We hear it every day from Type 2 diabetics: ‘I hate my doctor!" This is unfortunate.
Their doctor dislike comes, in part, from doctors being the bearers of bad news. Specifically, they’re the ones who told them they have diabetes. Doctors are also the one to tell them to ‘diet and exercise’ as a way to control this terrible disease.
Beyond that, many diabetics we talk with are frustrated. ‘Why kind of diet?’ ‘What kind of exercise?’ ‘How much and what can I eat?’ ‘How far do I need to run every day?’
As a result, recently diagnosed diabetics and pre-diabetics search for solutions from friends, family and on the Internet. With all of these resources, many still don’t get the information and the detail that they need to manage their illness.
Diabetic diets are about three things. One, deciding what to eat to lower blood sugar and weight. Two, how much to eat. And three, deciding when to eat.
If you do it right, along with exercise (30 minutes of brisk walking every day works. Ask your doctor first, how much exercise you can handle), you can manage your diabetic condition.
#1 Set goals for target blood sugar levels
To get going, you need to set a target or goal for your diabetic diet.
Ask your doctor to tell you how often you should be checking your blood sugar levels.
General guidelines say you should strive for a blood sugar level of 70-130 before meals and less than 180, 1-2 hours after meals.
#2 Set goals for calorie intake
Next, set a daily calorie target you want to set for the food and beverages you’re going to be consuming.
For small women, 1,200 to 1,600 calories per day is a typical goal. For larger women or small men, 1,600-2,000 calories are a suggested target for weight loss.
For medium to large men, 2,000 -2,400 calories per day should be your target calorie intake.
#3 Eat the right kinds of food
Now that you have your blood sugar target and caloric intake targets, you need to focus on foods that are the most nutritious while lowest in calories.
Foods can be broken down into five categories: starches, vegetables, fruit, milk, meat, fats and sweets.
Starches are bread, grains, cereal, pasta and some vegetables, such as potatoes. They give you carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Whole grains are better for you. You should eat starches at every meal.
Vegetables give you vitamins, minerals and fiber. They include lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cabbage, celery and beans. They should be eaten raw or uncooked to get maximum nutritional content.
Fruits give you carbs, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Examples of fruit are apples, strawberries, raisins, oranges, peaches and the like. They are high in nutritional content but, unlike vegetables, are often high in sugar and calories.
Milk gives you carbs, protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals.
Meat gives you protein, vitamins and minerals. It includes meat, chicken, fish and eggs.
Fats and sweets are the bad boys in the food chain. Butter, margarine, bacon, mayonnaise, cream cheese, ice cream, pie, doughnuts all fall into this category. Because they are high in fat and calories, with little nutritional value, reducing your consumption of these products will give you the biggest diabetic diet bang for your buck.
#4 Eat the right servings of food
Choosing from the 5 food categories above, you now need to set the number of servings of each, in order to stay within your daily calorie target.
If you are targeting 1,200 – 1,600 calories per day, you should choose 6 starches, 2 milks, 3 vegetables, 4-6 ounces of meat, 2 fruits and up to 3 fats.
If you are targeting 1,600-2,000 calories per day, choose 8 starches, 2 milks, 4 vegetables, 3 fruits, 4-6 ounces of meat, and up to 4 fats.
If you’re targeting 2,000- 2,400 calories per day, choose 10 starches, 2 milks, 4 vegetables, 5-7 ounces of meat, 4 fruits and up to 5 fats.
#5 Work with Diet Experts
Diabetics are most successful when they work with others in creating and staying with your diabetic diet plan. There are a number of good resources you can contact for help. Three of the best are diabetes educators (Association of Diabetes Educators, diabetes education programs (American Diabetes Association, local programs and dieticians (American Dietetic Association.
People at these groups are trained to work with you on your diabetic diet, with suggestions for getting the most out of your diabetic diet and staying with it until your blood sugar and weight are under control.
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