A New Eating "Plan"

Over the summer, I developed a new eating "plan" - I won't call it a diet, as there are no menus or foods to avoid.

I was becoming concerned about my slow - but steady - weight gain that was also causing my blood sugar readings to go up. (I test my blood sugar every morning.) I didn't want to begin taking medication for diabetes if I could prevent it by making changes to my diet.


My doctor recommended I read a book called "The Diet Fix." It advocates eating 5 or 6 times a day, whether you are hungry or not. Three meals a day are essential, with two or three snacks in between. The key is that every meal must have at least 20 grams of protein, and every snack at least 10 grams. These will stave off hunger cravings. And the meals and snacks should be about 2 1/2 hours apart... hungry or not!

I didn't know what a gram of protein looked like. By using an online food diary called "My Fitness Pal" (which has thousands of foods in its data base) I became more aware of the calories and nutrients in what I was eating. I soon discovered that a 58-gram chicken breast, for example, has 17 grams of protein. A Baby Bell mini cheese ball has 5 grams. A quarter cup of nuts has about 5 as well.

Since July I have been tracking my food intake, trying to consume no more than 1600 calories a day - though I sometimes go over. (My body consumes 1600 calories at rest.)

I haven't made any great strides in weight loss. But I have managed not to gain weight - and in fact, since July, I have lost about a pound a month. It isn't much - but it really beats gaining weight, especially if you are prediabetic!

Interestingly, I have lost a lot of my food cravings. Best of all, I feel more in control of my weight and more aware of what makes me gain. (For example, exercising makes me hungry, so I have to eat more calories when I'm more active.)

Weight management is still a mystery in many ways - but for the first time, I feel I have a sense of why my body feels hungry, what makes it feel full - and how not to let cravings get out of control.