28 Nov The Path to a Healthier You: Managing Prediabetes through Diet
Prediabetes can be a wake-up call, but it’s also an opportunity to make changes that can profoundly influence your health journey. With the right dietary choices and a holistic approach, balancing blood sugar levels becomes achievable. Let’s embark on this path together, exploring how small, sustainable changes in diet and lifestyle can lead to significant health benefits.
You can listen to the whole episode and find more information in the link below, or anywhere you get your podcasts
Welcome Back to Your Health Journey
Managing prediabetes is about understanding how your daily choices impact your body, especially through diet. While it might seem daunting at first, incorporating certain foods and altering your eating patterns can maintain blood sugar levels and overall health. Let’s delve into the vital role of diet and practical strategies for preventing diabetes progression.
Why Diet Matters in Prediabetes
Diet plays a critical role in managing prediabetes because it is a primary factor influencing blood sugar levels. Foods rich in processed sugars and carbs are quick to spike blood sugar, whereas protein and healthy fats balance it. Your goal? To keep those sugar levels steady, just like gentle, rolling hills.
Beginning the Process with Balanced Meals
Start simple: ensure each meal has a mix of lean proteins, healthy fats, and fiber-rich foods. Embrace leafy greens as they are nutrient powerhouses that contribute to overall health. Eating your veggies with lean proteins not only offers essential nutrients but also slows down digestion, preventing those troublesome sugar spikes.
She Makes Things Easy!
I have joined Danna’s Urban Cleanse to get back into healthy eating after giving birth. I have never enjoyed cooking or been particularly creative in the kitchen, and with a very active toddler, a demanding job, and a partner who travels often, pasta had quickly became my go-to evening meal. Danna is wonderful, knowledgeable and always ready to explain and share her opinion while being supportive, and I enjoyed the group format. It is helpful to know that challenges are generally shared and there are people with the same goals supporting each other.
The plans can be adapted to match one’s lifestyle. In short, she makes things easy! Recipes are interesting and tasty as well as quick and easy to make, which for me is key. It means that I don’t have to eat chicken and salad at all meals (boring!) nor try to figure out something decent and healthy to cook after a 10+ hour work-day. After a little more than a month, I am starting to enjoy cooking and I also find myself more mindful of what and how I eat. I eat much more healthily now and he occasional treat is just that, a treat, rather than something to resort to for the lack of a better alternative. I hugely recommend working with Danna if you’re curious about food and its impact on overall health.
A Whole New World
I started working with Danna last year, where we focused together on 3 very specific goals – to have a better handle on the foods that would provide me with energy, experience better sleep and have consistently a more diverse range of healthy recipes to create in the kitchen. In the time we worked together I not only achieved those goals but can confidently say the experience really opened up a whole new world for me, and the best part about all of this is it continues to evolve. When Danna talks about her goals of creating sustainable lifestyle changes, she truly delivers. I have become more curious and mindful about the type of food I choose to eat and provide to my family, what I cook and the way I cook has completely changed and I genuinely really enjoy being in the kitchen. I have a different understanding of what my own body needs and I know what food makes me feel good and which doesn’t and I can now make informed choices around that understanding. And through it all I only feel like I have gained from the experience – there has been no feeling of cutting out or abstaining or missing out. It has been a truly wonderful journey which I encourage everyone to take, you owe it to yourself!
Simply Amazing at What She Does
As a Functional Medicine practitioner I’m super picky on who I work with. Danna is simply amazing at what she does. I have sent her my patients with confidence, knowing that they are always well taken care of. If you are looking for a health coach, someone to guide you with your nutrition, or simply someone that can help you achieve a better state of health, then Danna is your gal. Oh, and she has some awesome online programs as well. Don’t forget to check them out!
I Was Very Sceptical
To be very honest, I was very sceptical before I started and was convinced I could also do it on my own. The result: I gained weight and I felt worse. I underestimated the fact that I needed the support. Not only that, Danna got me to do things I was convinced I would not be able to do: quit Diet Coke to a point that I do not even like it anymore, changed to a healthier lifestyle and even started intermitted fasting.
The good thing about the program is that you learn how to adopt a healthy lifestyle without skipping specific foods completely. This makes it easy to fit in my life. If I want to eat pizza, I eat pizza! I even do not feel guilty about it It was the guilt that always made me go back to the old (unhealthy) lifestyle in the past. “I failed anyway, so it does not matter anymore”. Danna taught me that there is no such thing as failing and that you can enjoy unhealthy moments without feeling bad about yourself. As long as you go back to eating healthy after it.
She also taught me that eating healthy is not complicated or difficult and that it even tastes good!
The biggest result for me is the way I feel. Yes, I lost weight and that feels good, but the unexpected increase in the way I feel is incredible. Apparently, before I started the program, I had this basic feeling of not feeling well that I did not even notice, because it was just there. Now that I feel so much better, I notice more what an impact “bad choices” have on my health, mood and energy levels. During the day I feel better and at night I still have plenty of energy left to do stuff. I also notice that I am less sick or that when I feel sick it takes less time to overcome it.
Thank you Danna for this! It was really a turn around for me. Oh, and the biggest thank you for putting up with my scepticism “no Danna, I can`t do that, it is just not for me”… but hey, you were always right
From Cookophobe to Cookophile
This morning I cooked an omlette for my boyfriend and myself. So I made this omlette with your teachings in mind… The critical moment is when he puts the first bite in his mouth. I trust his judgement as he is a good cook with fine taste buds. I waited until he took in the first mouthful. And he said, yes this is good, nice mixture of vegetables and taste. He was approving and enjoyed it. At that moment, my first thought was for you and how in 2018, you took me from cookophobe to cookophile. That I feel more confident and bold in the kitchen and that I take initiatives. That thanks to you, I feel like I am speaking the language of food – not fluent yet, but speaking and enjoying it. And no longer feeling like a stranger in my own kitchen. Thank you – you planted some cooking seeds and they are growing, slowly but steadily.
A Significant Change
Danna has made a significant change to how we eat as a whole family. She has shaped the way we approach food and more important the skills we pass on to our children about nutrition. I love her inspiration, recipes and ideas. She is competent and was always passionate to find the right solution for us. Thanks so much Danna for all your support! I can highly recommend working with Danna!
Finding A New Me
The Urban Cleanse program with Danna was the beginning of my lifestyle change. Through Danna’s great support and championing, I have learnt over time that little and bigger steps were bringing me very far away on my journey toward improved health. Danna is a wonderful coach: she is patient and committed, she listens and she fully understood when I was having hard time and facing challenges (the journey was not always easy for me!). She constantly looked for solutions and tips to support me, championing me and gaining my trust. Before meeting her, I was convinced to know a lot about health and wellbeing but Danna made me discover much more and truly helped me to find a NEW ME. I am really grateful: thanks Danna!
Symptoms Almost Completely Gone
Before I met Danna , I had had 2 years of food intolerance symptoms such as nausea, bloating and dizziness on top of being diagnosed with auto-immune disease (Hashimoto). It felt very daunting to start a diet, let alone which guidelines to follow!
Danna was instrumental to get me started in an elimination diet. Her tailor-made coaching meant I could gradually change my diet and find out what did and what didn’t work for me and my body. She was as much of an emotional support as a widely knowledgeable expert in nutrition. She also helped me to shop for products available in Switzerland and provided a wide range of recipes I could get inspired from.
Today my symptoms have almost completely stopped. I feel confident and empowered in keeping up with this new lifestyle – feeding my body with the food that most benefits it!
Thanks again Danna for the incredible work you are doing!
Managed To Change My Life Around
I have loved working with Danna! I have struggled with weight, emotional eating, and hating myself for most of my life. I couldn’t explain I’m just one post what freedom I have become from joining Danna’s program. I gave up conventional dieting 2 years ago.. and swore I would never return. I have managed to change my life around and feel so supported from Danna and everyone in the group. Don’t let fear stop you this time! You can and will be successful in changing how you and you family eat and function.
Mastering the Order of Consumption
Consider the sequence of your meal. Begin with a salad, incorporating a vinaigrette to include beneficial vinegar that aids digestion. Follow with proteins and healthy fats, only introducing carbs later. This technique prevents sharp sugar spikes, allowing for a more controlled blood sugar impact.
Building the Perfect Plate
Think of your meal as an opportunity to create balance. Load up on non-starchy vegetables, choose lean meats like chicken and fish, and opt for plant-based proteins, such as beans and lentils. Don’t shy away from carbs entirely; instead, favor whole grains like brown rice and quinoa for their slow energy release and nutrient richness.
Snacking Smartly
Snacks can be both satisfying and sugar-friendly. Opt for options like Greek yogurt with berries, veggie sticks with hummus, or an apple with almond butter. These combinations are not only delicious but also help maintain consistent blood sugar levels on the go.
Dispelling Myths About Carbs and Prediabetes
Cutting out carbs is not the solution, but choosing the right ones in moderation is part of a sustainable diet. Don’t let fear dictate your food choices; instead, focus on incorporating various carbohydrates that suit your body best.
The Power of Family and Lifestyle Choices
Emphasizing a balanced diet from a young age can curb the risk of developing prediabetes later. Understanding family health history is crucial, but lifestyle choices also play a pivotal role in prevention and management.
Conclusion: The Road to Empowerment
Every meal presents an opportunity to make choices that support your health journey. By focusing on what you eat and how you eat it, it's possible to manage and even reverse prediabetes. Remember, small steps lead to lasting changes. Tune into your body, listen to it, and continue learning and adapting. Your journey towards health isn’t just a personal endeavor; it’s a source of empowerment and resilience.
What small dietary change have you found most effective in balancing your blood sugar levels or improving your overall health? Share your experiences in the comments!
Danna helps incredible women understand just how incredible they really are – by working on self love, on healing their relationship with food, and giving their gut what it needs in order to support their health and livelihood. Her goal is to help others reach deliciously sustainable lifestyle changes. Enjoy life, and enjoy every bite of food you eat. No diets, no deprivation!
No Comments