Hi Brian:

Well, helloooooooooooooooooothere my fellow loser weighter person!!!!

I'm a diabetic, on insulin, I'm 60 years old, I have degenerative joint disease. I used to weigh 300 lbs. And while I'm not at my ideal weight, yet......I'm getting there.

What worked for me is this. I don't eat any refined carbs, sugar, ANYTHING processed (especially after breakfast. I allow myself a low carb bagel with cream cheese and a cup of Dunkin Donuts Coffee for breakfast every day. Some days it's a different bagel (if they don't have the low-carb ones).

Also, and maybe you can do this, and maybe you can't but, on the advice of the nutritionist Alan and I went to, we went off all red meat whatsoever.

We eat fish, chicken, turkey (lean), and well, no red meat. I remember asking the nutritionist "you mean that a person can't ever eat red meat (and at the time I asked this question, I had been off of red meat for over 10 years, and I just wanted to get her opinion on red meat).

She looked at me and said "if you HAVE to eat a steak, make it once a month, and that's it". I'll never forget the look on her face.

But meat is a good source of B-12. So because I don't eat any red meat, I take the Methyl B-12. So there's my source of B-12.
With me, it's all about the refined sugars, carbs, etc. So after breakfast, it's protein, salads, (including raw veggies), with a splash of extra virgin olive oil.).

For lunch, why not try a salad with grilled chicken. In that salad, there are a few tomatoes, some sliced black olives, some shreded raw zucchini and throw on the cooked grilled chicken, which has been sliced, add a splash of lemon juice and the extra virgin olive oil. Toss, and eat. It's really good and very satisfying.

Then wait 30 minutes or so, and, only if you are able to walk and have no serious feet problems, go for a brisk walk for 30 minutes. Get your heart rate up. I'm 60, and on the days when my knees are not acting up (like if it's 90 degrees outside), I walk for an hour. It burns up whatever I ate.

Now if you start to do weight lifting. And this is especially good for guys, you have to eat small meals throughout the day because you have to FEED the muscle mass and muscle BURNS THE FAT!!!

So, if you are one of those guys with barbells and dumbells around the house, do some lifting, eat some protein, and go out and walk.

If you are not able to do this, just sit in the chair, take two big cans of vegetables and lift them in each hand. It's still weights and it will still burn fat.

See the whole idea is to get started, keep doing it, eat a bit more protein, and lots less carbs. No refined sugars, no high fructose corn syrup in anything you put in your mouth (this stuff is in everything, so read labels). That's why I cook everything I put in my mouth.

And believe me, I was the biggest hostess cupcake eater on the planet.

And I don't put anything in my mouth after 7 p.m. at night. I AM ABLE TO DO THIS. Some diabetics can't. You have to do what's good for your body.


It's all about the metabolism, getting it revved up, and keeping it revved up. Doing it after 50 is the pits. But hey, we gotta try.

I plan on looking like Sophia Loren when I'm 70. Alan thinks I'm nuts, but I make him laugh.

So good luck on your path to being a thinner person.

Believe me, if I followed my own advice when I was 30, I wouldn't be a type 2 diabetic today.

But better late than never.

Melody