I'm a Loser--weight that is

I know something about diets. I've had insulin dependent diabetes for over thirty-five years. By watching my diet, exercising and checking my blood glucose levels and most of all paying attention to my disease, I've managed to head off any complications. Well good for me. Not really, because it's a no brainer. Exercise some discipline or die young and leave a good looking corpse.

Having a disease like diabetes is a lot about dieting. I have been on a diet for 35 years. Do I cheat? Of course I do. But not most of the time. Just some of the time. It takes the pressure off.

As far as the diet stuff goes, what I've found most helpful is a food diary along with measuring the quantities of food I eat. I don't do this all the time, just once in awhile to make sure I'm really eating what and how much I think I am. It is easier to stay on track if I know exactly how much and what I'm eating and yes I write down any cheating. If I have to write down everything I eat or drink, then it's harder to kid myself about what or how much I eat. And believe me I'm a great kidder. And measuring helps me develop an eye for portions. I can recognise what a cup of mashed potatoes looks like on a plate at a friends or a restaurant.

The most important thing for me is that a diet must be a life long thing. It's not temporary, it's forever. So, I take it a day at a time. I didn't try to lose weight that took me years to gain in weeks. That's too hard and too painful. I try to remember that by cutting my calories by 100 a day, I can lose 10 pounds a year or if I increased my intake 100 calories a day, over a year I would add 10 pounds. So what works for me is small changes over longer periods of time.

There are some websites that help me with nutritional values, calories in fast food or just about any food such as Calorie Count.