balance diet

Hi, Katherine. Other folks have already given you good advice. The bottom line is, you have to find a balance that you enjoy and that's healthy for you--and something you can stick with.

Losing weight can often help you become more insulin sensitive, which can improve your blood glucose numbers. So the exercise and limiting calories is good general advice for losing/maintaining weight.

Simple carbs or densely packed carbs (sugars, pasta, rice, white potatoes) have the potential to spike your BG numbers, so many diabetics choose to moderate their carbs. Complex carbs (like veggies) are healthy--usually full of vitamins and fiber and don't typically spike your BG numbers as dramatically.

I probably eat less carbs than your nutritionist suggested. Adding it up in my head, it sounds like she was suggesting about 180 grams of carb per day. I eat more like 120 per day, give or take. I don't eat rice or pasta anymore--I've cut back on bread and only occasionally eat white potatoes. I probably eat more fat than many folks, but I avoid trans fat; I limit saturated fat, but I don't worry as much about unsaturated fats, like those in nuts, avacado, peanut butter, etc. So proteins and complex carbs have become staples of my diet--i.e. lean meats and veggies.

Now . . . you were looking for meal and snack ideas . . .

Breakfasts for diabetics vary--but many diabetics minimize the carbs and eat eggs, lean meats, low fat cottage cheese, low glycemic fruits. Things like omelets with veggies or cheese are great. I still eat toast for breakfast, one slice of whole wheat (lower carb) with peanut butter--plus an egg or two.

Snacks . . . nuts. I eat lots of nuts--any type is fine, just choose your favorite, and/or mix them up. Just be careful on the portion size because nuts can hold a lot of calories. Cheese can be a good snack, low fat cottage cheese, celery, carrots, cucumbers, dill pickles, lower glycemic fruits (like strawberries), jello, beef jerky (ok, maybe that's just a guy thing). I also keep a supply of lower carb atkins snack bars on hand. I'm not necessarily a fan of the atkins diet, but the snack bars work for me. Hot tea and diet sodas are also good snacks for me. :)

I make and enjoy a lot of soups--tomato soup, ginger shrimp soup, chicken veggie soup, etc.

Of course, salads are healthy. I've never been a salad type of guy. But I've found I can enjoy a good salad that has some more substantial stuff in it, like chopped broccoli and spinach with chopped eggs and blue cheese, etc.

Other meal ideas that come to mind . . . tuna salad, salmon patties, grilled chicken with brussel sprouts, broiled fish and broccoli . . . and so on . . . just do an online search for low carb healthy recipes and you'll get lots of ideas.

As with everything, your individual results may vary. the true judge of what you can eat is your blood glucose monitor. :)

good luck and take care,
sam
Posted by: "Samor"