My Experience with Weight Management

*First the mandatory disclaimer: I am not a physician and cannot give medical advice.  Before going on any diet you should check with your physician to make sure it's safe for you.  The following is my personal experience with dieting and losing weight.

At 40 years of age, I found myself at 204 pounds. At only 5'4", that's too heavy. I knew it was time to do something about my diet.

Previous diets throughout the years had yielded weight loss, but the weight always came back with a couple of extra pounds. The only diet that worked was the one I was put on when I had gestational diabetes. My cousin had gestational diabetes through 2 pregnancies and delivered 10 and 11 pound babies.  The thought of having to deliver a huge baby really made me motivated to stick to a diet!  I followed the diet religiously and my son weighed 8 pounds when he was born.  After delivering my baby and losing the water weight, I ended up 20 pounds lighter than before I became pregnant. Unfortunately I went back to my old eating habits after I delivered and gained the 20 pounds back over the next 2 years.

I've been back on my diabetes diet for about 3 weeks and have lost 11.5 pounds so far. The goal of the diet is to regulate your carbohydrate intake and keep your blood sugar level.  Here are the diet guidelines if anyone is interested:

• 15 carbs for breakfast
• 15 carbs for a mid-morning snack
• 45 carbs for lunch
• 15 carbs for a mid-afternoon snack
• 60 carbs for dinner
• 15 carbs for an evening snack

Remember that these are carbs we're talking about, not calories.  You can add food without carbs to the above limits and you won't go hungry.  This reduced carb diet keeps your blood sugar very regulated and you don't have the cravings or binges associated with sharp spikes in blood sugar. 

Here are some ideas for the carb portion of the15 carb meals or snacks.  You can have ONE of the following, as each is about 15 carbs:

• 1 banana, with or without peanut butter
• 1 glass of milk
• 1 small orange
• 1 piece of bread
• 1 piece of peanut butter toast

So for breakfast, for instance, I'll have scrambled eggs with as many veggies and cheese as I want and one of the above to go with it.  For lunch I usually have a big salad, either chef or garden, depending on my mood.  Dinner can be just about anything as long as you stay within the 60 carb window.  The key is to limit your portion of whatever you have to 60 carbs.  I've had spaghetti, hamburgers, sub sandwiches, you name it.  I usually have a zero carb drink so I can delegate my carb ration to whatever I'm eating.  Right now I like the bottled waters and sodas flavored with Splenda.  Aspartame (NutraSweet) gives me headaches so I completely avoid it.

If you look into some of the pre-packaged food diet systems, they are basically doing the same thing as this diet.  You eat the food portions they have measured out in their pre-packaged food.  The difference is that you pay a lot for their food.  If you can make yourself stick to a reduced carb diet like this one I followed during pregnancy, you could save a lot of money.

Here's the other piece.  Exercise.  Get some if you can and are able.  I bought a treadmill and use it about 3 or 4 times a week.  I started out walking 2 miles a day, which took me 35-38 minutes.  That became overwhelming and I dropped down to using the treadmill to maybe 1 time a week.  I decided to commit myself to 21 minutes a day, which I knew I wouldn't "dread", and am much more likely to get on the treadmill now.  I put in more time if I feel like it, but knowing that I only have to do 21 minutes if I want makes a huge difference psychologically.  Anything more is "extra" and is an extra boost to my self esteem when I do it.

For those of you not inclined or able to exercise, you can still lose weight.  My mom is on this diet and has lost 47 pounds over the last 9 months.  She doesn't exercise, so the weight is coming off slower, but it's still coming off.  Her doctor is very pleased.

So before you spend your money on the pills and supplements advertised on TV, or on a pre-packaged food system, you may want to try this reduced and regulated carb diet.

Remember there are lots of carb free or low-carb foods: meats, cheese, eggs and vegetables.  Tomatoes are ok on this diet.  My mom told me about an especially good treat: "Carb Smart" fudge bars made by Breyer's. They are only 3 carbs per bar and are yummy.

That's it for now.  Good luck in all your health-related endeavors.