One of the hardest things about keeping my diabetes under control is to make sure that I am eating the right foods every day. It’s not always easy to do with my busy life. It is even more difficult in the summer now as I am coming and going with outdoor activities, traveling and picnics.
I know what things I am supposed to be eating but with working and running errands it seems so convenient to go through the drive thru or grab some Kentucky Fried Chicken for supper on the way home. As a society we have become more reliant on the pre-packaged meals and processed meats etc. Many of the ingredients in these processed foods have been linked to diabetes and heart disease as well as the epidemic of obesity in our children. The more that we can go back to basics and eat real homemade foods like grandma use to make the better off we will be.
It takes a bit of work to make sure that we have healthy foods on hand or that we are eating the right foods when we do have to eat out. I have a few tips on what has been working for me.
Have a day set aside to make some of your weekly food staples. I usually do this on Sunday afternoon or evening. I make up a pot of my favorite low carb chili or vegetable beef soup. I roast some chicken or turkey with a bit of rotisserie seasoning and break it into chunks for sandwiches or for chicken salad. I cut up some onion and other vegetables that I may want to use during the week in salads or dishes to save time after work. It’s easy to do this because I am already cutting them up for my chicken or tuna salad anyway. I just cut up extra right away. I scramble up some eggs with added veggies and ham etc. for a quick breakfast for the next few days. I make hard boiled eggs too so I can grab one for breakfast or chop one up on a salad. I actually keep some salad dressing at work. We have a refrigerator at work and so I can keep some healthy things like cottage cheese, string cheese or fresh berries there. I keep nuts at home and at work for a quick pick me up between meals.
If you absolutely must stop for fast food, or you are just too tired to cook then check out the best choices at Women’s Health Eat This, Not that “Top Swaps”. Just click on the restaurant and you will see the best choices as well as the nutritional information for each item.
http://eatthis.womenshealthmag.com/top_swaps/restaurants
Check out your “usual” on the way home restaurants and make a note of the healthiest choices.
It takes some thought and a little bit of effort to eat healthy for diabetes but it can be done! Like they say, “nothing good ever comes easy”. Well, we can at least try to make it a bit easier!
More tips to follow... 1. Use one of those slow cookers that has the removable ceramic pot in it. Put your meat & cut up vegetables in it the night before and keep it cold in the fridge. In the morning put it in the crock pot with your broth etc and turn it on for a great meal when you get home.
ReplyDelete2. Use one of those microwave egg poacher cookers that cooks two eggs in 1 minute. Just break your eggs into the cooker with a drop or two of water and microwave for a minute. This is just as fast as a bowl of cereal in the morning and it has healthy protein and biotin which lowers blood sugar.