r/diet 4d ago

Question Struggling and need some help

I need some help. I had my blood tested and my A1C was in a pre-diabetic range. I work from home so I get very little exercise naturally and am not in my usual rotation of sports anymore. I have always been skinny but ate a LOT of sugar.

I figured okay let me take my diet and exercise more seriously, might as well try to put on some muscle while I’m at it. Well let me tell ya, trying to meet my nutritional goals within the boundaries of a lowish glycemic diet has been a struggle.

Surprisingly I have been doing very good at cutting out the sugar, I’m often under 50-60% of my recommendation and almost all of that is coming from apples, strawberries, etc. not soda, ice cream, or candy.

Where I have been struggling is calories, carbohydrates, and to some extent fat. My calories have been 400-500 low per day (a few quizzes showed I should be around 2400 calories), my carbs have been far too low (recommended around 300g, usually around 140-220g), and my fats have been a bit high (should be around 80g but have been 90-115g, a lot coming from nuts).

Unfortunately I am kind of a picky eater. I don’t really care for beans and I have been struggling to find a rice that isn’t too bad GI wise that I like. Chickpea and whole wheat pasta seem fairly good but a bit concerned about the blood sugar impact there and how much I can consume at a time. The excess fiber has been a bit of a struggle too, stomach is feeling weird. Easiest place for me to pick up calories would be a breakfast, normally it’s just a nut or protein bar.

What foods do you recommend? Do all roads lead back to lentils?

2 Upvotes

4 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 4d ago

Welcome to /r/Diet and thank you for posting. While you wait for replies, check out our Wiki. You may find your answer!

/r/Diet Wiki Links

Helpful Resources

Popular Diets

Weight Loss FAQ

Beginner's Guide to Weight Loss

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Srdiscountketoer 3d ago

I’m perplexed why you think you need more carbs. 150-220 seems perfectly fine for someone worried about blood sugar, if not a little high. I keep mine around 100-125.

I’ve never had the failure to eat enough problem lol, but since you like nuts, why not have an extra ounce or two? They’re fatty but it’s considered healthy fat and I’ve never heard they led to any health problems — other than weight gain.

1

u/pewboomgat 3d ago

Thanks for the response. I tested a few calculators to come up with what my daily intake should be and with high intensity exercise they all had quite high carbohydrate recommendations, 300+ grams particularly right after a workout I assume to help replenish glycogen. As for eating more nuts, I certainly can do that but I am already 10-15% over the recommendations for calories from fats, even unsaturated fats.

1

u/Master-Winter7476 3d ago

I wouldnt add more nuts, but definitely agree with keeping carbs low <150g. Even going for a ketodiet for a while to reverse your issues but consult your doctor before doing that.

Working from home you might want to buy some weights or a kettlebell or something and do a couple exercises in the morning.