Diabetic meal plan chart to print
Recipes: Look for new recipes online, buy a new cookbook, or try a cooking magazine.Make cooking exciting again by trying some new things. Too often we get into a rut of cooking the same foods and we get bored. Once you have dinners planned, think about some ideas for breakfast and lunch. This helps to keep the carbs lower and increases fiber, vitamin and mineral intake. When you look at your plate, ½ should be non-starchy vegetables for lunch and dinner (extra credit if you can do that for breakfast).
This includes all the food groups in a healthy portion-controlled way. Try Create Your Plate or the diabetes plate method to help with meal planning. We really should be planning meals around the vegetable. Instead of 7 meals, think about cooking 3-4 meals and planning for some leftovers. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by planning ahead for meals. If you need more or less time that’s fine too. Try to give yourself 30 minutes one time a week to think about what meals to make. If you don’t meal plan, now is the time to start. If you already regularly meal plan, maybe some of these tips will give you new ideas. Meal planning also helps to reduce mindless eating.
For people with diabetes this is especially important because food directly impacts blood glucose levels. It doesn’t matter what diet you are trying to follow you need to meal plan. Meal planning is the first step in healthy eating.