Gestational Diabetes - Anyone Have A Meal Plan They Can Send Me?

[fionas]

I was borderline GD last pregnancy and have been feeling like absolute crap for a couple of weeks. Will do a test tomorrow but am pretty sure I have it. Feel very thirsty, knackered and close to blacking out.

So ... I know that I'm meant to avoid bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and normally I would sit down, go through recipe books and work some stuff out. But we're pretty busy right now - in the middle of moving house, planning renos to new house etc. etc. and I have SPD to deal with as well.

So if anyone has a meal plan with specific suggestions on what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, I would be hugely grateful if you could send it to me so I don't have to figure it out for myself. I know porridge for brekkie is good and meat and veg for dinner is good, I just want something more specific than that.

[Mak]

Hi!
I know that everyone experiences different foods that cause issue but this is pretty much what I survived on. I was just over the threshold by 0.1 and managed to keep my blood sugars under the limits for the entire pg and I felt heaps better too.

Breaky - porridge, with fruit and some cinnamon (used sultanas/blueberries/pears)
- tinned fruit (in juice not syrup) with Jalna (any natural) yoghurt or the Diet brand
- eggs and 1 slice toast

Lunches - soups with 1 slice of bread (I stuck with minestrone and chick/corn)
- toasted sardine sandwich
- tuna/avo/lettuce sandwich or same with chicken
- salad with tuna/chicken small wholegrain roll
- steamed gyoza/dumplings with a miso soup
- baked beans with 1 slice bread

Dinners - meat with vege/salad (pretty much lived on a high rotation of salmon/chick/steak)
- omelette and vege/salad
- pita bread pizza
- souvlaki
- small serve of curry/stir fry with 1/3 cup of rice
- spag bol with 1/3 cup of pasta

I found brown pasta and basmati rice were the best choices for me and kept me full (after I got used to it). Multigrain and pita bread was ok too. The key with all my meals seemed to be that I needed to eat lots of veges and that meant that I could have a few carbs as well - so I tried to make sure that I followed the half plate of vege, small serve of low GI carbs and protein.

Snacks - Almonds/Walnuts
- Youghurt
- Fruit
- Vita Weets with Peanut Butter (multigrain ones) or thin slice of cheese
- Popcorn
- Snack Right biscuits for a sneeky treat - the choc covered sultana ones (and only 2) were my treat for good eating at the end of the day
- Skinny Cow lowfat/cal ice cream when I felt deprived (they are portion controlled so were good for me).

I found that I was able to eat pretty much anything that was home made without dire consequences as long as I only had a small portion also in comparison to store bought stuff. I also used cinnamon on yoghurt/porridge as I had read it helps the body regulate blood sugar when used regularly. I had to avoid bananas, pumpkin, watermelon as they would spike my BSL's too.

HTH - I will try and think of what else and comeback later. I really struggled at the start but it got easier.

[fionas]

Can't write much right now but just wanted to say BIG thanks - I've been doing that the last couple of days and feel much better!

[Mak]

I am so glad! I have been thinking of you - I know exercise is tricky but perhaps using some handweights (or tins of beans ) every hour or so may also help??? xxx

[sloane]

mak's list is awesome! i also found some great recipes on the taste website especially for diabetes that helped me out when i was looking for something different. they had a great soup that was really simple & quick to make - just veg stock, a carrot, a zucchini, tin of tomatoes & a tin of brown lentils.

[crysk]

what a great list with some great suggestions... thank you