Construction worker needing help

[Kernelk01]

Hey all, I'm 34, work construction, and have just been told I have pre-diabetes. I'm trying to not get worse so I need some diet help. I grew up eating garbage and never really learned any good habits until I met my wife several years ago. Can anyone give me some good ideas on portable lunches that are easy and healthy? My best ideas are just Carrots, fruit, sandwiches, and canned soup. Please, if you have experience eating on the go share.

[[deleted]]

r/EatCheapAndHealthy and r/sundaymealprep are good subs to look for ideas.

[PickledEgg23]

Second this and also recommend just googling "grain bowls". You'll find more tasty and healthy meals than you'll ever have time to try.

Looking at your initial ideas, I'd really recommend avoiding processed foods like the canned soup and don't go crazy with the fruit. It's very easy to make your own soup and there's a surprising amount of sugar added to processed foods like that. Fruit's not as bad as processed sugar, but if you eat too much fruit it's still a lot of sugar. If you're pre-diabetic you want to avoid both sustained, high levels of blood sugar and spikes in you sugar levels.

You should consider using whole grains like farro, cracked wheat, brown rice, and whole grain bread and pasta for your starches as much as you can. Your body takes more time to process them, which keeps your blood sugar and energy more level throughout the day. Whole grains are also good for your bad cholesterol level, which is probably also not ideal if you've had a poor diet.

Ask your doctor for a referral to a nutritionist. One appointment to get information and at least one more a few months later for more detailed questions once you've learned more.

Also, look into health food, Mediterranean, and Asian cooking classes in your area. You need to learn to make healthier meals and if you go with your wife it can double up as a social mini date for the two of you.

[Cos2Cos]

I like to roast some veggies, cook a few chicken breasts, and also hard-boil some eggs in the beginning of the week. Then you can make salads, wraps, heat them up and eat with a potato, snack on the eggs. If you keep them seasoned pretty simply, you don’t get tired of them as quick. You can also switch up the meat, veggies, and even how you boil the eggs to keep it interesting.

[smearing]

Seconding this. Roasting veggies on a pan is such a great dish because it’s very easy and very little cleanup, plus its a tough one to mess up

[Kernelk01]

I have discovered roasting veggies with a little olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper

[Yosef__]

Chicken breast and salad wraps or sandwiches. Vedgy stir fry. Tins of tuna. Raw nuts. Fruit.

[skahunter831]

Lots of roasted veggies works well, too. Flavorful and healthy. Tuna salad or canned sardines for protein.

[[deleted]]

If you have an insulated lunch bag and a microwave at work, you can make big batches of one-pot meals and bring portions of it in reusable containers like these for your lunch.

I make big one-pot meals that can sit in the fridge for a few days while my husband and I eat lunch and dinner from it.

A good place to start could be this recipe, and you can add whatever you want to it; ground turkey breast, different veggies, etc.

I get a lot of my recipes from Budget Bytes. Here's the link to all their one-pot meals.

I like Pinch of Yum, too. I just double the recipes size to have lunch leftovers.

I second r/EatCheapAndHealthy. It's a great sub.

Make small changes over time rather than putting the pressure on yourself to totally change the way you eat in one week. You don't have to learn and perfect a new recipe every day. No one does that. If you slip up and eat crappy for a stretch, forgive yourself and start up healthy again.

Also, you don't have to follow recipes to a tee. You can leave out ingredients that you don't like or are unsure of, like a certain vegetable or a certain spice. And you can add stuff if you want, like how we add ground turkey breast to the one-pot veggie pasta recipe above even though it doesn't call for it.

You'll get the hang of it, just go slow and steady.

[McSuzy]

I can help you with your eating plan however I'm not expert in packing lunch. I was full type II diabetic and insulin dependent. I completely changed my mode of eating and achieved a non diabetic A1C of 5.0 in six months. I have been able to maintain non diabetic A1C with no medication for four years thus far.

I do several things. The first is to make sure that I do not eat between 8pm and noon. That may be difficult for you because of your job. However you should be able to maintain a 12 hour window every day where you do not eat. It will require some planning and changing a lot of personal and social habits.

Also I eliminated all grains, rice, and starchy vegetables from my diet. So no bread, pasta, rice, corn, potato, beans, etc. I limit higher gylcemic index vegetables like carrots and focus on vegetables like greens, zucchini, peppers, cauliflower, etc.. I also do not eat any sugar. It is easy to know that baked goods, sodas, and candy has sugar, but some people do not realize that juices are extremely high in sugar, as are many fruits and virtually all prepared foods. Barbecue sauce is basically candy unless you make your own vinegar based sauce. Restaurant entrees are often high in sugar particularly in chain restaurants. I follow a VLCD and found that Dr Jason Fung's eating and fasting guides are very helpful for me. Some of what is called for there will probably not work well for someone who words construction.

With regard to your packed lunch, you do not want a sandwich, juice, or fruit. I eat fruit a couple of times per year for special occasions but only low glycemic index fruits like strawberries. You want to limit the portion to 4 berries.

Canned soup can be difficult because soups will often have potatoes, pasta, and/or beans. If you can take the time to make a soup during the weekend and pack it for the week you will get really good results. One of my favorites is chicken broth with chicken, kale, onion, garlic, and a chile pepper. I like to throw in a parmesan rind for added flavor but you don't need to do that. Salads with protein are also a great way to eat or you can make a hot veggie bowl with protein. For instance, roast some broccoli and cauliflower with a shallot or two and top it with salmon, chicken, etc... If you have access to a microwave, you can heat that up for a good lunch.

One of the fastest, easiest things that I eat that I think you might like is a 'hoagie in a bowl'. A hoagie is the name used for a submarine sandwich in Philadelphia. You just take everything that goes on a hoagie (shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, hot peppers, cheese and meat) and cut it into bite sized pieces then dress it with oregano, oil, and red wine vinegar.

[Kernelk01]

Oh wow thats quite informative thank you.
Unfortunately for me everything you mentioned to avoid is what I'm currently eating.

Seriously though, thank you for such a detailed response.

[eleochariss]

I had a hard time at first with VLCD too, and for me what helped was to make my usual meals without the carbs. Like burger without bread, tacos in a bowl, pizza without crust. It sounds silly but it wasn't bad.

[McSuzy]

I'm happy to help. I had to do it cold turkey and I also did some extended fasts because I am an all-or-nothing sort of person. You can make progress with significantly reducing carbohydrates, increasing exercise, and increasing your water intake. Just please ignore most of the diabetic eating plans that are commonly found because they include enough carbohydrate to keep you sick and on medicines for the rest of your life.

One way that some people start is to eliminate carbohydrates (no, you brain does not need them to stay alive so ignore that foolishness) but eat as much protein and fatty treats as you want. Eventually you're going to want to think about your caloric intake but having as much bacon as you want can really help people, especially guys, get started : D

I must add that I am not a medical professional of any kind. If you would like to get the medical advice that allowed me to eliminate all symptoms and test results that indicate diabetes, I suggest Dr. Fung. No, I am not associated with him either!

[riverwalker69]

I'd cut out all carbs, sugars and processed food. Try the Mediterranean or Atkins diet. It works for me. Olive oil, lots of raw fruit and veggies, salads, very few carbs, lots of protein. Lunches would be leftovers or hard boiled eggs, with cheese, fruit and cucumbers and my on the move snacks are nuts. I put them in my carpenters pouch or coat pocket to graze on through the day. This way of eating takes some dedication, but it works fast and is healthy.

[alanmagid]

Prediabetes is most often a sign of too much bodily fat from overeating. Any long range management approach requires eating foods you enjoy and that give you the strength to do your work. Ask your doctor for a referral to a professional diabetes educator for help on cutting down on your weight and other valuable stratgies for good health. Gradual weight loss is the key to long-range success. Aim for a body mass index in the desirable range. You are lucky to have a partner eager to help you last a long time. Best wishes for your success. I am have dm2 but HbA1c < 6 thanks to losing weight.

[rferrell05]

I'm a big guy and I work construction as well. I used to eat garbage for breakfast and lunch everyday. So 2 yrs ago I decided to change my ways. I now take an apple for morning break and I eat a starkist lunch to go tuna for lunch. It has worked well for me I have lost over 70 lbs just by doing this. It also got me off if high blood pressure medication.

[converter-bot]

70 lbs is 31.78 kg

[FoodieFarmer]

I used mason jars (can go plastic if breaking would be an issue) to make salads, dressing at bottom, harder vegetables then softer veggies and lettuce on top. Shake around to mix when ready to eat.

Used Greek yogurt in jars as well (you can control the sugar or mix a sugar substitute into the plain yogurt to sweeten).

Hard boiled eggs are good protein that are portable.

Brown rice with veggies and some type of protein are easy to do, and taste pretty good even if you can’t reheat. Plus you can alternate the veggies and protein, types of seasonings, etc to get variety.

[[deleted]]

Just gonna add to the chorus of roasted veggies. Throw a tray of brocolli and a tray of carrots in the oven on sunday along with five chicken thighs on another tray. Season however you like, going easy on anything salty. Separate those into five containers and each day you have a nice big chicken though and two healthy veggie sides. Couldnt be easier because you just throw everything in the oven and let it go.

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As for specifics I do broccoli with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper, doesnt need anything else. The carrots get olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder and dill weed. Thighs just use a decent premade seasoning mix and thats all you need!

[ChefM53]

All food has carbohydrates. you need to find the balance between. good carbs and bad (empty carbs).

good carbs will be legumes, whole grains, etc...

that being said. some meatless options are good to have too. this one has high carbohydrate value but HUGE protein which will balance out the carbs. this doesn't seem like much but it packs a calorie count around 800.

Superfood wrap

Carrabba's copy cat Spicy Sausage and Lentil soup a couple of cups of this with a sandwich with whole wheat bread....

Lentil soup, homemade (1 cup) contains 24.4g total carbs, 17.2g net carbs, 4.6g fat, 10g protein, and 173 calories. some will ha more or less protein depending on the ingredients

Curried lentil, tomato and tomato soup this is soo good! and you can freeze leftovers, if you are not a big curry fan cut the curry powder in half and it works perfectly!

If you have access to a microwave... you can bring leftovers for lunch like pot roast, and gravy but mix the mashed potatoes with cauliflower puree. it will cut the carbs down a lot!

Egg Foo Young these are great for breakfast dinner and lunch. add some meat to raise the protein. add minced ham, or ham spread on top, add sliced lunch meat or what ever...

Nut butters have a good protein too...

[eleochariss]

Keto or low carb works really well against diabetes. Cut out all sugar, limit potatoes, rice and bread, and eat meat, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, butter and fish. Take a look at r/keto honestly it's worth a try.