I was told I would need insulin to treat my diabetes daily...

This is for all you people that want to lose weight, rehabilitate and stay in generally good condition without crazy diets, running, jogging, bike riding or doing a bunch of weightlifting in a gym.

I speak from experience when I say that I have used many of these methods in my life and the crazy diets do not work to keep weight off.

Running or jogging on asphalt puts an unnecessary strain on your ankle, knees and hips.

Bike riding is fun for sightseeing and as a hobby, but using it to keep in shape or lose weight is not worth it.

People that are obese are at risk for heart disease and diabetes. I weighed 235 lbs @ 5'11" and I became diabetic in the process. I have a heart arrhythmia which is an irregular heartbeat. I have overcome these issues and kept them from being dire health problems by instituting some changes to my diet and exercise regimen. Perhaps, some of you could benefit from my experience.

You do not have to have diabetes to eat the way I do or a heart problem to exercise the way I do, but I am going to share with you how I lost 55 lbs. and maintain it.

Eating habits are hard to change. Look at the size of your palm. Use your palm as a guide for portion size. Eat what you want, but only eat the size of your palm as a portion.

Now, when you eat vegetables, some are inclined to put globs of cheese or butter on them and this is not healthy. If you want to put cheese or butter on anything, melt a teaspoon in the microwave and take you vegetables and place them in a plastic bag with your melted choice and shake it.

Whenever you are going to add a condiment other than mustard, you should place items in a container or bag and use only 1 tablespoon max and shake it up. Salad dressing is an easy condiment to overused and should be added in this manner.

When drinking juices of any kind, always use the 4 oz. measure. Better to eat a fruit, again, remember your palm size.

Do not get caught up in what you cannot eat. Moderation and portions are key here. Cake and pie and ice cream and chocolate are all okay to eat as long as you only have that palm sized portion.

I never recommend being a vegetarian as a healthy way to eat because we are carnivorous and meat is an important part of our health system, so eat fish, beef, turkey, tuna, pork, chicken in palm size portions. Use olive oil or vegetable oil when sautéing, but use the very least amount possible. I put a tablespoon in a bag and shake before I put them in the pan, meat or vegetables, to keep from using to much oil. This is where I add salt or pepper or garlic, too.

I wrote an OP not to long ago about how I love to deep fry and that is something I treat myself with maybe once a week, but I still only eat palm size portions when I do.

When you eat and what you eat when you eat, makes a huge difference about losing weight. Here is a sample day for me with times and choices. I drink about 2 gallons of water each day to keep hydrated and to flush my system.

Breakfast: 8 am

4 oz. of OJ or an Orange.
2 slices of dry white toast or 1 pancake.
4 oz. of grits or oatmeal. Teaspoon of melted butter. Cinnamon.
2 eggs scrambled with teaspoon of whole milk or sour cream.
2 slices of well done bacon or sausage patties.
8 oz. coffee w/one teaspoon sugar and one tablespoon whole milk.

Snack: 10 am

4 oz. of yogurt or fruit.

Lunch: 12 noon

1 1/3 lb. hamburger (sirloin), 4 oz chicken or tuna.
4 oz. of potatoes or rice.
4 oz. of black beans.
8 oz. milk shake.

Snack: 3 pm

4 oz. of nuts.

Dinner: 6 pm

4 oz. steak or fish or turkey or pork.
4 oz. broccoli and cauliflower w/ teaspoon of melted butter.
Salad mix with carrots and onions and tablespoon of bleu cheese dressing.
4 oz. potatoes or rice or pasta.
4 oz. black beans.
4 oz. orange soda.

Snack: 10 pm

Popcorn or 1 scoop of ice cream.


I do exercise in the morning after I eat. I walk 3 miles at a regular pace. But I do it in a pool with resistance and I use what I call water aerobics. I wear water shoes with cotton socks to avoid blisters. I, also, do this at night before my snack. Many of you do not have access to a pool, but if I were you I would try to find a way to do so.

These changes have helped me immensely. I was told I would need insulin to treat my diabetes daily and I have not because I have followed this regimen and my blood sugar has remained in normal range now for 5 years as a result.

Maybe you like what I have shared and maybe you disagree, but it has worked well for me and I just wanted to share. I am not a dietitian or a fitness instructor. I did this on my own without the help of anyone. I did get some guidelines from the diabetic diet sheet in the hospital, but the rest was up to me to implement and maintain. My weight has varied from 165 to 175 depending on the season, but I have been in the best health and shape due to these changes.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Hats off to you!

The key is to find a healthy diet you can live with. If this helps your glucose levels without pokes you have found what your body needs. Keep it up.

Wish I could do the same for my daughter. She's type 1. It CAN be controlled with diet, but it would be pricey and difficult. I'm more afraid of a SHTF scenario where we could not get her insulin. . .

Hopefully they develop something soon . . .

a reply to: denybedoomed

I suggest you invest in a camel. The ultimate prep for diabetics.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Whenever you are going to add a condiment other than mustard, you should place items in a container or bag and use only 1 tablespoon max and shake it up. Salad dressing is an easy condiment to overused and should be added in this manner.

Hi, thank you for your useful post. I love the tips about how to apply salad dressings, butter, and other condiments. This is something I will implement for general health beginning immediately.

Would you mind clarifying why you don't recommend limiting mustard? I currently don't eat mustard but would be willing to attempt a conversion from mayo to mustard, if mayo is somehow worse than mustard. I thought ketchup, mustard, and mayo were all equally bad for you.

a reply to: searcherfortruth


You have done a great job of losing weight but you did not mention how your diabetes was doing.

My thought.

Cut down on the carbs. increase the protein and vegetables.

Use whole wheat or whole grain bread instead of white. White bread absorbs like pure sugar.

Maybe a couple of tomatoes instead of an orange tho oranges are, I think, medium glycemic.

Anything that is high glycemic index are rapidly absorbed like sugar and cause the blood sugar to rise causing an increase in insulin then a rapid drop which causes hunger again.

Milk shakes and ice cream are not helpful. Maybe at first just cut down to one or the other per day and look for some other helpful snack.

Milk shakes, ice cream, white bread, pasta, potatoes really need to be limited. I know this is hard but just exchange maybe 1 helping per week or so may help your blood sugar.
www.hsph.harvard.edu..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">harvard

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Bike riding is fun for sightseeing and as a hobby, but using it to keep in shape or lose weight is not worth it.

what utter twaddle - my bikes are a central pillar of my fitness regieme

a reply to: searcherfortruth

I've been thinking about this thread. A family member of mine has adult diabetes, so far managed with no insulin injections. This person is not overweight. They have charted lower even blood sugar levels when consuming a few tree nuts after dinner. If they skip the tree nuts, the sugar levels are noticeably higher. Usually the choice is pine nuts but any tree nut should produce similar results. Number of nuts eaten is 6 to 12.

I use cinnamon, 500mg twice a day..

Does wonders keeping my sugars down.

I'm a type 1, going on 33 years.

Back in March I got the flu and pneumonia, lost 50 lbs. I was told I was diabetic and may have been why I was so sick. I've managed to keep the weight off by a similar plan as you've posted here. I eat what I want but it's all about portion size. I like the palm of your hand idea. I've been simply watching the carbs.... no more than 60 carbs in a meal and 30 carbs for snack time between each meal and in the evening.

I think the most important thing no matter what is cutting out sugary beverages in anyone's diet. I used to drink soda but now I only drink 16 ounces of coffee without sugar in the morning and 64 ounces of water throughout the day. Once in a while I'll have some juice or something else but not often.

I can't get over how you said you drink 2 gallons of water per day. I have a hard enough time getting down a half-gallon.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to add. I didn't need to take any drugs for my diabetes because the weight loss brought it in check. Doing so well, blood sugars were normal, that I also stopped poking the finger too.

Thanks for this OP, will incorporate a couple of your ideas into my weight management plan.

Very pleased that this has worked for you, although I think there is room for improvement!

STOP limiting healthy fats! Fats are ESSENTIAL. Protein is ESSENTIAL. Carbs are NOT essential.

Cutting out the carbs, as another poster mentioned, is a very effective way of dealing with diabetes. This isn't to say that you should go full on ketogenic and have NO carbs, this is not a long-term healthy diet. But you would benefit from cutting out the starchy foods entirely. No bread!! Certainly no cake Get your carbs from nutrient dense sources, like broccoli, carrots etc. which contain enough carbs to keep your brain working efficiently, but not enough and in the wrong form to produce an insulin reaction.

Replace the carb calories with fat ones, ie. more butter, olive oil on your salads. Putting butter on every portion of veg is much healthier for you than having a sandwhich with two slices of white bread.

a reply to: Dem0nc1eaner

I think you may have missed the main point of his OP. He eat's what he wants but limits his portion size. This has worked for him. I've also been using this same philosophy and it's worked for me as well. I still go down to McDonalds on occasion an order a quarter pounder. Bread is starchy and bad but it doesn't have to be completely eliminated, just cut down. That was always my problem, I like to eat and no diet plan ever worked for me because I found out through life that my crack problem was food, but now I can still be a crackhead! I just use less, lol.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Why don't you knock out the breakfast altogether? It looks like you eat quite a lot for that time in the morning. Forget it altogether and wait till lunch! I havn't ate breakfast over the last 12 years and that used to be a bacon batty only or similar. in fact moost of the time i'd only have a snack around 10 like a choc bar and then wait till lunch after 12.

Knock off the breakfast!

Or maybe just get yourself a banana in the morning and that's it.

Also another thing you could try is Ginger, Garlic & Tumeric.

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist

A diabetic probably shouldn't skip meals anymore than they should consume too much.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Honestly, that seems like a lot of food or at least a lot of carbs, regardless of portion.

originally posted by: Atsbhct
A diabetic probably shouldn't skip meals anymore than they should consume too much.

I'll take that a step farther and say no one should be skipping a meal, it screws up your blood sugar and your metabolism.

People just need to learn proper portion control and how to make their own food.

originally posted by: Rezlooper
a reply to: Dem0nc1eaner

I think you may have missed the main point of his OP. He eat's what he wants but limits his portion size. This has worked for him. I've also been using this same philosophy and it's worked for me as well. I still go down to McDonalds on occasion an order a quarter pounder. Bread is starchy and bad but it doesn't have to be completely eliminated, just cut down. That was always my problem, I like to eat and no diet plan ever worked for me because I found out through life that my crack problem was food, but now I can still be a crackhead! I just use less, lol.

To be fair, I did start with "Very pleased that this has worked for you".

Of course, portion control will help you lose weight, because you are eating less!

However, the reason you feel like a crackhead IS because of glucose. It is sugars and carbs that make you feel "hangry" because they are highly addictive.

When you cut out the carbs and get more of your energy from fats, you get hungry, but not "hangry".

It also doesn't take long before you realise that you "like" bread and pasta, but in the same way a smoker "likes" the tast of a cigarette.

You wouldn't eat plain bread or plain pasta would you? Cut out the carbs and you can afford to eat more of the real food that you normally put on top or in between them

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Because I'm too pregnant to do anything very productive today, I've logged your sample days meals into a fitness app.



3000 calories a day seems like a really extreme amount of food.


Edit: adjusted for 1 hour vigorous water walking.

originally posted by: searcherfortruth


Breakfast: 8 am

4 oz. of OJ or an Orange.
2 slices of dry white toast or 1 pancake.
4 oz. of grits or oatmeal. Teaspoon of melted butter. Cinnamon.
2 eggs scrambled with teaspoon of whole milk or sour cream.
2 slices of well done bacon or sausage patties.
8 oz. coffee w/one teaspoon sugar and one tablespoon whole milk.

For me the Orange Juice,2 slices toast, pancake and oatmeal are the alarming items.

4oz OJ = 12 carbs
2 Toast = 30 carbs (15 each)
Pancake = 20 carbs with no syrup
Oatmeal = 30 carbs

Anything white in color I try to limit. Carbs in white food (bread, rice, potato..etc) turn immediately into sugar.

Anyway what do I know. My diabetes does not require insulin yet because Actos lets me use what my body produces. May have to change soon. Thanks for some of the ideas.

Are insulin injections difficult to manage? How much when...

Sounds like you are doing well. Congrats