[davef]

Denice,

Sorry you are struggling so much.

Here's what worked for me, can't say it will work for you but it might give you some ideas.

First of all I took the diet sheet I was given by the doctor, glanced at it and realised it was probably from the early 80's. One of my problems with "diets" is that they tend to be short term fixes and don't address the idea of a new lifestyle also alot of them include copious amounts of fish, which I just don't like, so I threw the sheet in the trash. Then I took out my meter and lived by what it was telling me and also made decisions about cutting waaaay back on carbs, I was a carb junkie. So with my trustee meter as my new friend and guide I started to slowly build a whole pile of foods that work for my blood glucose levels, remembering that we are all different. I stopped eating pasta, rice, potatoes and white bread. I tried brown rice but it didn't do anything for me so don't bother with it. I found a wholemeal bread that I can eat, I found it by eating it and testing to see how it worked out. So that was breakfast mon-fri taken care of, slice of wholemeal bread and mug of tea. Then for lunch, I was never really into salads, but sometimes I have one, normally I have a mug of soup and a slice of my new bread. You are in Florida and I'm not sure how drinking soup would work for you, I couldn't handle it in your climate (my brother lived there for years). But maybe a chicken wrap would work if you can get low carb wraps (I use normal tortilla wraps, just get small ones. Finally dinner, if you like fish, then wow, florida you have lots of choices. Me, I tend to eat a lot of chicken, some pork and beef (love beef) and with that I have veg. I know you mentioned not being a big veg eater, but don't forget you can make some really nice combinations in a wok with just a little oil. Onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms etc are a nice side to just about anything and for me are BG friendly. I have switched to sweet potatoes, which I like baked. Basically I made some logical choices to reduce carbs, ate things and checked how they worked for me. Give yourself some time, it does take a little while to get your head around a new lifestyle. I avoid the cookie/candy/sweet aisle in the store, but wander happily through meat, chicken, veg, oriental food aisles. I find spicing things up helps. For example I can eat a big dish of chili-con-carne (peppers, chili, onions) with a small amount of tortilla chips on the side and my BG's like it.

If you are struggling with Weight loss and need help, how about going along to a Weight Watchers class, I believe there is a meeting near you in Dania. After a couple of weeks you have the information you need so if you can't afford the weekly fee you can work on your own.

Hope some of this helps,