My daughter just found out she is Pre-Diabetic and is asking for our help....

I have been off track lately. I need to get myself back on track so bad, and talking to my daughter today and giving her all this advice has actually motivated me.....I'm starting over today!!!

Is WLS not an option for her? She's young. She could get the diabetes under control and have a healthy baby in as little as a two years. (And we all know many have healthy babies in way under two years!) The pregnancy would be a lot easier on her body if she pulled off more than 100 pounds.

My grandmother often uses http://diabeticgourmet.com/ for yummy recipes.

We have talked about the surgery and she is interested, but I think she wants to try and handle this herself. I have a feeling she may go for the surgery after a baby though.....I have kinda picked up on that while talking to her!!  She is really overweight, and I have been scared for her health. This is not a surprise to me that she is pre-diabetic, but it still breaks my heart.

Thank you for the website...I'll pass it on to her!

I understand completely. I was about at your daughter's weight when I started really trying to lose. I was working at it, but it was slow going. When I found out my BMI was too high for fertility assistance, I decided once and for all to get this off of me. Now I know I have to wait two years, but what's the chance of me getting to a healthy weight and actually maintaining without surgical help? Sending positive healing thoughts your daughter's way.

I am a nurse who specializes in high risk pregnancy. Ideally you daughter should have WLS, stabilize her weight loss where she is no longer rapidly losing and than start trying to conceive.

Pregnancy while morbidly obese carries many risks, we already know she will be gestational diabetic, she is at higher risk of pre-eclampsia that can be life threatening to her and baby, and if it happens early, delivery is the only cure, so now there is a preemie baby in NICU which is heartbreaking for a new mommy. Also if she has a c-section at this weight she is at higher risk for poor healing and blood clots.

A post op pregnancy is much lower risk although MD's not familiar with bariatrics will act like a pregnancy after wls is high risk.

Best of luck to her in whatever she decides.

I had gestational diabetes while pregnant (with both my pregnancies I weighed between 250-300) and developed diabetes about 6 years after my first child was born. I did very well during my pregnancies~~ gave myself insulin shots and ate a low carb diet and kept my blood sugar numbers under control. I did go through stages of trying to control it through diet after the surgery but honestly taking care of myself was not as much of an incentive as taking care of my babies had been (bad, but true....) Diabetes is such a tough disease because it just doesn't cause you to feel bad so you don't have any incentive to really control. I mean....I'm a smart woman but I just ignored the long term possible effects of things. 

One thing she really needs to do is get on oral medication. I know it's scary to be on meds, but it can help and it's just a pill to take each morning....or maybe more than one pill but it can control things when you just aren't able to. I especially had trouble with my morning fasting number and that one is almost impossible to control through diet.

The diet that we are on as WLS patients is very similar to the diabetic diet. I kept my carbs and fats low. The American Diabetic Association can be very helpful and there are lots of diabetic cookbooks. In restaurants, I would eat a burger with no carby side (french fries, etc) or an entree that was only protein (steak) with one carb side. I could have 2 carbs per meal (I think? that's 40 g...it's been a long time).

Surgery has freed me from this prison and I can't recommend it strongly enough. My AIC was 4.8 in my last blood work (6 months after surgery) and my fasting blood sugar was 70. I don't believe I could have gotten this under control without it.

Good luck to her and you! I'll keep you in my thoughts.

I skipped the "pre-diabetic" phase and was just DIABETIC.  I have been fortunate to keep my AC1 within normal range but do take meds.
I ex was diagnoticed in Dec. He weighed about 400 lbs. I went with him to see a specialist diabetic nutritionalist.  He lost  almost 100 pounds from Dec to mid Mach by eating the prescribed 1800 calories( 3- 500 cal meals and 3 - 100 cal snacks)  He was living w/ me (long story) so he ate what I ate but he had to have a grain each time he ate.  I would suggest that she go to some sort of nutritional counseling but a good place to start would be to encourage her to eat like you eat.
Logging her foods would also be eye-opening.  I had to remind my ex that if he didn't log everything he was only fooling himself.
I wish her luck.

Thank you so much. I suggested that she logs everything she eats. She is just gathering up as much info as she can right now. I also told her to eat 5-6 small meals a day and to NEVER skip a meal. She just ordered some protein samples too....I hope she keeps motivated! I know she has motivated me to get back on track!

Unjury is the best tasting protein powder I've tasted.  GNC also has these drinks called protein blitz.  The fruit punch and grape are the best. 

In regards to weight and baby making, I was also in the same boat trying so hard that weight control took a back seat.  Hind sight 20/20, had I taken control 10 years ago instead of focusing so hard on a baby I might have had 1 or more a lot sooner than I did.  There is 11 years between #1 and #2. 

My advise is for your daughter to take baby steps in the healthy lifestyle changes.  Small successes are better than big disappointments that come from expecting too much too soon.

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter.  Is there really no talking to her about WLS anymore (especially the DS-for it's great effects on resolving blood glucose issues)?

I know she wants to handle it on her own, and that is very nice, but the odds are against her.  Less than 5% chance of losing weight and keeping it off longterm.

Does she also know that she is at increased risk of gestational diabetes?  I am also taking a nutrition/genetics combination class and there have been a handful of studies that indicate that the mother's nutritional status before and during pregnancy can have lifelong effects on her baby.  It's just something to think about.

Hate to be a Debbie Downer about the doing-it-on-your-own thing...just trying to help her perhaps be a bit more realistic.

Since many insurance companies require a 6 month doctor supervised diet, maybe you could even let her know that it's a possibility to just get the ball rolling, using the 6 month supervised diet to try to get her weight down as a last-ditch effort.  She can ALWAYS back out later.

Good luck to you.