I would like to make a few comments about a couple of things:
~The crackers vs. the nuts/seeds.
Nuts and seeds are much more nutritious than crackers, but they are caloric, so the serving sizes are much smaller. When you eat nuts, seeds, dried fruits in trail mix, etc. the serving sizes are about 1/4 cup-and these 1/4 cup servings (depending on what you are eating) are 130-250 calories.
Also, someone who is eating carbs-like a calorie counter-is on a different plan than someone who is on Atkins. Atkins is an "all or nothing" sort of plan. Their carbohydrate intake (or lack thereof) is what is causing a lot of their weight loss...so using some Atkins advice won't work really, for someone who is on a calorie counting or WW type of plan. We are not in ketosis, so we are still much more vulnerable to the overeating than someone on Atkins.
~The diabetes.
I am a gestational diabetic (diabetic when pregnant...which is currently!) and it runs in my family. My aunt (mothers younger sister) passed away 7 years ago in her 40's. VERY young.
The reason? When she was diagnosed, she followed her diet to the LETTER. If the diet said 1 serving of this and that...and 1/2 cup was a serving, THAT was what she had. She went from over 200 pounds down to a size 6, and looked WONDERFUL. She felt wonderful.
Over time-she started letting things slip. An extra bite of this, a little more of that. Her blood sugar would end up high and low at times-because she was not following her diet. She thought that eating a little less of this or a little more of that was OKAY-because she could adjust her shots/glucose/whatever a little later in the day to make up for it.
After a while her shots got changed to heavier doses. She gained weight back. She slowly had more and more complications due to NOT FOLLOWING HER DIET. Your blood sugar levels are not something that you can "play with". They have to stay stable at all times. You can't let it go low...simply to have room to eat something sweet later, and so forth. When you rblood sugar levels are too low for a period of time-it puts a lot of stress on your body and organs. The same thing when it gets too high. Your body as a diabetic also has many, many issues with fitness, healing, and circulation, and so forth as well-and when they tell a diabetic to avoid the sun, make sure they are getting regular exercise, and the like-they MEAN it.
A lot of diabetics think their blood sugar is something they can play with. They let it get a little low today...and bring it back up with a few sips of soda, or a small piece of cake. Nothing big happens...so they think it is okay to do the next time. IT'S NOT. There are small amounts of damage done internally EVERY TIME you play around, and have your blood sugar unstable. These "little highs and lows" add up, and create much uneccessary stress on the body.
As a result, after years of the doctors stressing how important it was for her to STAY COMPLIANT with her diet, proper use of her medication, and exercise-she had a heart attack in her mid-forties, at home, alone. The bad thing about it was...is that she passed on a Saturday night, and my grandparents came by her house on Sunday morning, to pick her up for church (she went with them on Sundays, since it was on the way) and my grandparents FOUND her.
Please, if you have to-feel free to print this out and pass it on to noncompliant family members. It is no joke. It happened suddenly, and unexpectedly-but the result was heart failure due to the stress of her unstable blood sugar levels and extra weight-because she did not control her diabetes.
On another note-as a gestational diabetic myself, I am at very high risk for being a full time diabetic in the next 10-20 years. While I am pregnant, unstable/high blood sugar levels not only hurt me, they can hurt my unborn child. I cannot stress how serious of a condition that diabetes is.
My gestational diabetes went undetected during my first pregnancy, and because of that, high blood sugar levels throughout my pregnancy caused me to have a baby that was 10 pounds, 4 ounces (when 6-8 pounds is average), 23" long (when 19-21" is average) who had a 15" head and chest (when 13"-14" is average).
The result of my undetected illness, was that I delivered her naturally, rather than via c-section-and as a result of her being "too big" I suffered from a severe postpartum hemorrhage and had to have emergency surgery immediately after the birth. We also experienced "shoulder dystocia" which is where her shoulders were to large to fit through my pelvic bones. The result of that, luckily, was damage in the pelvic bone area to ME-but it just as easily could have resulted in a broken collarbone to my daughter during the delivery.
High and low blood sugar levels cause a myriad of other things to happen inside our bodies...it isn't just a little "number" that makes you feel woozy or lightheaded now and then if it is "off" a bit.
Why I'm not losing (aka a d'uh moment)
. She's very sensitive about anyone suggesting what she should eat, so I didn't say anything. It's really sad 
