Meal Planning & Portion Control

My Portion Control Chart

My Diabetic Plate - Meal Planning & Portion Control

  

Meal Planning

Good nutrition is one of the most basic and important diabetes care tools.  Eating right can help control blood sugar and good control helps protect our long-term health.

Whether you are following a calorie-level meal plan, counting carbohydrates, using exchanges or just trying to improve the overall nutritional value of your current eating patterns, planning your meals is a great tool.

Healthy eating habits include:

·       Balancing your food intake and activity level, so that you eat as much as you need but not more than you need.

·       Eating smaller meals regularly has helped me.  I eat 6 six small meals a day.  That may sound like a lot but it's not; breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus 3 snacks to help between meals.

 

Portion Control

I really do not  have any food restrictions, what I do is control my portions.  I eat on a 6" or 8" plate and watch my carbs.  I did some research on "The Glycemic Index"  and some reading on "Refined Carbohydrates" and "Unrefined Carbohydrates".  Eating smart and healthy does not mean avoiding carbohydrates; as some people would lead you to believe that carbohydrates are evil for diabetics. The fact is, we need them as a part of our balance meal plan.  I read that carbohydrates are one of the three basic macro-nutrients needed to sustain life, ( the other two are protein and fat).  But eating to many carbs especially refined carbs can cause blood sugars to be out of control.

Examples of Refined and Unrefined Carbohydrates

Refined Carbs

• Table Sugar
• Soft Drinks
• Maple Syrup
• Sweetened Yogurts
• Any ingredient ending in "-ose," such as dextrose
• Any ingredient ending in "-ol," such as sorbitol

Unrefined Carbs

• Vegetables
• Beans
• Buckwheat
• Quinoa
• Peas, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Fruit, Milk, Plain Yogurt
• Whole grains - cereals, bread and pasta

Unrefined carbs are usually more healthy because they include two kinds of fiber, soluble and insoluble.

To read more about "The Glycemic Index", http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/planning-meals/glycemic-index-and-diabetes.html?keymatch=glycemic-index