Diabetic Diet Sample
The ideal diabetic meal will consist of a combination of foods. Some foods cross categories, like bread products that are high in fat, dairy items that provide protein, and starchy vegetables. Our needs will vary depending on the time of day and how much physical activity we engage in. Following is a sample diabetic diet meal :
- One serving of protein (3 oz of chicken, lean beef or fish)
- One serving of bread (whole grain roll, tortilla or ½ cup pasta)
- One serving of dairy (cheese, milk or low-fat sour cream)
- One serving vegetables (fist sized portion or a small bowl of salad)
- One serving fruit (tennis ball sized or ½ cup sliced)
Small amounts of unsaturated fats are needed, so add a little dressing or a pat of soft margarine. Avoid sweets; consider the fruit your dessert!
Foods that should be avoided include; fatty red meat, organ meat, highly processed food, fried food, fast food, high cholesterol food and foods rich in saturated fat.
Individuals learning the best way to control or prevent diabetes through proper eating can benefit from following a diabetic diet sample until they become comfortable creating their own menus and meal plans.
Eating to Control Diabetes
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor may provide you with a specific, calorie restricted diabetic diet sample to follow. He or she may also recommend that you consult with a registered dietician, diabetes educator, or nutritionist to develop an optimal eating plan.
If your healthcare provider doesn't provide you with a specific plan, or if you are simply changing the way you eat to reduce your risk of developing diabetes, you may want to put together your own sample eating plan to guide you in meal preparation. Information about diabetic diets is widely available, so it isn't difficult to design your own diabetic diet sample.
A proper diabetic diet is high in fiber, low in sugar, and follows the Diabetes Food Pyramid developed by the American Diabetes Association
Creating a Diabetic Diet Sample
Diabetic diet plans often include three meals and two snacks every day. By looking at the serving allocations recommended by the Diabetic Food Pyramid, one can easily create a sample diet to follow.
Grains & Starches
- Recommendation: 6- 11 servings each day
- Plan 2 - 3 servings for each meal, and allow 1 serving for each snack.
- Note: Potatoes, peas, corn, winter squash, and other starchy vegetables go in this category, as do legumes.
Vegetables (Non-starchy)
- Recommendation: a minimum of 3-5 servings each day
- Eat 2 or more servings of vegetables with at least two meals each day.
- Note: It’s perfectly acceptable to eat more than 5 servings of non-starchy vegetables daily on a diabetic diet.
Fruit
- Recommendation: 2-4 servings each day
- Savor one or two servings of fruit at two daily meals or snacks.
- Note: Fruit are not a "free food" on a diabetic diet. Do not exceed the recommended quantities.
Dairy
- Recommendation: 2-3 servings daily.
- Enjoy one serving of reduced fat dairy products, such as yogurt and milk, with two to three meals or snacks each day.
- Note: It is always advisable to chose low fat and fat-free dairy options.
Meats or Meat Substitutes
- Recommendation: 4 - 6 ounces daily, divided among meals.
- Consume up to three ounces of meat at two meals every day.
- Note: Be sure to select only the leanest cuts of meat. Note that cheese falls under this category when planning meals for a diabetic diet.
Oils, Fats, Sweets
- Recommendation: Consume only in limited quantities.
- Save oils, fats, and sweets for special occasions and always enjoy in moderation.
- Note: When selecting oils for cooking , be sure to select heart-healthy varieties and avoid adding trans fats to your food.
Serving Sizes
In addition to focusing on how your food consumption is allocated among the different levels of the Diabetes Food Pyramid, it's also important to follow recommendations for serving sizes. Each item on the following lists represents one serving:
Grains and Starch Servings
- 1 slice of bread
- ¼ of a bagel (1 ounce)
- ½ an English muffin
- 1/2 of a pita bread
- one tortilla (6 inches)
- ¾ cup dry cereal
- ½ cup cooked cereal
- ½ cup starch vegetable (beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, peas)
- 1 cup winter squash (acorn, butternut, etc.)
- 1/3 cup of cooked rice
- 1/3 cup of cooked pasta
Vegetable Servings
- 1 cup of any raw vegetable (non-starchy)
- 1/2 cup of any cooked vegetable (non-starchy)
Dairy Servings
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 cup fat free, skim, or low fat milk
Meat & Meat Substitute Servings
- a three ounce serving of lean meat is approximately the same size as a deck of playing cards
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
- 1/4 cup of cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup tofu
Oils, Fats, Sweets
- 1/2 cup of ice cream
- 1 cupcake
- 2 small cookies
Following the Plan
By adapting your eating habits to follow the principles of the Diabetic Food Pyramid, you'll be on your way to improved health. Whether you have to change the way you eat to keep diagnosed diabetes under control, or you're just looking for a healthier way to eat, following a diabetic diet can have a positive impact on your overall health and well being..
Easy 1200 Calorie Diet
When selecting a meal plan, make sure you are consuming a balanced and complete diet. Your assignment is to set realistic and attainable diet goals. Start by following the simple guidelines below.
Nutritional and Diet Plan Guidelines
- Commit to consuming 4 - 6 small meals and snacks everyday.
- To succeed, you must plan ahead by packing your foods the night before. Thus, you should always have fresh and low-fat foods around.
- Keep it simple. Don't get too caught up on the specifics or your diet. Start by simply just counting calories.
- Eat your foods slower.
- Make healthier food selections like fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and beans, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, low fat meats, fish and skinless poultry.
- Avoid foods that are high in fat and calories.
- Avoid foods that are high in sugars such as pastries, candy bars, pies and candy.
- Use a variety of fruits and vegetables in your nutrition plan. Start by trying to eat 5 total vegetable and fruit servings every single day.
Is there really such a thing as an easy 1200 calorie diet? Actually there is if you're willing to put a little extra work into the front end of planning or have money to spend on pre-packaged meal plans.
Easy or Not?
What some people consider an easy 1200 calorie diet, others will think is too much math and measuring. If you're not interested in measuring foods and figuring calories, the easy way to follow a 1200 calorie diet is to let someone else do all that figuring for you. In some cases, menus planned by someone else tell you what recipes to make and what portions to eat. An even easier solution for those who feel like they don't have the time to make their special meals is to join a diet program that offers prepackaged meals right to your door. For these diets, all you have to do is pop the meal in the microwave. How much easier can it get?
Free and Easy 1200 Calorie Diet
If you're looking for a 1200 calorie diet that's free and easy, you'll be a long time looking. While there is plenty of information available to help you know what to eat and how to weigh and measure foods, planning a 1200 calorie diet menu for weeks and months takes work. Not only that, but each ingredient must be weighed or measured to count calories and ensure you're staying within your caloric limits.
Free 1200 calorie diet information usually offers a limited menu and a few tips to help you get started, but the rest is up to you. If you're disciplined and committed, you can make it work. If you're not, then chances are you'll get frustrated or discouraged and revert back to your old eating habits. The question to really ask yourself is, "How much am I willing to spend to lose this weight?"
1200 Calorie Dieting Made Easy
There really are a number of 1200 calorie diet plans that make it easy to stay within your calorie limit. Here are a few of them:
Jenny Craig
The lowest calorie level for the Jenny Craig Diet is 1200 calories per day. The number of calories you should eat will be determined by your specific needs. The number of calories right for you should result in a weight loss of 1-2 pounds each week (or 1 percent of your body weight). Jenny Craig offers prepackaged foods to make your life easier,
NutriSystem
NutriSystem offers diet plans with daily calorie amounts that vary between 1200 and 1500 calories. This plan also provides prepackaged foods for 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. This diet is based on the glycemic index.
Other 1200 Calorie Diets
The following 1200 calorie diets require you to cook for yourself, but offer guidelines to help you through the process.
Prism Diet
The Prism Weight Loss Program allows 1000-1200 calories a day for women and 1300-1500 a day for men. The amount paid to participate in this diet is minimal compared to most, but you will still have to buy and prepare all your own food. Membership provides a workbook and other support materials to help you stay focused.
South Beach Diet
While the South Beach Diet is really known as a low-carb diet, the daily meals add up to between 1200-1500 calories.
What's easy for one person isn't necessarily easy for all people. That's why counting calories doesn't work for everyone, if they are the ones responsible for the actual counting. When it comes to eating low calorie, some people want to knock pre-packaged meals but if that box has everything in it you need, the ease and convenience makes it an option to consider. However, on the other hand, buying pre-packaged foods can be expensive. Take the time to figure out what you regularly spend on food for yourself, subtract that amount from the cost of the diet and you'll get a clearer picture of how much a diet of pre-packaged foods would really take out of your budget. If you think it will help you stick to it, then the cost will be justified.
Calories Needed Each Day to Lose Weight
How many calories needed each day to lose weight depends on a number of factors and can vary from individual to individual.
What Is a Calorie?
When considering how many calories needed each day to lose weight, you hear the term calorie bandied about, but most people have a really nebulous idea of what a calorie actually is.
A calorie is a unit of food energy. Six nutrients contain calories. Carbohydrates and proteins have four calories per gram. Fats are more energetically dense, and have nine calories per gram. Alcohol has seven calories per gram. Other sources of calories include organic acids (such as acetic acid and lactic acid) and polyols (sugar alcohols such as Mannitol, Xylitol and Glycerol).
Calories and Weight Loss
One of the basic tenants of weight loss is that you need to burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight. While this is true, the process is a little more complex than that simple statement indicates.
Calories – energy units – are burned by your body as energy. There is, however, a limit to the amount of calories your body utilizes as energy. This amount varies from person to person based upon a number of factors including your basic metabolic burn rate, the amount of lean body mass you have, and your activity level. Other chemical and hormonal factors may also affect how many calories your body burns each day, but they are beyond the scope of this article and are best discussed with a nutritionist or physician.
Any calorie consumed that your body does not convert to energy is stored as body fat.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Your basal metabolic rate is your minimal caloric burn rate. These are the calories you need just to exist and support bodily functions such as respiration, heart beat and digestion to name a few. This is an important number to consider when determing how many calories needed each day to lose weight. It is never advisable to have a daily caloric intake that falls below this basal metabolic rate (BMR). There are a number of methods that can be used to calculate BMR ranging from the very scientific which is done in a doctor’s office to an estimation that will work well for most people who are trying to get a handle on how much to eat. To get a general idea of your BMR, use this BMR calculator. This is the lowest amount of calories you should EVER eat unless directed otherwise by a physician.
Lean Body Mass
In general, the more lean body mass you have, the more calories your body will burn. Lean body mass is everything in your body that is not fat including muscles, bones, water and organs. Your lean body mass to body fat ratio is also referred to your body composition. There are a number of ways to measure body composition, including skin fold calipers and hydrostatic weighing. Most body composition calculations need to be done by an expert who has been trained in body composition. Skin caliper measurements are usually the least expensive method.
Activity Level
The more active you are, the more calories you will burn. Activity level includes more than formal exercise. It also includes how sedentary or active your job is, and whether you fidget a lot or sit still. There is a good basic equation that takes your activity level into account and recommends caloric intake based upon how active you are. This equation is called the Harris-Benedict equation. You can use a Harris-Benedict calculator to calculate your daily caloric needs.
How Many Calories Needed Each Day to Lose Weight?
Your individual answer will depend on the two numbers you derived – your BMR and your Harris-Benedict number. Since you need to burn more calories than you take in, a good rule of thumb is to take your Harris-Benedict calculation and subtract between 300 and 500 calories from that number. This, then, would be your required daily caloric intake for weight loss.
Eating Below Your BMR
Never eat below your BMR number, because your body will begin to convert your lean body mass to energy. This, in turn, decreases your lean body mass (even though your weight is dropping), which decreases your basal metabolic rate. This can become a vicious cycle that traps many dieters, who find they can eat less and less and need to exercise more and more to even be able to maintain their weight loss.
Increasing Your Body’s Ability to Burn Calories
Is the number of calories you can eat and still lose weight alarmingly low? You can increase your body’s ability to burn calories. There are two ways you can do this. First, you can increase your lean body mass through strength training. Secondly, you can increase your activity level. If you significantly increase your activity level, you will need to recalculate your caloric needs so that you can continue healthy weight loss that sacrifices minimal lean body mass.
Once you have determined how many calories you need to eat daily to lose weight, check out some of the different diet recommendations for a 1200 calorie diet, 1500 calorie diet and an 1800 calorie diet.