I've been told by many folks, from health care providers to diabetics, that a diabetic diet is by far the best for anyone.  I'm not diabetic, but it just makes total sense to me that eating meals that are balanced between all of the food groups allows digestion at smooth rates, keeping blood sugars more constant, and therefore keeping every function of the body more constant as well. I'm 49 years old and 25 pounds overweight.  I'd like to lose weight sensibly, and I really believe a diabetic diet would be the best for me to use.  But I can't seem to find any diet regimens that are published. What I'd love to find is a diet book that lists pre-planned meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It would be nice if they were broken down by daily caloric intake (1500, 2000, 2500).  And it would be absolutely fantastic if there were 20-30 different pre-planned meals listed so I could pick one for each meal and not have to plan my own meals.  I work a lot of hours and don't have time to do this, or to cook intricate menus. I've found hundreds of cook books, but I'm looking more for things that are already prepared, such as frozen or canned foods as much as possible.  I just need help making sure that the amounts of each food group are the correct portion size and balanced. Has anyone ever found a book that has pre-defined menus like I'm referring to?  If so, I would really appreciate your assistance. Thanks in advance, Terry

I am following the ADA diet but since I have to lose weight, Iam on 1200 calories. Five starches at 80 calories 5 proteins 55 cals per ounce 3fruits at  60 calories each 2 milks at 90 cals each 3 fats 45 calories each. The ADA has an exchange book so that you can have variety Tel No. 1 800 232 3472 Loretta

Has anyone ever found a book that has pre-defined menus like I'm referring to?  If so, I would really appreciate your assistance. Thanks in advance, Terry Quick and Easy Diabetic Menus by Betty Wedman, M.S., R.D. is a cookbook with all the recipes included and 30 days of menus. Its not divided by calories but does have exchanges for each recipe. However each of the breakfast menus run 350-400 lunch menus run about 450-500 calories each dinner at 550-600 and the snacks run between 100-125 So the daily menus are about 1450-1625 Since you aren't diabetic you could eliminate the bedtime snack reducing a daily menu to 1350-1500 Beyond that you would need to reduce portions. You would have to determine how low calorie a diet it would require for you to lose. Carol

Terry: The American Diabetes Association has many cook books and many with months of pre-planned meals if that is your preference.  Their book store is at their web site at www.diabetes.org While there check out the new book 16 Myths of a Diabetic Diet

I've been told by many folks, from health care providers to diabetics, that a diabetic diet is by far the best for anyone.  I'm not diabetic, but it just makes total sense to me that eating meals that are balanced between all of the food groups allows digestion at smooth rates, keeping blood sugars more constant, and therefore keeping every function of the body more constant as well. I really like Weight Watchers. The people are friendly and they don't care if you go off topic occasionally. They have a webpage but the people at the thing didn't really know very much about it.