I just got my bloodwork back this morning and I am breathing a sigh of relief. I still want to get my A1C lower, hopefully around 4.9 to 5.0 with my new lifestyle changes. I remember coming to this subreddit in January feeling very hopeless, frustrated and extremely overwhelmed so I wanted to share what worked for me!
I am 33F, currently 137 lb. at 5'4. My starting weight was 142 lb. Prior to being diagnoses as a prediabetic I was eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I ate tons of bread, pasta, candy, I drank juice at least twice a day and was not eating nearly enough protein. The changes that I made are as follows:
- No snacking, I ate breakfast lunch and dinner.
For breakfast I would always have 175 g 0% plain Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, 1 tablespoon of flax seeds, vanilla extract, Ceylon cinnamon, blueberries and pomegranate seeds with 1/2 teaspoon of raw honey. I would also do one slice of Ezekiel break with 55-60 grams of avocados mashed with cottage cheese.
For lunch I would do either red lentil penne pasta with chicken breast, kale, spinach, carrots, cottage cheese in 1/2 cup of marinara or a protein wrap with chicken breast, kale or spinach, pico de gallo and a little chipotle mayo. I would allow myself one square of Russel Steven's chocolate to quench my sweet tooth.
For dinner I had a few options, I did a lean protein source usually salmon, ground chicken/turkey, liver sometimes (I was anemic, I also corrected that in 3 months). I would have a big salad and either quinoa or kabocha squash as my carb. I would have dinner no later than 7:30 -8:00 pm every night.
- I drank at least 2.3 L of water. I would allow myself 500 ml of water with a zero sugar water enhancer and one bubbly a day.
- I exercised 5 days a week. I did a full body workout with dumbbells 3x a week followed by a 20 minute treadmill incline walk and I did a 40 minute incline treadmill walk 2x a week. I used the weekends as my rest days but tried to get my steps to at least 6k each day of the weekend.
It was very hard for me in the beginning, I went from not working out regularly to a very structured routine. I know how hard it is but it will definitely be worth it!