What is a Food Plan?
What you eat and when you eat is basic and essential for the control of your diabetes. A diabetes food plan carefully balances the kinds and amounts of food you eat with your lifestyle and activity requirements for energy. This helps you to maintain your blood sugar levels within the desired level. Such a plan may also be designed for you to lose weight.
It is important for people with diabetes to maintain their weight within the normal range because excess weight makes it more difficult for insulin to function properly, and therefore more difficult to control your blood sugar.
The Diabetes Centre provides a dietary counselling service for all its patients. The picture below shows a a typical counselling session in progress.
Basic Guidelines for Healthy Eating
These guidelines are not just for diabetics, but for everyone to follow for good health and good eating habits.
- Moderate intake of starchy, high fibre foods
- Reduce fat intake
- Minimise use of concentrated sugar
- Drink less alcohol
- Reduce salt intake
How do I stick with my diet?
- Work with your dietician or doctor to develop a diabetes food plan you can live with.
- Gradually substitute new foods and cooking methods into your way of life.
- Don't try to change everything overnight.
- Even if you sometimes forget to stick to your meal plan, don't give up. Just resolve to do better next time.
- Seek the support of your family and friends, it will be healthy for them to eat the same foods as you.
How do I lose weight?
These are just some tips to start you off. Losing weight and maintaining the loss of weight is a challenge which requires commitment, discipline and all the support you can get from your family, friends, dietician and doctor.
- Set realistic targets for yourself, and deadlines to meet those targets.
- Take smaller servings of everything.
- Eat slowly and really enjoy your food.
- Substitute junk food snacks for low calorie foods like fruits.
- Exercise regularly, at least 3 times a week. Choose an activity you enjoy.
- Take your coffee or tea without sugar. You'll get used to it.
- Minimise exposure to temptation. Keep your fridge and cupboards free from junk food.
- Substitute high fibre foods - they're more 'filling'.
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