If you have a weight problem, you know how difficult it is to lose weight or to maintain your ideal weight. You feel awful when you need to buy new clothes because your old ones do not fit anymore.

You may want to consider cutting a few calories here and there to get a handle on this, especially if it is a recurring problem. Some foods are called high glycemic foods and that means that the glucose, a sugar, gets into your bloodstream rapidly after you eat these foods. Then to respond to this surge of a high blood sugar level, insulin, a hormone, is released from the pancreas to lower the glucose level again. However, sometimes the release of the insulin brings the blood glucose level below normal and that makes you feel hungry again.

Foods that are considered high glycemic foods are breads, rice, pasta and potatoes. In contradistinction, complex carbohydrates like some vegetables and fruits have a slower rise in blood glucose levels and generally do not peak so high. These levels are usually sustained for longer periods of time because the outpouring of the insulin is not as great as with the high glycemic foods. Therefore, the large spikes in blood glucose levels followed by the precipitous fall after the insulin release, can be modulated somewhat. The blood glucose levels plotted versus time after eating complex carbohydrates that are not high glycemic foods give a more rounded curve instead of one characterized by sharp peaks and troughs.

If you are able to reduce your consumption of high glycemic foods such as bread, you may gladly be able to manage your weight better. If you are eating sandwiches for lunch, you should consider eliminating the bread. For example, instead of having a tuna fish sandwich, prepare a tuna salad. After you drain the tuna, add some olives which contain favorable fats or add light mayonnaise. Add lettuce, radishes and celery. Get some lycopene by throwing in a tomato. Alternatively, you can add a sliced onion with olive oil and vinegar.

A slice of bread has about 60 calories. One with honey added has about 70 or 80 calories. A slice of specialty bread may have up to 100 calories or more! As you can readily do the math, the number of calories due to bread alone can be substantial. If you have a hearty appetite and eat two sandwiches daily it is even worse. You may discover that reducing the bread for lunch will actually deter you from eating more because your blood glucose level is in the range that tells your brain you do not need any more glucose in your bloodstream.

Do not stop there. Start thinking of the other meals and snacks you have during the day in which you have high glycemic foods, such as bread and related products. The following are only approximate calories for these foods. Remember that these may vary based on portion size and ingredients used. Nevertheless, these values give you a rough estimate of what may be responsible for adding unnecessary calories to your daily diet.

• 440 cheese danish pastry
• 380 blueberry muffin
• 299 plain donut
• 272 croissant
• 262 honey bun
• 240 biscuit
• 197 corn muffin
• 170 raisin bread
• 134 english muffin
•  84 dinner roll
•  72 plain bagel

Obesity is a risk factor for adult onset diabetes mellitus. Although this was formerly seen usually with older individuals, recent trends suggest that obesity in younger individuals will cause this disease to make its appearance at a much earlier age.

There is more to the story than just having to grapple with a weight problem and always feeling hungry. The long-term sequelae of diabetes mellitus can be far reaching in terms of health care intervention and limitation of routine activities.

Those who are diagnosed with diabetes have a much higher incidence of cardiovascular related diseases. For example, heart attacks, chronic chest pain and hypertension are more common. These patients are at greater risk to suffer a stroke with paralysis. Severe kidney disease requiring hemodialysis may occur. Foot care is essential because the occlusive arteriolar disease of the lower extremities may result in gangrene that requires amputation. Impaired vision or possibly blindness can also be a complication.

Although the struggle to keep excess pounds off can be a battle at times, to ignore it as unimportant is foolish. For some people good nutrition and a moderate exercise program can be the key to staying healthy and feeling better.