Do you know the saying: You can’t outrun a bad diet? Well, it’s absolutely true!
No matter what your health and diabetes goals are, your nutrition is one of the most important factors that will impact whether you reach your goals or not. That’s why I’m sharing this Fit With Diabetes Meal Plan with you today.
How to find your daily calorie need
We all have different calorie needs. Your daily calorie need depends on your size, fitness level, daily activity, gender, etc. When you are creating a healthy diabetes meal plan, your first step should therefore always be to calculate your “calorie equilibrium”, or how many calories you need each day to maintain your current weight. You can learn exactly how to find your calorie equilibrium with 5 easy steps in this post: “How to Find Your Daily Calorie Need“.
Once you know your calorie equilibrium, you can adjust your daily calories up or down to meet your goals. If your goal is to lose weight, I recommend that you eat up to 500 calories less than your equilibrium each day. That should lead to a steady and healthy weight loss.
If you want to gain muscle, start out with 300-500 calories more than your equilibrium each day and see what happens. If you find that you are also putting on a little too much fat, decrease your calories slightly.
The Fit with Diabetes meal plan
Now that you know how to calculate your daily calorie need, you are ready to create a healthy diabetes meal plan. Well, I say create, but you can really just use the plan in this post as it is. I have already calculated all the macronutrients (calories, carbs, protein, and fat), so you just need to choose the calorie level that is right for you.
The example below is a 1,600 calorie/day plan, but you can download the meal plan as a PDF with many different calorie levels (and a handy shopping list). The download also includes a version with grams instead of ounces for my international friends.
This meal plan has a calorie split of 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fat, which is what I generally recommend for weight loss (you can read “How to Lose Weight When You Live with Diabetes” for more details).
If your goal is to build muscle, I would recommend that you increase the carbs to 35-40% of your daily calories and decrease the fat to 20-25%.
I know that healthy nutrition (and especially how many carbs to eat) is a topic that causes a great deal of discussion in the diabetes community. I make no claim that my approach is the only right way to do it, but it’s what works for me and the clients I work with. If you are doing something different that works for you, then definitely keep doing it!
The meal plan is gluten-free and low FODMAP. If you have any other food allergies or intolerances, you will have to make adjustments yourself.
This is a 1,600-calorie example. You can download a PDF with other calorie levels and a shopping list here.
Meal 1 – Protein pancakes
- 1.2 oz. Oats
- 5.3 oz. Egg whites
- 0.7 oz. Peanut or almond butter
- 1 tbsp. Stevia (optional)
- Cooking spray
Instructions: Blend oats, egg whites, and stevia and bake as pancakes. Spread the nut butter on the pancakes, roll them up, and enjoy.
Pro tip: Make enough pancakes for 3-4 days and store them in the fridge.
Nutrients: 329 calories, 27 g protein, 26 g carbs, 11 g fat
Meal 2 – Greek yogurt with berries and almonds
- 5.3 oz. Low-fat Greek yogurt (plain)
- 3.2 oz. Strawberries
- 0.3 oz. Almonds
- Stevia (optional)
Instructions: Mix a little Stevia into the yogurt and sprinkle chopped almonds and strawberry slices on top.
Pro tip: Berries don’t have to be bought fresh, frozen is just as good for you
Nutrients: 154 calories, 17 g protein, 15 g carbs, 4 g fat
Meal 3 – Garden salad with turkey and strawberries
- 5.3 oz. Ground turkey (99% lean)
- 6.7 oz. Strawberries
- 4.7 oz. Mixed greens (salad, spinach, kale, cucumber, etc.)
- 2 tsp. Olive oil
- 1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- Salt & pepper
- Cooking spray
Instructions: Fry the ground turkey in a pan with a little cooking spray and salt & pepper until cooked through. Set aside. Mix the olive oil, mustard, and balsamic vinegar and toss the mixed greens and strawberries in this vinaigrette. Serve the salad with the turkey on top.
Nutrients: 327 calories, 36 g protein, 21 g carbs, 12 g fat
Meal 4 – Chicken and veggie wrap
- 4.0 oz. Cooked chicken breast
- 3.5 oz. mixed veggies (cucumber, bell peppers, celery, etc.)
- 1½ Small yellow corn tortilla (these should have about 50 calories and 10 g carbs per tortilla. I use the Mission brand)
- 2 oz. Low-fat Greek yogurt
- Curry powder
- Paprika
- Pepper
Instructions: Cut the chicken into thin slices and season with pepper. Cut veggies into sticks. Roll chicken and veggie sticks in a tortilla. Mix yogurt, curry, and paprika into a quick and delicious dip, and dip away.
Pro tip: Follow my “How to Cook the Perfect Chicken Breast” guide to cook a delicious, juicy chicken breast.
Nutrients: 237 calories, 32 g protein, 22 g carbs, 2 g fat
Meal 5 – Salmon with sweet potato fries
- 5.3 oz. Salmon
- 3.2 oz. Sweet potato (raw weight)
- 3.5 oz. Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.)
- Cooking spray
- Salt & pepper
Instructions: Cut the sweet potatoes into fries and coat them lightly with cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 45-60 min at 400 F (200 C). Season salmon with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 15 min at 400 F (200 C). Steam, boil or bake the veggies and serve on the side.
Nutrients: 406 calories, 34 g protein, 23 g carbs, 19 g fat
Meal 6 – Cottage cheese delight
- 2.7 oz. Fat-free Cottage cheese
- 2.7 oz. Strawberries
- 0.5 oz. Peanut or almond butter
- Stevia (optional)
Instructions: Mix cottage cheese with peanut butter and Stevia. Serve with sliced strawberries on top.
Nutrients: 172 calories, 15 g protein, 11 g carbs, 8 g fat
Daily totals: 1,625 calories, 161 g protein, 119 g carbs, and 56 g fat.
Changing up the Fit With Diabetes meal plan
I like to eat the same foods for several days in a row with only minor changes and then change the plan every week or so. I would suggest that you follow this plan for a week and then start on the Fit with Diabetes Meal Plan #2. You can also go back and read my first meal plan example.
Click here to download the meal plan as a PDF.
I stumbled across this a few days ago and thought that I would give it a try! I’m a Type 1 Diabetic and have been working on stabilizing my blood sugars and lowering my A1C. With this meal plan, what time during the day would you suggest that we have each meal? Is there an every (insert number) hour rule?
Whatever works for you. I like to eat every 2-3 hours when I do 6 meals a day.
Hi! Thank you for putting these out there. Quick question and excuse my ignorance. With all of the ingredients listed, what are the portions that you used to calculate how many Carbs, Fats, Proteins? I made the first recipe (I get what you mean about blending them…), but now am not sure if I should eat 1 pancake wrap or all of them…
Thank you for building these meal plans. It made my weekend a whole lot easier being able to use this as a resource.
I’m so glad you like it and find it helpful.
The idea is that you first determine your caloric need. There is a link to the calorie calculator in the post. You then choose the amount of the ingredients that are listed for the individual calorie need in the PDF (the link is right above the first recipe). If your goal is 1600 calories per day you’d use all the ingredients listed for the 1600 plan (which is the example in the post) and that’s your serving.
Did that answer your question?
Yes! Thank you for your response. I had looked at the PDF, but was confused if the macros in the meal plan were reflecting the entirety of what I cooked or not – could I eat everything that the recipe made? Appreciate it again!
Yes u can
Yes, the PDF reflects everything that’s in the recipe
Your site is a pray’s answer. I was diagnosed with Dt2 in 2009. With really no guidance, other than what I found on the Internet I didn’t know much. I cut carbs and sugar from diet and exercised for two hours a day. Everything dropped – all was good. Then out of nowhere, I’m back with high glucose levels and feeling like crap. No one really tells you you are a diabetic for life. It has been a long struggle, reading books, websites, and learning from others. *tears in my eyes* I have poured myself over your website past couple hours. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It feels like a load is lifted off my shoulders. I don’t feel hopeless. I feel that I can do this.
Hi Stine,
I’m so glad you found us! And it breaks my heart every time I hear stories like yours. Even when we do all that’s in our power, our diabetes isn’t always “playing nice”. Continue to educate yourself and connect with others who live with diabetes, I’ve found peer support can make a huge difference. You are welcome to join our closed Facebook group (Diabetes Strong Community)
Hi!
Love the info and will probably start using it! I am a college athlete with type one diabetes and would like to gain weight and muscle. I am 5’5” and 115 pounds. Would love to weigh around 130. Can you maybe post some meals with the daily caloric intake at around 3000? It would be very helpful 🙂 thanks!
Hi Zach,
That’s a great goal. You can always combine meal plans until you get to your caloric goal. I will say, 3000 calories is a lot of food 😉
This might be a dumb question but Does serving size mean that’s how many oz it’s going to be?
Yes, the serving size is the amount, being oz., tbsp. etc. So if the measure is oz. and serving size is 0.9 that means 0.9 oz.