My Dietician Recommended Diet Plan

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1

The following is the diet plan my diabetes dietitian recommended to me.
Bear in mind that this is based on my being morbidly obese and BG levels very high.


CARBOHYDRATES
Each serving/exchange of carbohydrate is equivalent to 15g. (Carbohydrates are foods which contain sugars and starches)

I must not have more than 12 serves (180g) of carbs per day.
Aim to have at least one low GI carbohydrate food at each meal

The carbs are preferably to be split up as follows:

  • 8 serves (120g) per day from the starches group
  • 2 serves (30g) per day from the fruit group
  • 2 serves (30g) per day from the milk products group
3 serves (45g) for breakfast
1 serve (15g) for snack
3 serves (45g) for lunch
1 serve (15g) for snack
3 serves (45g) for dinner
1 serve (15g) for snack


PROTEINS
Small amounts of protein in the daily eating plan are important for fighting infections and for the growth and repair of body tissues.

Protein foods do not raise BGL but many are potentially high in fat, especially saturated fat. Choose lean low-fat varieties and use low fat cooking methods.

Try to eat oily fish (eg. salmon, sardines, tuna) at least 3 times per week and then lean red meat, skin-free chicken, low fat cheese, eggs, white fish.

Each serving of protein is to be "palm size" (approx. 120g).

Proteins are to be split up as follows:
  • 1 serve breakfast
  • 1 serve lunch
  • 1 serve dinner


VEGETABLES & FREE FOODS
From the free food list aim to have at least 3 cups of vegetables per day.
The rest of foods on the free list can be eaten as desired as they do have any major affect on BGL.



FATS
Reduced saturated fats from diet by:
  • trimming fat from meats and removing skin from chicken
  • choose low fat dairy products
  • choose processed foods that contain less than 10g total fat per 100g and less than 3g saturated fat per 100g
  • use low fat cooking methods
  • Cools oups, stew and casseroles and then remove fat from the top
  • replace meat in recipes with dried beans or lentils
  • use yoghurt of light evaporated milk instead of cream or sour cream
  • use filo pastry instead of puff or shortcrust pastry

After reducing saturated fats from diet you can include small amounts of healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) such as:
  • margarine
  • oil
  • avocado
  • unsalted nuts
  • peanut butter
Choose only 4 to 6 serves of unsaturated fats per day where one serve is equivalent to:
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil, canola, sunola peanut or macadamia, sunflower, safflower, sesame, soybean, grapeseed oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons canola or olive magarine, polyunsaturated margarine, soy margarine or peanut butter
  • 1 tablespoon avocado
  • 1 tablespoon almonds, cashews, macadamia, pecan, pistachio, brazil, pine nuts and walnuts.


WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON FOOD LABELS
Per 100g. use this information when choosing and comparing products.

FAT: pick products with the least fat.
As a general guide look for products with less than 10g per 100g (exceptions to the rule include peanut butter, oils & magarines) .
If the product is based on saturated (animal) fats, look for those with less than 2g per 100g.

TOTAL CARBOHYDRATE: This includes sugars (naturally occuring and added) and starch.
One exchange is equal to 15g of total carbohydrate.
Say a product has 22.5 total carbohydrate that would be equal to about 1 1/2 exchanges.

SUGARS: This tells you how much of the total carbohydrate is sugar. Choose products with less than 25g per 100g. There as some exceptions to this guideline, eg. fruit based products.

DIETARY FIBRE: Pick products that are higher in fibre (per 100g), especially when comparing cereals, breads, bsicuits.
Try to have approximately 30g of fibre daily.


IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SET GOALS! (I must remember this)


(footnote: I mainly wrote all this out to refresh my memory and try to absorb the info and remember it!)




2

LKoren
Please tell me if this is the proper way to continue our conversation. I got your comment the other day and am glad you included me as a frien and are willing to help me figure this “blog” thing out. I just got back from an ADA conference in California. (American Diabetes Association). Anyway I can share this information with you considering weight. I too am struggling with weight loss. It seems much easier to gain than to lose. One thing is to do is “count carb” from your meals and that will help with better adjustment to your insulin; hence Not eating to insulin or taking to much insulin at the time and then eating to respond to a low. The next thing is really watch your portion control. Eat from a 7" plate (The Idaho Plate system) then have half of that plate veggies or greens 1/4 protien and 1/4 strach carb this should also help control our food intake. If we just adjust the insulin to what we are eating then there is the instances of eating more than our bodies really need. Pyscologists found that it takes 2-3 weeks to make the simplest of tasks to f strat to become a good healthy habit. Knowing this will help icn our weight loss journey.
Hope this helped
Greg

3

Hi Greg!

Firstly I’ll try to explain to you how to use as you say “this blog thing” :slight_smile:

It’s fine to continue the conversation like this. This is my blog section and you left your reply on an appropriate post.

When you leave a reply in a blog section you should receive an email notifying you when I reply to you so you can come back on here and read my reply.

Another way of having a conversation is by leaving a comment on the “Comment Wall” which you will find lower down on the profile page and in that case you get a reply on your own “comment wall” section.

If someone writes a comment on your comment wall all you need to do to reply is to click on “Comment Back” and it will automatically take you to the other persons comment wall.

I hope I haven’t confused you! :slight_smile:

Now, I’d like to thank you so much for your valuable suggestions!

I never adjust my insulin up but sometimes I adjust it down if I’m not all that hungry or am going to eat less carbs.

I take 36 units of Novorapid before breakfast and lunch and 40 units before dinner. My Endocrinologist told me that the 36 units are equivalent to 3 carb portions (45g) which is what they’ve recommended me to have. So if sometimes I only have 1 carb (15g) I take only 12 units of the Novorapid.

The only insulin I haven’t adjusted on my own is the long lasting one, the Lantus, but I see the diabetes educator every couple of weeks and she’s keeping an eye on it.

I seem to do fine during the day but it’s dinner I have to put more work into, the smaller plate is a great idea.

My biggest problem is that I can’t always afford to buy fruit & vegetables, actually sometimes I go weeks without doing grocery shopping so I have to make do with the cheaper things I can buy. Sometimes I’m lucky because my aunt has a vegetable garden and when she has some extra veges she gives me some and other times my mother buys me some fruit and veges when she can afford it so that’s how I get by.

If I won the lotto then I’m positive I would have no problems eating properly and having the right foods. :slight_smile:

Again Greg, thank you so much for your helpful information!