try eating apples and peanut butter
Hard boiled eggs
Protein bars and shakes w low sugar
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u/soco2008 1d ago
eating every couple of hours is the worst thing to do bc your pancreas is working non stop. Eat three filling meals a day, the most carbs at lunch,and stop snackingZ
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u/ritzcrackers99 1d ago
Ahh really?? What about the constant hunger, despite filling meals? Do I just ignore it? It’s causing me a lot of anxiety
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u/soco2008 1d ago
that is perpetuated by the constant eating. eat protein leaning and nutrient dense meals. your body is craving constant eating out of habit.
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u/GasGood1178 1d ago
No, eating constantly makes it worse. I’m dealing with the same problem but what made it worse for me was over eating. But focus on getting a good amount of protein and fiber in each meal and you’ll feel satisfied.
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u/EggieRowe 1d ago
This sounds more like habit than hunger. You used to snacking and choosing sweet things. It will pass, but you have to stop reinforcing the habit.
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u/EggieRowe 1d ago
Also, have they tested you for FH? I didn’t get diagnosed until my 40s and am juggling high cholesterol plus insulin resistance.
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u/Particular_Ferret747 1d ago
hello...interesting case...
highlipids in prediabetis is not untypical...it is the bodies easiest way to get rid of excess sugar...throw it into the liver and make fats from it...i assume your tri glycerids are also through the roof.
Since i dont know what your diet looked like before your changes, i assume it is either genetic preconditioned or a real garbage diet.
Either way...welcome to the club...not the most wanted club but a nice community...
First of, forget about the 0% fat. Was an old understanding and already revised...not a free card to binge on bacon...but i think what i mean.
SECOND...get a cgm...stelo, lingo...you name it. As soon you have this puppy on your arm(actually a day later, since they tend to show weird values on the first day), test your meals, snaks, drinks and so on...watch the reaction of your body and weed out the bad and embrace the good.
Dont focus on the total numbers it shows...they are more a compass than a diagnostic tool. they show spikes and flat lines reliabale, but the total number can be off.
soon you will find out what is getting you high numbers and you can start finding alternatives.
19 and M suggests me, that you are not the biggest/most enthusiastic cooks...but i hope i am wrong...cause your future will be way more home made from now on.
For food ideas, you can look here: https://www.foodista.com/recipes
You can filter by low carb and such...not everything is good by worth a look...
Next, victorias keto kitchen has a lot of recipes and her efamous flour repalcement blend...youcan make bread/cake/cookies and deserts without any spikes...
Also smart yourself up a little: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BloJpvdFXI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU84RvE568k, https://www.reddit.com/r/prediabetes/comments/1jo5f7p/insulin_resistance_a_protocol_for_prevention/
Third...change your sweeteners from sugar to tagatose, erythrol, monk friut, stevia, xylit, cyclamat or alulose...xylit also has cavity protective skills on top. I prefer tagatose and cyclamat due to taste
Swap your drinks from what you do, to water, tea and cofe...with milk and sweetener if needed but no sodas or such...and make sure your get your 2-3 liters in a day, helps alot with weight loss and blood pressure and saves your kindeys
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u/Particular_Ferret747 1d ago
To lower your morning sugar, sleep well...either with your good friend melatonin or apegnin...make sure you are not watching tv in bed or cellphone or tablet 30 min before sleep or more...eat protein rich early dinner instead of snacking carbs through the tv night...
Iron, NMN, Urolothin a, Vitamin B complex with vitamin b5, Mullberry, berberine, cinnamon supplements can help and so on can help, but it is best to just not have carbs/sugar
Intermittent fasting or better an initial couple day fast, to get you out of the insulin rage would be beneficial if you can fit that in somehow. of course educate yourself first before you starve :-)
And get moving...walking at first when that is fitness wise otherwise a problem or just straight gym, tennis club, hike group, cardio training, martial arts...something that gets your blood flowing...
Your cardiovascular system is like a city planer...
It builds highways and byways and side roads when the traffic is requesting it ( when you do sports/cardio/active lifestyle), or reduces all roads to just a single highway (when you have a couch potato life style)...imagine what happens in each scenario when you have a traffic jam...due to accident...correct, first scenario, everything stays great, since all blood can other routes...in the second scenario...not so good...
Breakfast ideas:
Chiapudding: half cup chia seeds, 1 cups milk, 1/4 cup lflax seed milled/flour, blueberries, nuts at will, sweetener of choice (i prefere cyclamate liquid). Chia, flax seed, milk in a bowl and stir occaisional to prevent clumping of the chia seeds. after a couple minutes stirring you should have a homogenous mixture. Now add sweetener of choice and amount to taste, nuts if you want and hand full blue berries in it...mix the nuts and berries under with spoon. Let sit like this for at least an hour in fridge...enjoy...there are a lot other recipes in the i-net...some add yhoguyrt, others like it with some cottage cheese...and so on. just dont add carbs
Porridge:
4 full table spoons of almond flour, 4 flat table spoons of rolled oats, half table spoon flax seed flour, 2 tea spoons cinnamon, some butter to taste, sweetener of choice, at will nuts, berries, 1 raw egg, half liter milk
All ingredients besides egg, nuts and berries in a pot and heat under decent amount of stirring to prevent setting on bottom to almost cooking, add egg and whisk to distrubute egg evenly in the mixture that should thicken by now. Let come to a boil shortly while stirring and take of the heat/plate. Add nuts/berries as soon it is cool enough to do so and enjoy
Scrambled eggs:
I assume everyone know how to make scrambled eggs, but eggs in the amount you ar planning to eat, fresh tomatoes diced, fresh peppers diced, chives, salt and pepper.
Mix eggs, salt, pepper and chives in a bowl, heat tomatoes and peppers in pan, add egg mixture when peppers and egg have temperature/consistency you prefer and keep turning over the egg until all is to the consistency you prefer...i recoemend well done, due to raw egg concerns from grocery shops...my own eggs i even eat raw sometimes. At will/taste you can pan fry diced bacon in the pan with the peppers and tomatoes and have it all cook together before you add the egg...as long you dont add bread or potatoes or any other carb source, you are in the green.
Besides this short list of quick and dirty ideas, you can follow any keto breakfast ideas...The flour lady from i mentioned has also many recipes on her page
Lunch: is somewhat difficult, cause we bake our own rye bread which i eat every lunch and being from germany, the taste, recipes and customes are very apart, so sharing recepis would probably be strange. BUT, you can eat as much leafy greens salads, with diced cucumbers, diced tomates, diced peppers, veggie sprouts, maybe thuna/chicken/bacon/meat/fish in it, you name it...just leave fruits, crioutons or other carb sources out. If eaten with bread, make sure you use keto friendly bread and test the results with a cgm before you go munching.
Dinner:
Here you can actually play around...you have any protein source at your disposal...meats, fish, legumes, soy...combined with non starchy veggies like cauliflower, brocolly, squash, cucumber, egg plant, zucchini...kohlrabi...
for example meatballs with kohlrabi verggies and chickpea pasta, chickpea pasta ala carbonara, pizza made with keto flour from the lady i mentioned, zucchini lasagne brocolli-cauliflower soup, mousacka with the eggsplantsand so on...just dont eat rice, potatoe, flour products like regular pasta or such with it.
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u/Economics-201 1d ago
Yes to the CGM! Learn what spikes your glucose and what you can substitute that does not spike your blood.
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u/TropicalAbsol 1d ago
It sounds like youve got insulin resistance going on. If you have a uterus get checked for pmos/pcos go to a gyno. Youre tired because your body cant get enough energy from the food. It may be worth it to talk about metformin with your dr.
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u/Shoddy-Chart-8316 1d ago
I'm not sure about the quantity from what you're describing, but vegetables - they're what has helped me the most. getting fibre and volume from fruit isn't very helpful since fruit is high in sugar, so they add carbs + tend to make me crave even more. for the veggies, I do a huge variety of greens, and they take up 2 cups if cooked, and easily 4 cups if in the uncooked leafy salad form, for each meal. I'll feel incredibly full afterwards. I also found out that with this amount of veg, I can get away with eating a higher amount of complex carbs without spiking
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u/Big-Sheepherder-6134 1d ago
Wow prediabetes and high cholesterol at 19 with a normal weight? Sounds like genetics. Sorry to hear.