Prediabetes is SO MUCH MORE than slightly high blood sugar.

The perfect storm of too much sitting, too much of the wrong foods chock-a-block with added sugars and fats, and too much food in general (snacking, eating late, giant portions) has created a 21st century health armageddon of metabolic disorders including prediabetes, diabetes, fatty liver and more.

This perfect storm of EXCESS is creating generations who have so much internal abdominal and organ fat that the blood sugar regulation system stops working - generations headed for diabetes unless WE - as a nation, as communities, as individuals - wake up and do something. 

This is the 21st century, and we've got to be ready to protect ourselves from the 21st century diabetes-creators.

~ 88 million Americans have prediabetes, but only 1 in 5 even know they have it!

Here are CHEAT DIABETES resources (available on the website) to learn more about prediabetes: 

How Much Do You Actually Know About Prediabetes Quiz is a teaching tool that will help you understand SO MUCH MORE about prediabetes (signup and it's FREE).

The Prediabetes Reality Check is a downloadable PDF that will ask you 7 questions about common behaviors that can lead to prediabetes and give you a few quick tips about what to do instead (signup and it's FREE).

The Cheat Diabetes Blog is a great place to learn more. (FREE)

The Cheat Diabetes FREE webinar, "The 5 Most Confusing Things About Prediabetes" is a 50 minute webinar that will help you up your game where prediabetes is concerned (signup and it's FREE).

Cheat Diabetes also offers Ebooks, on-demand video trainings (STORE) and (if available) a 6 week 1-1 coaching program, The Prediabetes Roadmap™ Coaching Intensive.

Let's all get better informed and help ourselves and our loved ones stop prediabetes in its tracks!

Prediabetes is sneaky. It often doesn't have symptoms. That's why over 70 million people in the United States are walking around unaware they have prediabetes.

The only way to know if you have prediabetes is to have one or more blood tests. A fasting blood glucose tells you what your blood sugar is at the moment the blood is drawn. A Hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c) lets you know what your blood sugar has been running, on average, for the previous 3 months. See the FAQ about blood sugar/ A1c for more information.

There are so many reasons why people don't check their blood sugar. The doctor orders a blood glucose test which requires fasting, but they forget to fast. Or, they are concerned that the result may show an issue, and keep delaying the testing. Or, there is a period without health insurance, and annual physicals stop. 

If you haven't had a physical with blood work for a while, you know what to do!

The sooner you KNOW you have prediabetes, the sooner you can take action to stop the progression of prediabetes to diabetes AND halt the unhealthy microvascular changes that have already begun to occur. 

With 1 in 2 Americans now estimated to have either diabetes or prediabetes, it just doesn't make sense to continue with 'business as usual'. In the 21st century, the numbers of people developing Type 2 diabetes are just too large. Our modern lifestyle is FULL of modern diabetes-creators. 

That's why I think it is time to start focusing on common lifestyle behaviors that contribute (sometimes in a BIG way) to prediabetes. If 50% of us currently have prediabetes or diabetes, why wait to make changes? Odds are you could benefit, right now, from a critical look at what you're doing with eating, sitting, stress and more. If that interests you, sign up for the free PDF The Prediabetes Reality Check.

There's a lot of chatter on the internet about how prediabetes really isn't a health condition. This completely misses the point. Prediabetes is a mile-marker on the road to diabetes. Elevated fasting blood sugar and higher-than-recommended A1c results ARE telling you something - that if you keep doing what you're doing, you're at high risk of developing diabetes. And that isn't all! Research shows that elevated blood sugars at prediabetes levels are already starting to damage blood vessels.

Check out my blog post Why Prediabetes IS a Big Deal to find out more.

Lifestyle, habits, and choices play a HUGE role in whether a person develops prediabetes.

Prediabetes happens when we've overwhelmed our bodies with too much of some things (calories, sugars, sitting, stress) and too little of other things (plant foods, fiber, exercise, positive emotions, sleep). 

I like to think of our bodies as HERO BODIES. They keep us from developing prediabetes over years - in some cases decades - of poor lifestyle habits. But in the end, our HERO BODIES can't keep up. They are overwhelmed - and that's when our blood sugar gets up into the prediabetes range.

Get on your own side again - the side of your body and your health ... make some healthy changes in a number of areas ... and watch how your body rallies to help you feel better and be healthier!

By the time your blood sugar has gone up enough to be considered prediabetes, studies show that harmful changes have ALREADY occurred in your blood vessels. 

Prediabetes occurs at THE END of a long period (research says maybe up to 10 years) of your body trying to adapt to the interior metabolic changes that happen as we eat too much, eat too late, eat the wrong things, stress too much, sleep too little, move our bodies infrequently etc etc ...

When we have prediabetes, our body has already struggled AND FINALLY FAILED to keep us healthy. We may be more likely to have cholesterol and heart issues, develop cancers, and experience high blood pressure and arthritis and immune system issues.

But all is not lost! Remember - the healthy lifestyle changes you make RIGHT NOW can really help a body out!

There ARE recommendations for eating if you have prediabetes OR want to prevent prediabetes from developing.

Keep in mind that for most people, general guidelines aren't enough. There's more to know than you think. MANY factors impact the body's internal response to the conditions that create prediabetes. Weight loss is key for many - but not everyone with prediabetes is overweight. Loss of abdominal fat is crucial. When you eat matters. What you eat and where you got your food from matters. Creating a healthy gut bacteria, believe it or not, matters. Knowing when 'to fold 'em' and try another strategy when you're not seeing results, matters. 

I've created an Ebook AND a video training on eating with prediabetes available HERE.

There is an art to this: of shifting your mindset, thoughts, skills, and actions to give you a sustainable healthier routine and a healthier YOU.

TRUTH: Studies show that many people who have prediabetes will go on to develop diabetes UNLESS they make lifestyle changes.

There are no guarantees where our bodies are concerned, but research shows that healthy changes can slow or stop the progression to diabetes in many individuals.

Having a good understanding of why your body is acting the way it is is a good first start. Most clients feel their bodies have let them down. Some clients feel prediabetes and diabetes are genetic and inevitable.

But the research shows that a BIG determinant of whether we develop prediabetes is what we do with our weight, with exercise, with our eating, and other lifestyle areas.

I believe that in the 21st century, the cards are stacked against us. If we continue to "go with the flow" of modern life, we're going to keep getting metabolic illnesses like prediabetes. At Cheat Diabetes, I help you identify which of the modern diabetes-creators are GETTING to you and your health - so you can do something ABOUT THAT.

You may want to sign up and watch the FREE on-demand webinar The 5 Most Confusing Things About Prediabetes, EXPLAINED for more information.

You may want to visit the CHEAT DIABETES STORE for Ebooks like Am I Fat On The Inside? or The Beginner's Guide to Prediabetes or the on-demand video training What Do I Eat If I Have Prediabetes?

In the United States, a hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c) of 5.7 - 6.4% is prediabetes. 6.5% and above is considered to be diabetes. Hgb A1c reflects blood sugar levels over the 3 month period prior to the test. Fasting is NOT required for the A1c test.

In the United States, fasting blood glucose is considered normal below 100 mg/dl. 100-125mg/dl is considered prediabetes, and 126mg/dl and above, diabetes. A common issue I see occurs when you forget and have some cereal or juice before your blood test - if this happens, a HgbA1c is still valid, but the fasting blood glucose test is not.

Keep in mind that some people may show a normal fasting blood sugar but have a slightly elevated A1c, or vice versa. You may want to know your values for each, especially if you're in a high risk group (NIH list of high risk groups HERE) or worry that your eating, drinking, and other lifestyle habits may be setting you up for prediabetes.  And keep in mind that if you're in the clear BUT VERY CLOSE to a cutoff value for prediabetes, you may still want to consider making some healthy changes so that at your NEXT blood test, you AREN'T squarely in prediabetes (or even diabetes) territory.

Always ask your doctor if you're confused about your test results or want to know if you've been diagnosed with prediabetes.

Keep in mind the root of prediabetes is excess that has overwhelmed your body and created fat deposits in the organs that regulate blood sugar. There ISN'T a pill that can reverse this. Lifestyle change is what is required. Your doctor may give you a pill for prediabetes - but keep in mind, medications are meant to MANAGE your blood sugar - they can't pull the fat out of organs that are critical for blood sugar regulation.

Follow the recommendations of your doctor, AND decide that you are going to answer the MASSIVE CALL TO ACTION that is prediabetes.  Take the critical steps necessary to get your body healthy again.

Even if you're started on medication, to have the best outcome, you also need to DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

If you don't make lifestyle changes, you may find that the pill you're taking to manage your prediabetes over time becomes multiple pills and injections to manage diabetes instead.

Learn more about why a pill isn't enough and understand the difficulties of living with diabetes in the webinar The 5 Most Confusing Things About Prediabetes, EXPLAINED (signup and it's FREE).

If you aren't experiencing the results you want, you may want to ask yourself, your health coach, and your doctor:

1. Are you focused on the RIGHT results? Are you being realistic regarding time frames, weight goals, and more?

2. Are the changes you've made BIG enough? Are they consistent, OR  just weekdays or a few days / week? 

3. Have you retested your A1c too soon? It takes, on average, about 3 months for the full effect of your CONSISTENT lifestyle changes to be reflected in an A1c test. 

You may need to improve consistency, increase the number of lifestyle areas that you are focused on improving, do more in existing areas you're improving, or allow more time with the new, healthy changes to experience improved blood sugar.

IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR if you are puzzled by a lack of result or if you think there may be another health-related reason for not attaining the result you were aiming for.

If you want more information about why some struggle to get results, I talk about this in my webinar The 5 Most Confusing Things About Prediabetes, EXPLAINED (signup and it's FREE).

CHEAT DIABETES resources to help you learn more about prediabetes: 

How Much Do You Actually Know About Prediabetes Quiz is a teaching tool that will help you understand SO MUCH MORE about prediabetes (signup and it's FREE).

The Prediabetes Reality Check is a downloadable PDF that will ask you 7 questions about common behaviors that can lead to prediabetes and give you a few quick tips about what to do instead (signup and it's FREE).

The Cheat Diabetes Blog is a great place to learn more. (FREE)

The Cheat Diabetes FREE webinar, "The 5 Most Confusing Things About Prediabetes" is a 50 minute on-demand webinar that will help you up your game where prediabetes is concerned (signup and it's FREE).

Cheat Diabetes also offers Ebooks, on-demand video trainings (STORE) and (if available) a 6 week 1-1 coaching program, The Prediabetes Roadmap™ Coaching Intensive. 

Let's all get better informed and help ourselves and our loved ones stop prediabetes in its tracks!

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in the US.

Sugarscience at the University of California San Francisco 

I'll be adding more soon!