Eating a Variety of Wholesome, Nutritious Foods

One component of healthy eating is choosing a variety of wholesome, nutritious foods. Well, that sounds okay, but what does that mean?

It means choosing foods that are more nutritious instead of foods that are less nutritious. Nutritious foods are low in saturated fats, added sugars, and refined grains.

The quality of your food matters, too. Choosing fish high in omega-3s such as salmon could improve your heart health. Choosing dark, leafy greens including kale, which is high in vitamins A, C, and K, could boost your immune system with its jolt of antioxidants.

Forget about a diabetes diet

There is no such thing as a diabetes diet. Yep, you heard it here. You won’t find one diet that works for everyone with diabetes. You won’t find a dietitian who prescribes one diet for all her patients with diabetes. You won’t find a list of foods that fit into a prescribed diabetes plan.

Instead, it’s up to you to choose foods that fit your goals, lifestyle, and culture. Sound daunting? Or liberating? Or perhaps a little of both.

On the bright side, it’s wonderful to have choices (lots of choices). You don’t have to deny yourself your favorite foods like chocolate cake or cheeseburgers if you have diabetes. It’s less about denial and more about moderation.

If you love collard greens, you can find a recipe that helps you prepare them so you can eat them every week. If you adore cheese, you can choose low-fat varieties in small portions that you can eat every day. If you savor spicy chicken tikka masala, you can find a cookbook to help you tweak the ingredients to ramp up the flavor with less saturated fat.

Expanding the selection of foods you eat

Being diagnosed with diabetes shouldn’t feel like you’re suddenly restricted to eating certain foods. Instead, you have the food world at your doorstep. You have the flexibility to choose foods that you truly enjoy from a variety of different plants and animals. You may discover and taste new foods you’ve never tried before.

Nutritious foods include almost every vegetable that you can think of under the sun. Nonstarchy vegetables are an easy choice because they’re full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but with almost no calories. Arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and summer squash, not to mention fresh spinach and bell peppers, can be on your grocery list.

Fruits are nutritious, especially ones that you eat fresh without any sauces or sugar. Savor fruits in moderation so the natural sugars in these foods don’t raise your blood glucose too much.

Whole grains such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, whole-grain pastas, quinoa, and farro can’t be beat for fiber, protein, and essential vitamins and minerals. They can protect against cardiovascular disease.

Nuts and seeds are chock-full of protein, fiber, vitamins, and healthy fats. Pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, and flaxseeds are just a handful of these tiny powerhouse players.

When planning your meals (more on that in a bit), do your best to choose foods from several of these categories each day. Doing so will ensure you get a variety of nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy.

If you need some help choosing the right foods, consider these excellent choices:

Beans of any kind (kidney, pinto, black) are high in fiber, magnesium, and potassium.
Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, collards, and kale have vitamins and minerals and not many carbohydrates.
Citrus fruits of all types (grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and limes) have fiber, vitamin C, and, most importantly, zest!
Sweet potatoes are a starchy vegetable with fiber and vitamin A that you can try in place of white potatoes.
Berries of any kind, including strawberries and blueberries, have fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Tomatoes have vitamins C and E and iron, and you can enjoy them so many ways: raw in salads, in sauces, or on your pizza.
Fish high in omega-3 fats such as salmon, albacore tuna, and mackerel help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Whole grains without any processing, such as barley, quinoa, and farro, are excellent sources of magnesium, chromium, proteins, fiber, and folate.
Walnuts and flaxseeds have omega-3 fats, and most nuts have protein, fiber, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals.
Milk and yogurt are tried and true favorites for calcium and vitamin D.

Dishing Up Ideal Portions

You can eat a variety of healthy, wholesome foods (see the preceding section), but if you eat too much, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Portions may seem like a mundane topic, but knowing the right portions for you is a powerful tool for eating well and maintaining or even losing weight.

Portion control can be one of the hardest things to do or perhaps learn, because your brain may already be preprogrammed. All-you-can-eat buffets are in business for a reason, after all.

You can change the way you think about portions, though. It may not come easily at first, so be patient with yourself as you practice. Ask your dietitian about tips for incorporating the right portion sizes for you into your meal plans (see Chapter 11 for more about working with a dietitian). How much an individual should eat is based on gender, age, height, weight goals, what else the person is eating, and the person’s individual needs.

On a positive note, portion control can help you enjoy a variety of foods that you love. Perhaps nothing is totally off limits. Instead, you may choose to eat smaller portions of foods that are less healthy, such as sweets and fried foods.

Portion size and serving size are two different things. A portion is the amount of a particular food that you eat. It could be the cheeseburger that you order for lunch or the amount of tuna noodle casserole you spoon onto your plate. For example, average portion sizes have increased recently. We expect to eat more than we ever have in the past. A serving size is a measurement of food calculated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Usually, you find serving sizes on food labels, but you may begin to use serving sizes as part of a meal plan. Serving sizes can help you eat a variety of foods, in the right amounts, throughout the day and calculate the amount of nutrients you’re eating.

Portions and serving sizes may not add up. Sometimes, a portion size is larger than a serving size. For example, a foot-long sandwich portion from the sandwich shop may contain several servings of bread or meat.

By law, serving size is based on what people actually eat, instead of what they should eat. In 1993, the FDA created the Nutrition Facts label, which includes serving sizes that drew on certain standards called the reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs). Since then, the RACCs have been revised to reflect Americans’ increasing serving sizes of everything from ice cream to soda to muffins.

One way to enjoy even small portions of food is to savor each and every bite. If you’re really looking forward to a bowl of ice cream as a treat, don’t rush it. Take your time. Eat small bites. Focus on the flavor. Don’t watch TV or look at your phone while you eat.

You can also look online for resources about serving sizes. Here are some more details about serving sizes for different foods.

Knowing what counts as one serving

According to the USDA, Each of the following counts as one serving:

1 slice of bread
½ cup cooked rice or pasta
1 cup raw leafy vegetables
½ cup other vegetables (raw or cooked)
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
1½ ounces cheese
2–3 ounces of cooked meat, poultry, or fish
⅓ cup nuts or 1 ounce
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Weighing and measuring food

Weighing or measuring your food at home may be the best way to teach yourself about serving sizes and, therefore, your ideal portion. It takes practice to know what certain weights and amounts of food look like on your plate. As you practice, you’ll be able to better gauge the right portion for you when you’re at a restaurant or serving yourself fruit salad at a summer barbecue.

Using a scale is the most precise way to measure the amounts of food you’re eating. Pastry chefs use kitchen scales all the time to weigh flour or sugar because it’s so precise — and precision is everything when you’re making soufflé. (Scales can be fun, too.)

If it’s in your budget, buy a basic, cheap kitchen scale that you can use to measure foods as you prepare them at home. You can compare your usual portion to the serving size on the label to get a better idea of how much you’re actually eating.

Measuring cups and spoons can be just as useful for figuring out an ideal portion or the number of servings. Serve yourself your usual portion of food. Now measure it using your scale or measuring cups. Is it more or fewer servings than you expected?

Here’s an example: Two tablespoons of peanut butter is one serving. Measure out 2 tablespoons before you spread it on your toast in the morning. It’s the best way to determine whether you actually consume one serving size.

Knowing how to create your plate

Some people find the plate method, also called Create Your Plate, a simple and effective way to plan portions and eat healthy foods. It may also help you manage your blood glucose and lose weight.

Create Your Plate is a straightforward strategy where you envision dividing your plate into sections and filling each section with a different group of food (see Figure 12-1). You can still choose the foods you want, but you serve yourself those foods in specific portions.

Courtesy of the American Diabetes Association
FIGURE 12-1: Divide your plate and fill it according to the Create Your Plate method.

The advantage of Create Your Plate is that you don’t need any special tools. You can use it at home, at a restaurant during lunch, or at a potluck in your neighborhood.

Here are the steps to follow to Create Your Plate:

Using your dinner plate, envision a line down the middle of the plate. Then on one side, divide it again so you have three sections on your plate.
Fill the largest section with nonstarchy vegetables like broccoli, arugula, tomatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms.
Now in one of the small sections, put grains and starchy foods, such as whole-grain pasta or sweet potatoes.
In the other small section, put your protein such as chicken, fish, or pork.
Consider whether you plan to eat a serving of fruit, milk, or yogurt because they have carbohydrates and might impact your choices in Step 3.
Choose healthy fats in small amounts.

For cooking, use oils. For salads, some healthy additions are nuts, seeds, avocado, and vinaigrettes.
To complete your meal, add a zero-calorie drink like water, unsweetened tea, or coffee.

You can buy specialty plates, measuring containers, lunch boxes, and other tools that help with portion control if they’re helpful. Just do an online search for “portion control products,” and you’ll be amazed by the items available.

Meal Plans That Work for You

A meal plan is just a fancy name for what you eat, when you eat, and how you like to eat. It’s your strategy for meals every day. Meal plans are for everyone, not just people with diabetes. Women who are pregnant or training for a marathon may have a meal plan. Men who are recovering from a heart attack or trying to lose 10 pounds may have a meal plan.

People with diabetes benefit from a meal plan because the foods you eat affect your blood glucose. Planning what you eat and when you eat it can make it easier to keep your blood glucose in your target range most of the time. Eating healthful meals at regular times of the day may help you achieve your goals for managing your diabetes.

Keeping blood glucose in your target range can help you feel good each day, and also reduce the risk of complications like heart, eye, and kidney disease as you get older. It may help you achieve your goals of maintaining or losing weight, too.

Try not to look at a meal plan as a diet. It’s not. Diets are usually considered short-term fixes that restrict foods. Diets can make you hungry. Diets aren’t sustainable for the rest of your life. Diets aren’t usually fun.

A meal plan is a way to build the foods that you adore into your life. You can choose wholesome, nutritious flavors that you truly enjoy. Think about portion size, too (see the earlier section “Dishing Up Ideal Portions”).

Forget about a diabetes meal plan

Just as there is no diabetes diet (see the “Forget about a diabetes diet” earlier in this chapter), there is no diabetes meal plan. People with diabetes use different meal plans to achieve their goals. The critical thing is to meet with a dietitian so you can create a meal plan that works for you.

A meal plan helps you come up with strategies for what you eat: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. It gives you guidelines for when you eat your meals, like eating breakfast as soon as you hop out of bed in the morning or eating dinner at least 3 hours before you go to bed.

A meal plan is adaptable. It’s not set in stone and should allow you the flexibility to enjoy special occasions like eating dinner out for birthdays or enjoying an extra snack because you walked 3 miles. Additionally, a meal plan can change over time based on your goals, lifestyle, or health.

The most important component of a meal plan is you. A meal plan must fit you. What does that mean? A meal plan should reflect your diabetes or other health goals, lifestyle, and culture. If it doesn’t, you probably won’t follow it. Or you’ll try your best to follow it for a few months, but then go back to your usual eating habits.

Turning to a dietitian for help

Schedule an appointment with a dietitian so you can develop a meal plan together. Your dietitian will evaluate your preferences, nutritional needs, and your health, including your diabetes. Then the two of you can discuss the options for creating a healthy eating plan.

Try not to think of your diabetes meal plan as static. It may evolve and change as your goals and lifestyle change. You’ll probably need to refresh it — on your own or with your dietitian — to make sure it’s working for you.

It’s a good idea to see a dietitian when you’re first diagnosed with diabetes or soon after. Then, if you can, make an appointment with a dietitian at least yearly for a refresh. (See Chapter 11 for more details on dietitians, nutrition appointments, and insurance coverage.)

Coming up with your own meal plan

If you don’t have the time or resources to see a dietitian right now, you can come up with your own meal plan. In this section, you’ll find descriptions of some of the most popular meal plans. For more information, visit www.diabetes.org or www.choosemyplate.gov, or ask your diabetes care provider or CDE for more information on meal planning.

If you’re looking for a great place to start without too much preparation, check out a description of the Create Your Plate method earlier in this chapter. Ask your physician or healthcare provider whether this is the right approach for you.

Mediterranean-style eating plan

The Mediterranean-style eating plan has been touted as a good plan for people with diabetes. The name comes from how traditional people living near the Mediterranean Sea in places like Italy and Greece typically eat. These people live long, healthy lives.

It’s sometimes called the “Mediterranean diet,” but it’s also called the Mediterranean-style eating plan because it’s truly a style and way of eating.

In general, following a Mediterranean-style eating plan means eating fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and nuts, and small amounts of fish and chicken. Cook with olive oil instead of butter, and enjoy a glass of red wine.

Most people choose a Mediterranean-style eating plan because of its health benefits, particularly for preventing heart disease and stroke. Also, the Mediterranean-style eating plan is a good alternative to a low-fat diet for reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

In people with diabetes, a Mediterranean-style eating plan can reduce A1C. Also, studies have shown that the Mediterranean-style eating plan can improve cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes. The American Diabetes Association doesn’t recommend any specific meal plan for all people with diabetes, but consider it as one of many options for healthy eating.

Perhaps you just want to incorporate the parts you like best out of the Mediterranean-style eating plan, like enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables in season. You may want to use olive oil or other healthy fats when cooking or making salad dressings.

It doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach, although some people may enjoy the structure of following a cohesive approach to eating. What follows are tips for Mediterranean-style eating:

Enjoy your food, and make healthful eating a family affair. For example, cook and eat with your friends and family, and make sure you sit down and enjoy your food with others.
Include plants, such as seasonal fresh vegetables and fruits, as a majority of the food choices in your day.
Use herbs and spices to season your foods so you have flavor without added salt, sugar, and butter.
Use olive oil for cooking, instead of saturated fats like butter.
Beans, nuts, legumes, and whole grains are everyday staples and great sources of wholesome carbohydrate and protein.
Eat lean proteins such as chicken, low-fat dairy, eggs, and cheese, and enjoy fish twice a week.
Enjoy occasional desserts in small portions and choose fruits often.
Sip a glass of wine with your meal, and drink lots of water throughout the day.
Stay active throughout the day by taking frequent breaks from sitting. Bike and walk to work or to the grocery store.

Food choices/exchanges

Following a meal plan based on food choices/exchanges may be a good option if you want more precision than the plate method, but don’t want to count each carbohydrate (see more about carb counting in the following sections). Food choices used to be called food exchanges, but you may still hear both terms.

Food choices/exchanges are used to describe a certain quantity of food within each food list (a grouping of foods with similar nutrient profiles). For example, a small piece of fresh fruit is one Fruit choice and ⅓ cup of cooked pasta is one Starch choice. Meet with a dietitian to plan how many food choices from each food list you’ll eat at meals or during a day.

The American Diabetes Association publishes a booklet of food lists — Choose Your Foods: Food Lists for Diabetes, which is co-published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics — for people who use food choices/exchanges to plan their meals. This booklet can be bought online at www.shopdiabetes.org.

Low-carb meal plans

Following a low-carb meal plan is a popular strategy for people with diabetes. There isn’t one single low-carb plan, however; there are hundreds.

In general, with a low-carb plan, the focus is on eating protein such as beef, poultry, fish, eggs, and nuts. You eat vegetables low in carbohydrates such as leafy greens, cucumbers, and broccoli. And you try to avoid added sugars and grain products such as pasta, rice, and bread.

Studies are inconclusive about the health benefits of low-carb meal plans for people with diabetes. Some studies show benefits in terms of blood glucose and risk of cardiovascular disease. Other studies show that higher-carb diets are beneficial. The jury is still out.

The American Diabetes Association doesn’t recommend or discourage a low-carb meal plan. Instead, you should consider it as one of many options for healthy eating. Talk with your dietitian about the best plan for you.

Following a low-carb meal plan may be a good option for some people with diabetes, depending on their needs. But it’s important to note that no one, including people with diabetes, should try to eliminate carbs from his diet completely, even though carbs have the biggest impact on blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates provide energy that helps the body and brain to function properly.

Some consider the paleo diet a low-carb meal plan because the two eating styles share many common elements. A paleo diet is based on the concept that people should eat like humans during the Stone Age or Paleolithic Period before farming was widespread. With a paleo diet you eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, lean meats, and fish. You avoid grains, dairy products, refined sugar, salt, potatoes, and highly refined foods. You drink a lot of water and exercise regularly. The American Diabetes Association doesn’t recommend or discourage a paleo diet, so talk with your dietitian if you’re considering it.

Scientists continue to study the effects of low-carb diets on people with diabetes. For example, one review of studies that examined low-carb versus high-carb diets found no difference in terms of blood glucose management in people with type 2 diabetes. In fact, the total number of calories that you eat appears more important than where you get them in terms of carbohydrates or proteins. Talk to your dietitian or healthcare provider to determine the best meal plan for you.

Intro to Carbohydrate Counting

Carbohydrate counting is another strategy that you can use to plan your meals. It means focusing on carbohydrates as you think about when and how much to eat. With carbohydrate counting, your meal plan includes eating a certain number of carbohydrates or servings of carbohydrates each meal or snack. One carbohydrate serving is equal to 15 grams of carbohydrate.

Carbohydrates are a big deal. They’re the main source of energy in your body, in addition to protein and fat. When eaten, carbohydrates break down into smaller sugars, including glucose, which the cells convert into energy for the body. Carbohydrates provide fuel for the central nervous system and the brain. (For more on carbohydrates, flip back to Chapter 11.)

Counting and eating a planned amount of carbohydrates can help keep your blood glucose in your target range. The American Diabetes Association does not have recommendations regarding the amount of carbohydrates that people with type 2 diabetes should eat each day. Instead, eat carbohydrates in moderation just like other nutrients such as protein and fat.

Balance carbohydrates with other foods such as nonstarchy vegetables, protein, and healthy fats.

If you’re interested in carbohydrate counting, talk to your dietitian about coming up with a personalized plan for how many carbohydrates will work for you at meals and snacks. We give you an introduction here, but we encourage you to bring up it up with your dietitian or CDE so you can get more specifics for your situation. Your dietitian can take into account your preferences and what you have been eating, your weight, activity levels, medications, and goals for blood glucose.

Calling out carbohydrates

Certain foods are high in carbohydrates, and they may affect your blood glucose much more than other foods. Meats, nonstarchy vegetables, and fats have less of an effect on blood glucose. Check out this partial list of foods that contain carbohydrates:

Bread, bagels, biscuits, muffins, and tortillas
Boxed and ready-to-eat cereal
Pasta and couscous
Rice
Cornmeal and grits
Starchy vegetables such as corn, peas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes
Pancakes and waffles
Popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, and rice cakes
Beans (such as kidney, black, garbanzo, lima, and pinto) and lentils
Fruit and fruit juice
Milk, soymilk, and yogurt
Sugar, such as table sugar or syrup
Sweets such as candy, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, frozen yogurt, honey, jam and jelly, cake, pie, and pudding

Portion matters

Portion and serving sizes matter with carbohydrates, too. Eating a huge bowl of pasta raises your blood glucose more than eating a side of pasta with your salad and grilled chicken. Everyone has seen those gigantic apples at the grocery store (they’re probably not one serving size, right?).

If you’re interested in carbohydrate counting, you may want to invest in a scale or measuring cups so you can start to visualize serving sizes better. (See the “Weighing and measuring food” section earlier in this chapter.)

You can download an app that helps you estimate, record, and track your carbohydrates. Search iTunes or Google Play for highly rated and popular carbohydrate counting apps.

Reading food labels for carbohydrates

A food label is a fabulous resource for learning how many carbohydrates are in your foods (for more on reading food labels, see Chapter 11). First, if you’re counting carbohydrates, then you’ll want to focus on the grams (not percent daily value).

Next, look for the “Total Carbohydrate” line. It will tell you how many grams of carbohydrates are in one serving.

Look at the line underneath Total Carbohydrate called “Dietary Fiber.” Dietary Fiber is included in the amount of Total Carbohydrate (that’s why it’s smaller and underneath). Dietary Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that is either partially digested or not digested, so it may have less of an impact on your blood glucose than other types of carbohydrate like sugar. Fiber helps with digestive health, and all adults should aim to eat 25–30 grams of carbohydrate per day. If you use insulin, ask your dietitian or diabetes care provider whether and how eating foods with a lot of fiber will impact your insulin needs.

Now, examine the next line underneath called “Sugars.” Sugars are included in the amount of Total Carbohydrate (that’s why it’s small and underneath, just like fiber). Remember that the grams of Total Carbohydrate, not Dietary Fiber or Sugars, are what you track when counting carbohydrates. Are you planning to eat just one serving or the whole container? You’ll need to check the servings per container next to see whether your package has one or more servings. Then check the serving size to determine how many servings you plan to eat.

For example, say you want 15 grams of carbohydrate for a snack. Your box of crackers has 15 grams of Total Carbohydrate per serving, but there are two servings per container. The serving size is 1 ounce, or about 18 crackers, so you’d only eat half the box or 18 crackers to get 15 grams of carbohydrate.

INVESTIGATING THE GLYCEMIC INDEX

You may hear the terms glycemic index or glycemic load to refer to certain foods or meal plans.

Glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrate-containing foods, based on the food’s effect on blood glucose levels compared with a standard reference food (such as pure glucose).

Glycemic load is a measurement of the impact that the carbohydrate in a certain food or meal has on blood glucose levels. It is calculated by multiplying a food’s glycemic index by its amount of carbohydrate. Food items are designated as having a low, medium, or high glycemic load. Glycemic load is mostly used in research studies and is probably not a practical tool for most people with diabetes to use for everyday meal planning.

The American Diabetes Association does not endorse or discourage specific meal plans based on the glycemic index or glycemic load. Ask your dietitian or diabetes care provider if you have questions about these terms.

Planning, Shopping, and Cooking Smart

After you’ve chosen a healthy meal plan, the fun begins. Now you get to prepare and eat scrumptious foods!

Planning, shopping, and cooking for yourself and your family can be one of the most fulfilling things that you do in your day. It’s a real joy for some people. But like most of us today, you may feel like you don’t have the time. Don’t worry. In this section, we give you some tips for saving time and making steps easier.

If you don’t have much experience in the kitchen or don’t really enjoy cooking, the good news is you don’t have to do everything at once. Maybe start by making one home-cooked meal a week or every two weeks and gradually work your way up to more.

This is not a comprehensive list of strategies. After all, entire books cover the topic of healthy cooking with diabetes. If you’re interested in more tips and information, go to www.shopdiabetes.org to find terrific books on this topic.

Planning smart

Before you can shop for and cook meals, you need a plan. Carve out time to think about what you’d like to eat for the week. This could be on your commute home from work or when you’re walking the dog in the evening.

Come up with a plan for the week, including breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks (if you can). Consider your schedule and time constraints on certain days so you don’t overcommit yourself.

Seek out and select recipes ahead of time. Look for inspiration everywhere: magazines, cookbooks, online, your best friend. Rip pages out of magazines, dog-ear cookbooks, or find an app that saves your online recipes.

As you plan your meals and select recipes, consider your goals. When considering a recipe, look at the total amount of calories and carbohydrate in a serving size. And look at the serving size. Will this fit with your goals? Check out other factors or nutrients that may be important to you. For example, maybe you’re trying to reduce saturated fat and sodium in your meal plan. Or maybe one of your goals is to include more omega-3 fats in your meals to boost your heart health; in that case, look for recipes with ingredients rich in omega-3 fats.

Or let’s say you’re counting carbohydrates and you want to eat 30 grams of carbohydrates per meal. In that case, you probably shouldn’t plan a meal that includes pasta, garlic bread, and a dessert. Instead, look at the recipe or nutrition label of the foods you’re considering, and count up the number of carbohydrates per ingredient or food. You may need to skip the garlic bread and/or dessert and instead have a leafy green salad with your pasta.

Before you head out to the grocery store, write down all the ingredients you’ll need on paper or use an app on your phone to record them. That way you won’t forget anything, and it will make shopping faster and easier.

Consider stocking your pantry with healthy, essential ingredients so you have them on hand when you don’t have time to shop. These items might include olive oil, whole-wheat pasta, beans, garlic, onions, brown rice, canned vegetables, and canned tuna in water.

You can find a bounty of recipes on the American Diabetes Association website (www.diabetes.org) or in American Diabetes Association cookbooks like Quick Diabetic Recipes For Dummies (Wiley) or others available from www.shopdiabetes.org.

Plan for snacks to have on hand, and write down those ingredients, too. See more on savvy snacking later in this chapter.

Shopping smart

You’ve heard this before, but it’s true: Don’t shop when you’re hungry. You’re more likely to buy unhealthy snacks and food you don’t need.

Use your list to shop for only necessary ingredients. Try to buy the majority of your foods from the fresh vegetable and fruits section instead of the packaged-food aisles. It’s one way to avoid added sugars and saturated fats.

Really look at the produce. Which looks the tastiest, freshest, and most in season? Use all your senses, including your nose to smell and hands to feel for the best fruits and vegetables. You’re more likely to eat something that looks and smells delicious. Also, seasonal produce may be less expensive or on sale, versus produce that is out of season.

Don’t be afraid to use the scale in the produce section. It’s there for a reason: you. Find out how many ounces are in the apple you want to buy or how many heads of broccoli you need for your recipe.

If you do need to pick up some packaged foods, like pasta or bread, make sure to check out the food labels. Compare a couple of different brands to see how the food’s nutrients compare. Remember to look at the serving size when thinking about how much you’ll eat. It’s very important. Then look at the number of calories per serving to see whether it fits into your total calorie goal for the day (if you have one). Consider the total carbohydrates as you think about eating a variety of foods such as carbohydrates, proteins, and lots of nonstarchy vegetables. You may be surprised to find a low-fat food is higher in carbohydrates than a full-fat food is. Balance your goals for carbohydrates with your goals for reducing saturated fats.

Cooking smart

If you have time when you get home from the store, try to wash and dry your produce so it’s ready to use for cooking. It’s easier and quicker to make a salad when the lettuce is already washed and dried.

Consider chopping up some of the vegetables and storing them in little baggies or containers, making them easy to dump in the pan for your recipe or grab for a snack. It’s quicker to grab a healthy vegetable for a snack when it’s prepared instead of having to wash, peel, and slice it in the moment. However, washed and prepared vegetables may not last as long, so balance these considerations.

Try baking and grilling foods if you normally fry them. Use healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, canola oil, and others to sauté foods or make salad dressings. Try to avoid cooking with butter or lard.

Spices and herbs are your secret to flavorful, robust foods without added fat or sugar. Use them instead of extra salt to get the best taste sensations out of your foods. Salt-free spice mixtures are one option. Try fresh herbs like parsley, basil, rosemary, and cilantro.

Zests of ingredients such as fresh lemon or ginger can also punch up your food without added calories.

Put on your favorite music while you cook for easy inspiration and motivation. It doesn’t matter what genre; music can get your feet moving in the kitchen and can make cooking more fun.

Tempting Your Taste Buds with Nutritious Nibbles

Planning what you’re going to eat for snacks is just as important as planning what you’re going to eat during meals. In fact, healthy snacks can be part of your meal plan. Ask your dietitian or diabetes care provider whether including snacks in your meal plan is right for you.

Snacks aren’t the enemy. They give you energy and curb hunger. They also raise your blood glucose if it’s below your target range after exercising or if you’ve gone longer than usual between meals. See Chapter 8 for details on treating lows with the Rule of 15, which includes eating a food with 15 grams of carbohydrates.

If you’re carbohydrate counting as part of your meal plan, you may want to think of your foods in terms of their carbohydrates and their ability to raise your blood glucose. This could be helpful if you need a quick burst of energy before working out or if you feel like your blood glucose is low.

Avoid snacks while you’re watching TV or looking at your phone. This can lead to mindless snacking, and perhaps overeating. Savor and enjoy your snacks.

The amount of carbs to eat when snacking will vary for different people; the right amount for you will be based on your individual needs. Some people may need low-carb snacks; others may need 20–30 grams of carbohydrate (you may need a higher-carb snack before a strenuous workout, for example). Your dietitian can help you determine whether snacks are right for you, and how many grams of carbohydrate to eat at each snack. Here are some examples of healthy snacks with various amounts of carbs. These options are more nutritious alternatives to traditional snack foods such as candies, cookies, chips, pretzels, dips, and other sugary or starchy foods.

If you’re looking for a relatively low-carb option, snacks with less than 5 grams of carbs include the following:

1 ounce of nuts like almonds, pistachios, or peanuts
5 baby carrots
A hard-boiled egg
2 tablespoons of pumpkin or sesame seeds
1 cup of light popcorn
1 string cheese stick
10 goldfish crackers

Snacks with a moderate amount of carbs (10–20 grams of carbs) include the following:

A small apple or orange
⅓ cup of hummus and 1 cup of fresh veggies
¼ cup of dried fruit and nut mix
¼ cup of cottage cheese and ½ cup of fresh or canned fruit

If higher-carb snacks are right for you, munch on one of these snacks, which have about 30 grams of carbs:

A banana with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
¾ cup of whole-grain cereal with ½ cup of skim milk
6 ounces of light yogurt and ¾ cup of blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries

Eating Out with Confidence

Eating out is a pleasure and treat. You can try foods that you never dreamed of whipping up in your kitchen. And it’s often the go-to option for families or couples on busy weeknights when there just isn’t time to cook.

However, eating out can be challenging for anyone and particularly people with diabetes because you have little control over ingredients. You might feel like you’re at the mercy of the restaurant, so you just throw up your hands.

Don’t despair. You can take steps to eat healthy foods while eating out. We’ve got you covered.

Selecting restaurants with healthy choices

It may seem like there is a fast-food restaurant on every corner. However, there are also healthy restaurant options. You just may have to do a bit of searching to find them.

Restaurants with healthy options run the gamut from fast food to sit down. The Internet may be your best resource for choosing a restaurant with healthy meals. Most restaurants post their menus on their websites, and some even have the nutritional values for each dish.

Look for menus that have a variety of salads or even dishes labeled “heart healthy.” Sodium is everywhere when you eat out — from fast food to fine dining. Ask restaurants whether they have low-sodium options if you’re concerned about reducing sodium.

Check out the book Eat Out, Eat Well by Hope Warshaw for more great tips on this subject (available from www.shopdiabetes.org).

Ordering meals that mesh with your plan

After you choose a restaurant that seems suitable for your needs and the occasion, stop and think ahead before it’s time to order your meal. You may be tempted to throw the rules out the window for just one meal, but consider how you’ll feel later. Instead, follow these tips to eat well and have an enjoyable experience:

Ask your server whether nutritional information on dishes is available. Some restaurants, especially fast food, have these available. Read the nutritional information to make the best choice. Avoid dishes high in calories, saturated fats, or added sugars.

If the restaurant doesn’t have nutritional information on hand, ask about serving sizes and ingredients in dishes before you order.
If you have the option, ask to have fish or meat baked or grilled instead of fried.
To avoid salt, ask that salt be omitted or ask whether there are low-sodium options.
Order salad dressings, sauces, or gravies on the side so you can control how much you eat.
If the main entrees don’t look healthy, consider ordering a salad, sharing your entrée, or saving half the entrée for later.
Don’t be shy about asking for substitutions like fresh vegetables instead of french fries.
If your plate arrives and the portions are larger than you expected, ask for an extra plate or to-go container. Put the excess food in it to eat later.
Don’t supersize or order jumbo anything. These items tend to be high in saturated fat and calories. You’ve never seen a supersized carrot on the menu, have you?
Just because you get a free soda with your meal deal, doesn’t mean you have to fill your cup with soda. Fill it with ice water instead. You’ll avoid added calories and sugar. The same goes for that bag of chips; you don’t have to eat them now.

Planning Healthy Meals

Considering Your Goals