Some want to scream and shout for the sake of hearing themselves scream and shout I believe. A friend's daughter went to a doctor who told her to go with the "if your grandparents didn't eat it, don't eat it" type diet. However the doctor also cautioned a few things. First, white flour and sugar are the whipped puppies in todays diet planning, however granny and gramps sure ate a lot of it and 200 years ago they ate it too. The interesting thing he said was apples and many fruits for the most part are *out*! Why? Granny and gramps ate apples, but not the bastardized hybrids we have available today. Same thing was specified with grapes. Think about chicken and turkey. Nowhere near what they were even 50 years ago to say nothing of 200 years ago. Another interesting one was go ahead and drink coffee if you want, just don't drink decaf. Reason is what they do to it to decaffeinate it. Rice an potatoes are basically out in most weight-loss diets anyway but there too, not what they were before. And so on. So if you *truly* wanted to abide by such a diet, I'm not sure what you actually could eat. Even much of the home grown items would be out since they're genetically modified. I tend to think that moderation is still a good guideline. I doubt any doctor or nutritionist will say a pat of butter will kill you and sometimes the treats are important. Even many diabetics can have a sugar treat on occasion. People die. Period. Someone can get hit by a butter truck and one could blame butter I guess! Like I said before, much depends on the purpose of a changeover. Could be other alternatives than cutting it out completely.

Can you stand another "linda tells how to do it recipe"? Because the only place this is written down is in a hand written cook book my mother made for me. Start with 2 big fat pork chops...or pork steaks...or shoulder...about 1 1 /4 pounds of meat. Brown it in a dutch oven and as it's browning add a lagre onion cut up and a good sized green bell pepper, chopped and 4 or 5 cloves of garlic also chopped. Brown slowly and when the meat is brown and the veggies soft, add about 1/2 cup dry red wine and 2 28 oz cans of plum tomatoes which you have torn up with your hands ( good for the skin....keeps the cuticles soft!) and 2 small cans of Contadina tomato paste ( no other brand!....and not the stuff with any "seasoning" in it)....conti ue to simmer and fill the tomato paste can with cold coffee and add that....and fill the other paste can with broth....beef or chicken doesn't matter. Add 3 bay leaves, a generous T. of fresh oregano...( or a tsp of dried)...same with basil...and 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley ( or i T. dried)..and 1 generous Tablespoon of parmesan cheese... Simmer about 2 or 3 hours....adding more water if it gets too thick....check for salt and perhaps add some dried red pepper flakes. Break up the meat....remove any bones and serve....with or without the meat. Linda C

This is our favorite.......can't begin to tell you how good it is! THE ULTIMATE MAC & CHEESE 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 3 cups good quality white crusty bread, cut into 1/4 inch pieces 1 qt. (4 cups) half & half 1 cup milk 1/2 cup flour 2 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 2 cups vintage white cheddar cheese, shredded 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded 1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded 1 pound large macaroni with grooves Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and set aside a 9x13 casserole dish. Place bread in a bowl. Melt 4 Tbsp butter and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Pour butter into the bowl with the bread and toss to combine. Set breadcrumbs aside. Melt 6 Tbsp butter in a large saucepan over med heat. When butter melts, add flour. Cook, whisking 1 minute. While whisking, slowly pour in milk and half and half and add 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp red pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and nutmeg. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick. Remove pan from heat. Stir in 2 cups sharp cheddar, 1 cup vintage white, 1 cup Swiss, and 1 cup parmesan; set cheese sauce aside. Blend the remaining cheese and set aside. Cook macaroni in boiling water 2-3 minutes less than the manufacturer's directions. Transfer macaroni to a colander,rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Add salt and pepper to taste and add 2 tbsp butter. Stir the cheese sauce into the macaroni. Pour mixture into 9x13" dish. Sprinkle reserved cheese and bread crumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes.

I am not diabetic but I do have insulin resistance as part of another medical (gynocological) condition called PCOS. I have been on Metformin (usually prescribed to diabetics) for a few years now. My dad is diabetic and I am at some risk of developing diabetes, too. I used to be thin-normal weight but began gaining weight when I developed PCOS and insulin resistance. The Metformin has helped control my weight a bit, but I am still overweight because I have relied too much on this drug and continued eating whatever I want. I don't smoke or drink or do drugs, so food has always been my vice. Especially when I am stressed or down, I go to "comfort foods" which are high in carbs. (High-carb foods such as white potatoes are comforting because they actually help increase the level of serotinin in your brain, which is how antidepressants such as Prozac work.) Anyways, a year ago I decided to stop eating meat as part of a health kick to eat lighter, healthier and lose weight. I had been stuffing myself daily and eating lots of chicken. At first I was always hungry, because I was used to eating a lot and the truth is, nothing is quite as filling as meat. I ate all the whole grain bread and veggies and fruit I wanted, but I was always hungry again soon. Then my body adjusted and it became much easier. If you eat whole grain bread, pasta, rice, et cetera, you should feel fuller than if you eat refined carbs. The fibre content in whole grains slows down the rate at which your body converts the carbs into blood sugar, which prevents your blood sugar and insulin levels from spiking up and crashing. When choosing carbs, think of eating high fibre. High fibre is the key to helping to control insulin levels. Refined carbs have little to no fibre left in them. Anyways, I lost weight and then fell off the wagon when Christmas rolled around, as there were delicious cookies and candies and chocolates everywhere! Also, it was hard to eat whole grain carbs all the time, because most restaurants and cafeterias use refined, white flour bread, pasta and rice; they also usually serve white potatoes, not sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes are much better for you). I only managed to lose weight at first as a vegetarian because I packed homemade snacks and meals with whole grain bread from the grocery store, and carried my food around with me all day while I was out and about. Normally I am not so good; normally I buy lunch everyday at work. It's not that hard anymore to eat out and eat vegetarian, but it IS still hard to eat out and eat whole grain carbs instead of refined, white flour carbs. You may see my problem here: I like to eat out a lot but I don't like eating meat or eating refined, white-flour carbs. That REALLY limits my choices when I go out. If I want to eat the way I know I should, I basically can't eat out. Also, there is a misconception that the biggest enemy of insulin resistance/diabetes is sugar and carbs, but the real enemy is saturated fat. It's just that most fattening foods are also loaded with sugar. You need the sugar to make the lard palapable. About 30% of the weight of chocolate, for example, is due soley to its lard content. Saturated fat is the real enemy, but when you eat out at a cafeteria or restaurant, you don't know what kind or how much cooking oil they use. You don't really know the ingredients. This also makes eating out hard if you are concerned with diabetes/insulin resistance, or just weight control in general. I heard that the Canadia Liberal government is planning to get rid of trans fat from school cafeterias, and there is some organization trying to get rid of trans fat cooking oils from all restaurants altogether. I think the next step may be to demand better quality carbs. Diabetes is an epidemic now, afterall! Anyways, I have decided to ween myself off the Metformin because of its side effects. This will mean that in order to avoid becoming obese, I will have to get strict again about what I eat, prepare homemade snacks and meals to take out, and exercise more (strenuous exercise increases insulin sensitivity). When I first told my family doctor I had gone vegetarian, she wasn't very happy. My blood tests had shown that I had very low vitamin B12. Because vitamin B12 is derived primarily from animal meat (it is absent from plant food), my doctor assumed my low B12 levels was due to my dietary changes. I started taking vitamins from the drug store. I'm not sure, but I think that helped a bit. Vitamin B12, like iron, is essential for a lot of things, including hair health. For a couple years now I have been concerned that my hair falls out too much. Well, I recently read that 10-30% of patients on Metformin long-term experience vitamin B12 deficiency (and can subsequently lose hair) because Metformin can actually interfere with the body's ability to absorb vitamin B12! It's all becoming so complicated. For a while I considered just going back to eating meat so that I could stop filling up on refined carbs everyday and then relying on Metformin to help with the resulting insulin spikes, but I have decided no, meat is gross, so I am instead going to just carry around homemade whole grain food with me all day as I go about my business, eat out less, exercise more and get off the Metformin. I know I can lose weight without meat because I did it once before, a year ago. It just takes discipline. Hopefully, my hair will also thicken up again after being off the Metformin for a while. One more thing: a good alternative to rice is quinoa. It is a good grain with lower carb content. It also cooks much faster than rice. It tastes lovely and fluffy. It works well as a side dish in place of rice.