I’m in my 50s and my primary doctor informed me late February after a blood test that I had pre-diabetes. I was referred to a nutritionist to learn how to lose weight and what to eat. I have a disability that prevents me from doing exercise and low mobility which forces me to be in an electric wheelchair when I leave the house. One of my disabilities is chronic pain in my muscles and joints. So a rigorous or light exercise routine is out of the equation.

When my primary doctor provided that diagnosis, I was 287-289 pounds (give or take with shoes on). This has been my weight range for many years. I wasn’t feeling great.

The nutritionist gave me two sheets containing all the things I could eat and everything I couldn’t eat. However, she did not provide a plan of what to eat each day. Only general pointers without in-depth details.

I’m sharing my story in case it might help people with similar constraints or seek weight loss information overall.

I had these parameters from the primary doctor:

  • Don’t drink anything that is sold in bodegas, deli, or fast food refrigerators.
  • Don’t eat pasta.
  • Don’t eat white rice.
  • Don’t eat potatoes (including mashed potatoes or french fries).

Right there I interrupted her to jokingly ask if she wanted to kill me. The juice I can give up, but the last 3 are my everyday food source. Of course, as I am disabled I don’t have the physical condition to stand up to do dishes, cut my own vegetables and meat, cook rice and beans, etc. For the past 5 years, if not longer, I have ordered food deliveries: Chinese Food, Pizza, Sandwiches, Cheese Zitti with General Tso Chicken, Deli Burgers and French Fries or Wendy’s, Chicken Tenders and French Fries, KFC, and whatnot. But every one of those dinners was gulped down with Welch Orange Juice, or Welch Cranberry Juice, or Adam & Eve Cranberry Juice. Sometimes Tropicana Orange Juice or Goya Pineapple Juice.

When my nutritionist asked me to stop drinking bottled juice, I was concerned. I inspected the nutrition label and discovered that Welch bottles contain 70g of Sugar. The Adam & Eve brand contained around 40g of sugar. The Tropicana brand had approximately 28g. I realized how bad that was to drink that nigh every day.

Usually, I had no breakfast. I would eat around noon a brunch. Egg sandwich, or cereal. Then dinner around 6:30 pm. Then, a snack or sandwich by midnight — and every now and then something more very late around 3-4 am.

How to lose weight in 3 months without exercise

That’s no gimmick. As a disabled person, I don’t have the luxury of doing exercise. Very light walking in the house. I ride a wheelchair everywhere I go outside my home. This was my routine for the past 3 months.

Breakfast

My breakfast must be in a window between 7:00 am and 9:00 am. Generally, I try 7:00-7:30 am. I eat two slices of Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It can be eaten with Eggs or peanut butter. I only use Smart Balance Buttery Spread (15 oz) with Omega-3 on my bread, or I spread the butter on a hot pan and put the bread on top.

Sometimes I split the two-slices of bread into 3 sticks each. Put butter on a hot pan and sorta fry them a bit. You can eat them with pancake syrup. Not a lot of syrup, though.

Important: I only eat bread in the morning. No bread for lunch or dinner. The nutritionist forbids eating hero or rolls — typically sold in the Deli, Bodega, or other locations. Except for one or two days, I kept the two-slices-in-the-morning routine.

Sometimes I could eat a small portion of granola and milk. Never any type of Kellogg’s Cornflakes, Honey Combs, or any other type of cereal sold in the supermarket. This was my favorite brunch and snack past midnight. Take a look at their nutritional labels. Those are loaded with sugar.

Sometimes I would eat a portion of around 5-11 halves of Raw Walnuts.

Lunch

One of the instructional sheets the nutritionist gave me had a dish at scale to match the size of a real one. It was divided into 3 portions. The lunch must contain any type of meat, vegetables, and other options that didn’t fit my primary doctor’s instructions: no pasta, no white rice, no potatoes.

So without a detailed plan from the nutritionist, I had to pick my own range of foods from the list of options. This is what I really ate for 3 months with rarely any alternate variety.

I included the seasoning because that still counts as an ingredient in what I ate to lose weight. White Rice contains a lot of sugar. Brown Rice is minimally processed and contains all of its fiber. The trick is to cook a lot of rice for a week using measuring cups. Usually 1/3 cup per lunch. An equal amount of water per cup of Brown Rice. Once it is cooked, let it cool. Then move each daily portion to 7 ziplock bags. The Nutritionist read a recent study that frozen Brown Rice reduced 70% of its sugar.

After cooking the Red Kidney Beans, only eat half the can or less. You can keep the other half in the refrigerator to heat up next day. The Red Kidney Beans are cooked with a can-sized water portion and a third of a Goya Tomato Sauce (8 oz). About 2 ounces of sauce. A slice of Green Pepper for flavor, Goya Chicken Bouillon pack when the water is boiling, a pack of Sa-Son Accent, Adobo Goya without Pepper. This is Latino seasoning overall, so you might want to experiment with portions of seasoning to find the balance between not too salty and not lacking flavor. A bit of experiment usually allows you to find the sweet spot of measurements and flavor.

The skin of the Carrots and Sweet Potatoes is removed with a peeling tool. Put the Carrots and Sweet Potatoes in a large pot with boiling water. I add a bit of Goya Chicken Bouillon for flavor and maybe a pinch of Iodine Sea Salt or regular Iodine Salt. Not too much. The beans already have loads of seasoning.

The Chicken or Steak is cut into slices to even up the cooking on all sides. Place the meat in a pot with boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften the meat until it’s slightly cooked on all sides. Move them to a dish and season the meat with Sa-Son Accent, Garlic Powder, and Adobo Goya. Then move the meat to a large laser-etched non-stick pan with exclusively Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Never use Corn Oil, Sunflower Oil, or Canola Oil. These have bad fat oils and cause body inflammation. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil helps your heart and arteries. It’s a great replacement to lower the bad fat in your blood. But not too much oil on the pan. Maybe a spoonful.

This Lunch should be your strongest meal of the day. Not the Dinner.

Important instruction: Do not eat Brown Rice or any rice in the evening. Do not eat bread in the Lunch or Dinner.

Dinner

The dinner should be eaten at 7:00 pm. The latest, no further than 9:00 pm. It shouldn’t be a strong dinner. It consists of any vegetables of your choice: lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, corn, etc. I ate Sweet Potatoes and Corn some evenings. However, too much beta-carotene causes high Vitamin A which may cause skin discoloration and some digestion issues. So go green vegetables in the evening some days or corn. A serving of chicken or fish. Preferably Tilapia or Mackerel Fish or Tuna. But only about twice a week. Chicken the other days in between. Never red meat for dinner unless you have to.

Use the seasonings mentioned in the lunch. You can add shredded garlic cut by yourself with a knife, and onions in tiny slices so that with the Extra Virgin Oil these become a sort of soft puree when cooked. Finger-licking-licious!

After this dinner, do not eat again until 7:00 am the next morning. It is rough to go 12 hours straight without food. If you have cravings, you can maybe drink a small portion of milk with Nestle Nesquik Chocolate-Flavored Powder — two tablespoons contain 12g of sugar, however. So go easy.

Alternatively, these snacks: Raw Walnuts or a Dark Chocolate Bar with low sugar content. 70% Cocoa or higher. Good antioxidant source. However, these have a bitter taste.

One of the most important things I was asked to do between Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner… drink lots of water. About 8 cups per day. That’s roughly about half a gallon (64 ounces). That’s a lot of water. You should spread out drinking those cups throughout the day if you feel too much discomfort.

Conclusion

I started the diet on March 1, 2025. I weighed 287 pounds approximately. I followed my choice plan nigh perfectly — except a couple of times I had to eat Chopped Cheese in a hero bread when my Home Attendant didn’t come home. The Nutritionist told me if I ever ate a slice of cake, it should be made in the Bakery. Not those seal-wrapped honey/iced buns, cakes, and brownies you purchase in the Deli or Supermarket or Convenience Store as those have additives and stuff to keep them from spoiling, as well as loads of sugar, sodium, and fat.

In the lapse of 3 months, I ate probably around 4-6 slices of cake. Say every two weeks to pat myself on the back for lasting that long.

I’m being honest here where I broke the diet slightly. My next primary doctor appointment was on June 3, 2025 (today). Three months after I started my diet to prevent Diabetes. Two weeks ago I had a blood test. Today, the doctor said that my sugar was balanced. My bad fat was nigh gone. Hemoglobin is 5. The doctor hadn’t seen a recovery this fast before. My weight? 249 pounds. I lost 38 pounds in 90 days. Not a huge number, but I feel better when I sleep. I sleep longer, as a matter of fact. I used to sleep 4-5 hours a day at most.

Even though the doctor said I no longer have pre-diabetes, I want to continue the diet I chose. Maybe a bit of variety as a reward. The doctor said I should feel good about myself for coming through with the diet. My weight was 178 when I was age 18-22 but I was a bit anemic and athletic — a time when I played Basketball and rode a bicycle but didn’t eat much.

I assume in my 50s, an ideal balanced weight (per height ratio) might be around 215 – 225 pounds. Especially for my chronic back pain. I will do my best to stay within that range afterward. Hopefully, by writing down how I lost weight, it may help you accomplish your goal even if at least half the way.

In short, the Brown Rice contains fiber. The Sweet Potato contains loads of fiber. The carrots contain soluble and insoluble fiber. Add the half-gallon of water a day, and you have a continuous healthy bowel movement, and reduced carbohydrates as the frozen Brown Rice loses 70% of its sugar. No cereals and no juices mean all those loads of bad sugar are no longer in your body stacking up in your belly.