Healthy With Diabetes Meal Plan #2

It’s time for food oh glorious food! We’re already on our second week of the Healthy With Diabetes challenge and, of course, we have another meal plan.

This plan includes a few new protein sources to try out. Lack of variety is what kills most people’s motivation to stick to a healthy meal plan so I try to mix it up and keep it interesting.

The important part here is not so much following the diet to the letter, but rather starting healthy habits and getting some great ideas for healthy and tasty meals that won’t cause complete havoc on your blood sugars or waistline.

Of course, if some of the meals in this plan don’t work for you, you can always look at my other meal plans for substitutes. Mix and match as you like, just try to match the macros (carbs, protein, and fats) for each meal.

How to find your calorie need

If you already know how many calories you need to reach your goal, you can skip the next section and go straight to the meal plan.

CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE MEAL PLAN

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 (but no less than 1,200 per day). This should lead to a steady and healthy weight loss.

If you want to gain muscle, start out by adding in 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 Healthy 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 for a 1,600 calorie/day plan, but you can download the meal plan as a PDF with many different calorie levels. 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 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 best or only 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!

This is a 1,600-calorie example. You can download a PDF with other calorie levels and a shopping list here.

Meal 1 – Egg white scramble, turkey bacon & toast

• 1.5 slice of toast (I used Nature’s Own Life Whole Grain Sugar-Free Bread)
• 4 oz. egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• 1.3 oz. Turkey bacon
• Cooking spray
• Salt & pepper
• Sugar-free ketchup (optional)

Instructions: Cut the bacon into pieces. Coat a pan with cooking spray and put over medium heat. Add bacon to the pan and let it cook until slightly crisp. Whisk egg and egg whites with salt and pepper and pour over the bacon in the pan. Stir until the eggs are cooked to a scramble.

Toast the whole wheat toast and serve. Sugar-free ketchup optional.

Nutrients: 286 calories, 25 g protein, 17 g carbs, 9 g fat

Meal 2 – Almond butter, rice cake, and collagen protein coffee

• 0.7 oz. almond or peanut butter (I use Legendary Foods)
• 1.5 rice cake
• 0.5 oz. Collagen Protein Peptides
• Cup of coffee

Instructions: Pour collagen protein into hot coffee (or tea). Spread nut butter on rice cakes – kick back and enjoy.

Nutrients: 236 calories, 21 g protein, 14 g carbs, 10 g fat

Meal 3 – Blackened fish tacos

• 4 oz. white fish (mahi-mahi, halibut, tilapia, cod, flounder, etc.)
• 1.5 small corn tortilla
• 0.9 oz. avocado
• 5.3 oz. shredded cabbage
• 2 onion slices
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/3 tsp. cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. fat-free sour cream (optional)
• Cooking spray

Instructions: Mix paprika, cayenne, cumin, onion powder, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Cut the fish into matchbox squares and toss in spices until completely covered.

Add cooking spray to a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the fish and let it cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. Take off the heat and set aside (or place in a container in the fridge if you cook for a few days at a time).

Chop cabbage and onion finely and set aside.

Heat corn tortilla and arrange veggies and fish on your tacos, finishing off with slices of avocado. You can add sour cream if you want.

Pro tip: If you plan on bringing this dish as lunch to work or school, don’t assemble the tacos until you’re ready to eat. Bring the fish, veggies, and tortillas in separate containers

Nutrients: 260 calories, 23 g protein, 25 g carbs, 7 g fat

Meal 4 – Quick chicken salad on toast

• 1.5 slice of toast (I used Nature’s Own Life Whole Grain Sugar-Free Bread)
• 4 oz. baked chicken breast
• 0.7 oz. plain Greek yogurt
• 0.7 oz. chopped onion
• 1 tsp curry
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions: Chop the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and mix it with yogurt, chopped onion, and spices. Gently toast the bread and serve as an open-faced sandwich

Nutrients: 201 calories, 31 g protein, 18 g carbs, 2 g fat

Meal 5 – Pork chops in tomato sauce

• 4 oz. pork chop (cut off the fat)
• 4 oz. diced canned tomatoes
• 1 oz. yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1.3 oz. low-fat mozzarella
• ½ Knorr chicken bouillon cube
• 2.9 oz. rice (cooked)
• Cooking spray
• Salt & pepper
• ¼ tsp. paprika
• ¼ tsp. dried oregano

Instructions: Cook the rice according to the instructions on the bag but add a dash of turmeric powder and a quarter cube of Knorr chicken bouillon to the water. Set aside.

Coat a pan with cooking spray. Season pork chops with pepper and cook for about 2 minutes on each side (until light brown). Remove the pork chops from the pan and place them in a deep baking pan.

Add onion and garlic to the pan and sear for about a minute on each side. Add tomato, bouillon cube, and spices to the pan and mix it all together. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes and then pour over the pork chops in the baking pan.

Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes at 400 F (200 C)

Take the pork chops out of the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes in the baking pan before serving.

Nutrients: 478 calories, 40 g protein, 25 g carbs, 23 g fat

Meal 6 – Cottage cheese parfait with berries

• 5.3 oz. Low-fat cottage cheese
• 2.7 oz. Raspberry
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ drops liquid Stevia
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions: Blend all the ingredients except the berries (I used my Nutribullet). Put the berries on top and enjoy!

Nutrients: 147 calories, 21 g protein, 15 g carbs, 1 g fat

Daily totals:  1,608 calories, 161 g protein, 114 g carbs, and 51 g fat.

Changing up the 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 next plan (which I will post in a week from now). You can also go back and follow my one of my other meal plans for another week.

Click here to download the meal plan as a PDF.