First ABM Class

Most of us start small when launching a personal business. In prayer, God told my husband and I not to despise small beginnings. When I first published my book, my intentions was to see everyone benefit from enjoying the wonderful carbohydrates we have all grown to love in the U.S. They are, of coarse, the ones that are being health bashed. I was surrounded by doubting Thomas's who were brainwashed by the magazine articles and health soothsayers that stated that these products were poison to the human system. Thankfully a few people had confidence in our methods and purchased the books. Their successes made my husband and I confident enough to have me go full time in an effort to teach the method and build a business around it.


September 11, 2006, I held my first class in my home. The girl that brought her friends to attend my class was inspired by 2 of my recent customers (2 members of our church choir) that dropped significant weight using the ABM method. She had listened to their exciting stories of what they were able to eat and still lose weight. She wanted that same result. She recruited her mother and 2 close friends to attend my 3 hour class.

I first explained the mechanisms in the body that are sabotaging their efforts to be trim when eating high glycemic indexed carbohydrates (those made from white flour, raw white sugar and starches... yum, my favorite kind of carb's!). I told them what it will take to combine foods to reduce the food's glycemic index as a meal and then I introduce them to the variety of products they can eat and obtain the result so that these products are not a weight management risk. I do make sure to warn them that this is not a perfect answer for diabetics or hypoglycemics, since their systems may have diseased organs, and they can not assume they will get the same results as people with healthy organs.

They sampled 19 different products to illustrate the flexibility of eating low fat carbohydrates and various creative protein partners (in the forms of drinks and foods). It was great to answer their questions and to see their excitement as they started realizing the opportunities ahead of them after they leave class. Feedback from the students was positive. I was my worst critic. I found that I needed to change the ergonomics for future classes so that they didn't get stuck with a collection of used paper cups or spoons around them as they tried each new product. For some reason they didn't think that was an issue, so I am lucky on this first round. But they are telling their friends about my class, and that is exciting. Additionally, my penmanship on the flip chart was pretty bad. So a produced a better version for future classes.


Four of my future students are people who have been paying to lose weight on a popular expensive weight loss program. Though they successfully lost the weight on that program some of them had to do the program a second time after they gained the weight back. They said they wanted my program to help them keep the weight off once they lose it again. This is very encouaging.

Lose Weight by Controlling Insulin

This is my first day to start managing my blog on a regular basis. As of August 1, 2006, I am now managing my business full time. It is called "Alternatives Balanced Meals" (call it ABM for short). I really want to get the word out that one can eat the fun foods and still be trim, as long as they are managing the carbohydrates, protein and fat in their meals wisely. My husband and I each felt prompted by God to help people lose weight by teaching this lifefstyle eating method. We hope to see many blessed by this means of losing weight and staying trim.

My book, called "Lose weight or stay trim while eating pasta, rice or bread" was self-published in October 2005, when I was a full time employee in the automotive engineering field as a Program Manager for an automotive supplier in Michigan. The book is privately sold through our website: www.abmeal.com. Our current customers are primarily friends and family. Recognizing through prayer that this is a new direction God is leading us in, my husband and I agreed to make the move for me to build the business as a weight loss coach. As a weight loss coach I'll be giving weekly classes and continue to counsel customers. We are proud of the successful weight loss and improved health of our customers. They have reported losing 1 to 2 pounds per week, lower blood pressure, improved sleeping patterns (where some of them suffered insomnia prior to doing the ABM lifestyle eating plan), more energy, and a sense of guilt for never feeling hungry in a program that helps them lose weight. This is my first article related to our interest in weight management. Feel free to comment anytime.

ABM uses two means to control insulin and blood sugar levels. One method is to eat combination meals where there is a specific amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat in a given serving of food. This food is eaten in one sitting. The other method is to restore blood sugar levels after a high carbohydrate meal (has almost no protein in it) is eaten. Each of these methods will be examined below.


Combination Meals to Control Insulin Production
Insulin is a product of the body that can sabotage weight loss efforts. It starts with how an individual combines the carbohydrates, protein and fat in any given meal or snack (diabetics should work with their doctors before considering this method for them). Many of today's diet methods recognize that foods like bread, pasta, rice, ice cream and cookies are abundant in carbohydrates. When any one of these foods enter your mouth the saliva converts them to sugar. This sugar can be in the form of simple glucose sugar or fructose sugar.

The products I just listed primarily contain simple glucose sugar. The simple glucose sugar will enter the blood stream fast and promote excessive insulin production, unlike the same amount of fructose sugar. Therefore, it is the simple glucose sugar that diet managers pay attention to for weight control. When the insulin is produced to these excessive levels the body experiences a dramatic hormonal imbalance causing the body to "store fat" instead of using it as energy. A regular diet of foods that create this hormonal experience will continue to add stored fat leading to becoming overweight, since the body is not burning the fat.

Two people can be the same age, gender and height and both eat the same amount of calories per day without daily exercise, but one may be over weight and the other is trim. If you study their eating habits, you may discover that the over weight person is eating more high carbohydrate foods (have a higher glycemic index) than the trim person's food selections. The over weight person may also be eating higher fat concentrations or types of fats that are more difficult to burn than the trim person. Additionally, the over weight person may not be eating enough protein in their meals and snacks compared to the trim person. ABM teaches a special balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat for optimum weight control and good health to reduce or eliminate excessive insulin production. The ABM method directly points out how much protein is needed with a specific amount of carbohydrates. We also explain how to identify "good" fats. These are fats that lower the risk of weight gain. Also, ABM helps you determine if a meal is low fat or not.

ABM is a lifestyled eating method to create your own meals and snacks to control blood sugar in the body during the period of eating. You can also apply these same principles to restaurant food, as well. One method we teach is to lower the rate the sugar of a high carbohydrate, high glycemic indexed food enters the blood stream (like bread, pasta or rice). A simple example of how this works can be understood by a study I discovered on Mendosa.com, that listed the July 2002 published studies from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition of glycemic indexes for a variety of common foods. It reports the following:

GI* Serving size
White rice boiled (France study) GI: 43 to 47, Serving size: 150 grams

White rice boiled, grilled beefburger
cheese and butter GI: 22 to 27, Serving size: 440 grams

*GI values are based on glucose=100 or on white bread=100.


Rice is a high carbohydrate, high glycemic index food that can be taboo for many dieters. Notice that the glycemic index (GI) dropped measurably once the fat and protein from a burger and cheese were combined with the boiled rice. The lower GI represents a lower rate of sugar in the blood stream. This prevents excessive insulin production and therefore no fat storage. This meal would most likely still result in weight gain if the fat content is too high. ABM meals would substitute 96% lean beef and a white cheese like swiss or mozzarella instead of traditional cheddar (if cheddar was used in the study above). With ABM's recommendatons, this meal will become a low risk for weight gain because the insulin production will not be excessive and the meal will be low fat. As a result, there is no fat storage and there is less fat to burn, yet the meal will be still be made of boiled rice, a beef burger and cheese.

Restoring Blood Sugar Levels to Prevent Fat Storage
Another method ABM teaches is to restore sugar to the blood stream when needed to prevent or reduce fat storage. Take for example, eating a candy bar. A candy bar is typically a very high carbohydrate product and typically high in fat. You might see 24 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein. According to ABM the amount of protein is insufficient to counter act the carbohydrates. About a half hour later the sugar is in the blood stream and the excessive insulin production is doing its damage. The 14 grams of fat will be in the process of being stored. Additionally, the insulin will deplete the blood sugar to a deficit causing a hypoglycemic condition of low blood sugar. ABM would recommend eating a form of protein and a certain amount of it with in a recommended time frame. This will result in the pancreas secreting glucacon. The glucacon makes the liver give up stored simple glucose sugar that will enter the blood stream at a rate that will not trigger additional insulin production. This sugar can meet up with any residual insulin in the system that needs to be used up and it can replenish sugar missing in the blood system. In our experience this can be done safely. Thus, it will assist in unlocking the fat storage mechanisms caused from the hormonal imbalance.

The ABM Difference
The difference between ABM methods and the diet plans out today is ABM allows breads, pasta and rice and other high carbohydrate, high glycemic index foods. This method has proven to help lose weight, maintain a trim figure, improve sleep patterns and reduce blood pressure. Customers tell me they are never hungry. One can even enjoy a slight food fling like a pot luck if they are careful to practice the balance of carbohydrates, protien, and fat we teach. One happy customer told me how she visited a pot luck luncheon and ate tuna salad, cheese cake and other typcial "No No's". She loved the fact that she did not gain weight from the luncheon. It is all in the knowledge of balancing the carbohydrates, fat and protein. There is no doubt that these fatty foods could have caused a small weight gain as well for her, but she would have lost the weight in a short time (typically a couple of days) because she continues the lifestyle eating method that will keep her system running more efficiently than if she did not practice it.

I personally lost the 24 pounds I had gained from my first 2 years in marriage. My husband Gary lost the 30 pounds he gained in his first 2 years of marriage even though he had hypothyroid during the time. He didn't start taking thyroid medication until after he lost this weight. We both do very little exercise and many of our customers are not doing any exercise, so we are convinced that the eating method is what has given us these great sustainable results. Our weight loss was gradual and sustainable. I will write about exercise in a future article to give you a better idea on where it fits in on the plan and what we mean by very little exercise.

If there are people who have been on the ABM plan as a life style eating method who'd like to comment on their experience with it, I'd love to hear your comments.

Diet Success Story

Hi. I am Donna Trojan, founder of Alternatives Balanced Meals. This blog is to encourage others that they can lose weight and still enjoy traditional carbohydrates like bread, pasta, and rice. I am not a vegetarian, and I do not subscribe to a low carbohydrate diet, yet I am able to skinny-up to 112 lbs at age 46 when others in my age bracket are gaining weight around me. I do not exercise much. Maybe 10 minutes once to three times a week. I've skipped weeks of exercise as well. It is my method of food combinations that keeps me trim.

People who see me eating cake at a church social tell me I can afford it, but in my heart I know it is because I use a system that allows me to stay trim and still enjoy these kinds of food daily. Yes daily.

I'll be writing more about it in the future, but for now I just want to start this first post on my blog as a small introduction.

You can view my website at: http://www.abmeal.com