Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The gestational diabetes diet...so far

So, I sat through the gestational diabetes class with a nurse and a registered dietician. After a brief consultation about my lifestyle, taking into account my height and weight before pregnancy, the dietician created a nutrition plan for me. Basically, I have 6 main eating times a day- 3 meals and 3 snacks. For my meals, I'm allowed 45 grams of carbs and 14 grams of protein. For snacks, I'm allowed 25 grams of carbs and 7 grams of protein. The dietician wants me to keep my calorie intake at 1700 calories daily, which I didn't think was very many!! I know one thing for certain- that's quite a few less than I was taking in before this diabetes diagnosis!! Thus began my journey into the world of carb counting. I had NO idea how many carbs are in so many of my easy, "go-to" foods. Uh, cereal? Pretty much OUT, especially for breakfast. Even the high-fiber cereals, like Kashi brands, which are supposed to be 'healthier' versions of cereal (as opposed to my favorite: Cocoa Crispies!) have atleast 40 grams of carbs. This means that milk, at 12 grams of carbs per 8-oz serving, was out of the question to go with the cereal. I've had to totally rethink my meal planning, and change my list of "go-to" foods. I am not a protein person, especially first thing in the morning. But that's a big change I've had to make. Pairing protein with a suitable (read: fiber filled, whole grain version) of carbohydrates in the morning is SO essential to keeping my blood sugar level. It's been a big learning experience for me, and so far it's going pretty well. I've had the occasional glucose reading that was a little high (no more than 2 points outside the ideal range), but I've been pretty solid, thankfully. I'm slowly learning different snack and meal combinations that allow my blood sugars to stay level, while maintaining some level of variety. And, an interesting tidbit- I've lost 3 pounds in the last two weeks or so, following this plan. I've heard this is normal, and as long as my doctor's okay with it, so am I. I definitely don't feel hungry, which was a concern I had when I first saw the 1700 calorie limit on my nutrition plan. Some of my favorite food choices:
(Of course, I pay attention to serving sizes!!)
-Thomas Bagel Thin with scrambled egg whites, mixed with shredded cheese.
-Reduced fat wheat thins with either peanut butter or cheese
-Morning Star Italian Herb Chik Patties
-Flat Out whole wheat wraps, with chicken salad, tuna salad, or a Italian Herb Chik Pattie cut up
-Tomato & Mozzarella Salad
-Reduced fat cottage cheese with watermelon and strawberries
-Fiber One Banana Nut muffins
-"Emily's Chai Tea recipe": Choice of tea bag (mine is decaf Luzianne), with tablespoon of Silk French Vanilla Creamer (a soy coffee creamer), with mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. YUM!!
-Kashi frozen meals when I'm in a pinch- I always pay attention to the carb and protein content.
Those are just a few!

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