This almost sounds like a confession in a social support group, where I should start with “Hello, my name is Erik and I’m a diabetic”. But it’s not, it’s just my life experience with Type 2 diabetes and how my diet and exercise have helped me curve the disease and transform my life back to a normal one.

The truth is that the diabetes control diet is important in all types of diabetes and has to be followed regardless of the medical treatment. In my case, it has helped me keep diabetes under control and give up on drugs altogether, with my doctor’s permission, of course. If you want this diet to be efficient, you will have to work it with your nutritionist because it has to be differentiated by sex, age, sedentary life style, alimentary preferences and other possible associated diseases as obesity, hypertension and so on. I also felt comfortable going to my local community Pharamcist for valuable free advice, who has in the past always given me many suggestions and support, to ask the questions I had about gluclose blood monitoring and exercise ideas.

Diabetes Diet

In my case, I am a male Type 2 diabetic, in my late 30s. I was considered morbidly obese, for quite a few years until 2006, when I lost the 214 lbs and instantly turned around the years of damage I did over the years. Since gaining half that weight back, I am of course aware and concerned about my Type2 Diabetes and I like to use this guide of of general recommendations for my diabetes diet, which I follow strictly if I want to feel like a normal person:

Calories: The overweight diabetics will follow a low-calorie diabetes diet plan, which means I have to eat fewer calories that a normal weight person.
Glucoses: they must be of 50 – 55% of the total caloric amount, that means in my case about 300 grams per day. Also, I am not allowed to consume simple glucoses with rapid absorption or over processed products like sugar and derivates.
Proteins: they must count 12 – 15% of the total calories amount. So if you weight 200 pounds you will be eating about 70 grams of proteins a day.
Fats: 30 % of the calorie amount. In my case this means 140 grams a day.
Salt: Less than 5 grams a day.

As a diabetic, my diet for diabetes must consist of frequent and small meals, at least 5-6 a day and I have to eat at fixed hours, and have my dinner at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Also, I have a table that reminds me of the things I am allowed to eat. I’m hoping this might come in handy for any diabetic out there that is looking for a working diabetes diet.

Tomatoes, pepper, mushrooms, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, onions, garlic, leeks, eggplants, celery, beet
Melons, lemons, raspberries and any other berries, cherries, nuts and seed and other similar fruits
Meat and fish and all derivates
Milk and all derivates
Eggs
Non-alcoholic drinks that are made without sugar

Some aliments in my diabetes diet I can consume only after I weight them like: white bread, graham bread, potatoes, beans and rice.

And of course, a have a big no-no diabetes diet list that includes: sugar, honey, biscuits, cookies made with sugar, candy, chocolate and any other sweets, dried plums, marmalade and all other dried fruits or seeds that contain sugar or other made foods with sugar…

As an adult who is now again considered overweight, and who is now doing a lot of exercises, at least for one hour a day, I can actually eat various stuff, and I proud to present you one of my daily meal plans:

Mornings: milk and coffee (250 grams), bread (60 grams) with cow’s cheese (100 grams) and peppers.
Snack: bread (40 grams) with butter (20 grams) and non-fat ham (100 grams) and fruits (100 grams)
Lunch: Clear vegetables’ soup with bread croutons (about 100 grams of bread), meatballs with mashed potatoes (150 grams), lettuces, and bread (60 grams)
Snack again: Cow’s cheese (50 grams) with tomatoes and bread (40 grams), fruits (100 grams)
Dinner: Assorted salad and bread (40 grams), rice pudding with meat
Before bed: One glass of milk with bread (40 grams)

This plan works well in my case, but it has 1850 – 1900 calories in total. People that are following a diabetes diet must take into consideration their calorie intake and if they are more overweighed or have other associated affections. For those who are underweighted, they must go over the 2000 calorie limit a day.

Delicate subject, the cabbage soup diet, as I know lots of people that really appreciate it and also an equal number of people that don’t think much of it. My personal experience with the original cabbage soup diet is quite irrelevant, as the results did show but slowly went away as I was letting go of the diet and moving on. So, I am quite inclined to turn the tide in favor of those against this diet. I’m sure there will be many voice to try and convince me that I’m wrong and even people willing to show me where I went wrong, but I don’t really want to know, mainly because I didn’t really enjoy the diet itself. I’m a person pro diversity and I am a person that needed a constant weight loss plan. This diet seems very fit for a woman that is trying to fit into her prom dress after she just gained a few extra pounds, because it provides fast and efficient weight loss, and if you want to weight X pounds on a certain date, you will. But after that date, you could gain all you’ve lost if you take wrong steps. So, the cabbage soup diet is a temporary solution, that would do just fine for minor weight troubles, but that’s where its beneficial action range pretty much ends.

Cabbage Soup Diet

When I first decided to try the cabbage soup diet recipe, it came to my attention that this way a popular one if you want to lose weight and don’t feel hungry. I don’t really like cabbage, but I said what the heck, this might be the answer. I mean, to lose the unwanted pounds without feeling that you are torturing the body would be a real blessing in the end.

There are some people that take the exclusive cabbage soup diet, and that basically means that you will be eating cabbage soup, made of …cabbage and other vegetables boiled in there, for one whole week. But that’s not the diet I took, I took the more diversified variant that sounds something like this:

Copy of cabbage soup diet:

First Day: You eat only fruits and all the cabbage soup you want. It’s only permitted the tea without sugar, black coffee, blackberry juice and water.
Second Day: Eat unprepared vegetables or boiled vegetables (no beans, corn ). At dinner time eat a big baked potato with butter and of course the cabbage soup.
Third Day: You can eat fruits, vegetables and cabbage soup, but no baked potatoes today.
Forth Day: Today you will eat eight bananas, milk and as much cabbage soup as you want. Today you need the carbs from milk and bananas, as well as the calories in them.
Fifth day: Boil about 400 grams of chicken or fish in the juice from 6 fresh tomatoes. Try to drink at least 8 glasses of water and eat only one soup portion.
Sixth Day: Eat 2 or 3 veal stakes with salad or fresh vegetables (no potatoes) and eat cabbage soup at least once.
Seventh Day: You can eat boiled rice, fresh vegetables and fruit juice with no sugar, at discretion, and at least one portion of soup.

So, the main idea is not to make us eat only cabbage soup, but to eat moderately and to fill the gaps with that cabbage soup. But since I hate cabbage, it didn’t work for me. The cabbage soup diet acts as an alimentary plan that makes the soup as an alimentary supplement when you are too hungry and you’ve already consumed all the other permitted aliments that are low on calories but are full of vitamins and proteins or fibers. This basically means you would be eating 1000 calories a day, which seems promising for a diet. But this can’t be done on the long term. Way too little calories. This is why the boomerang effect appears. When you suddenly reduce the calorie intake at half, your metabolism will fell disorientated and will start to accumulate fats immediately, when it gets the chance.

Even if I rapidly gained some of the weight I’ve lost with this diet I see a good result: it helped me get accustomed with a healthier eating style, axed on vegetables fruits and meat without fats. This is indeed the only advantage I see in the cabbage soup diet. If I would’ve taken the diet that only allowed me to eat cabbage, then I might’ve lost a lot more pounds in the beginning, but in the end you’ve been left with nothing benefic. The combined cabbage soup diet has at least this advantage, which is undeniable so try the cabbage soup diet best recipe now.

Please post your thoughts in a comment below.

This title is probably causing you to read it again: Did I miss something here? Most materials regarding diets refer to different aspects of an alimentary program, with specific steps and restrictions as well as the small unavoidable mistakes.

So, reading about a situation when you don’t necessarily need to keep a diet might seem very weird. But it might happen sometimes. Let’s say that no matter how many precautions you’ve taken during your vacation you still managed to accumulate a few pounds.

Diet or Not?

There’s no need to alarm, because in the end this is something normal. Before staring to document about diets, you’d better try to change your life style and alimentation style. You have all chances to regain your initial weight and have no trouble keeping it.

There’s no magic in the middle and the changes we are talking about will not be radical ones. It’s simply a thing that resumes to reducing the daily calories amount with about 100. This way, in a month, it’s estimated that you will lose at least 4 pounds. And, as you certainly know already, this is one of the healthiest ways of losing weight: slowly but surely, without major restrictions that might cause metabolism deregulations.

• One of the most important aspects is not feeling demoralized. Regaining your initial weight will be a lot easier than you think, so there’s no reason to worry.
• Avoid drinks that contain calories like fruit juices. It’s true that they are healthy and indicated but it’s preferable to eat the fruits rather than drink them
• Never skip breakfast. Doing this does not mean you are saving calories. In fact you are supplementing them because at lunch you will be really hungry and you will be inclined not to follow any restrictions. If you want to heave a healthy breakfast that’s not full of calories choose toast instead of white bread, boiled eggs instead of ham and a few fresh fruits instead of marmalade.
• Don’t stay away from proteins. No matter how well you eat, if your body does not have the daily necessary protein amount, you will get hungry soon. If at lunch you choose a salad, it would be a good idea to have one with chicken bites or fish. If you make your own salad, choose a tuna can with water, not oil. Degreased dressings might not be as tasty, but are certainly preferable.
• Always eat soup. It will not only contribute to daily hydration, but will also help you not to be hungry for a few hours and it does not contain many calories. You should have tomato soup, vegetable soup or chicken soup.
• Don’t focus on losing weight snacks that can be found in hypermarkets. You can’t tell if all ingredients are indeed healthy. Not to mention that they efficiency is questionable, since they are not as fulfilling as they say. Unfortunately, many persons try those as a miracle potion. If you are keen on eating some, ask a nutrition specialist before doing so.

Please post your thoughts in a comment below.