My husband is a type two diabetic and I'm wondering what you all eat in an average day? We're hoping to see a dietician but unsure if our insurance will cover it. In the meantime we're trying to get together a mealplan for us both (since we're both trying to lose weight) and I was wondering what foods you guys use to feel full, keep sugars stable and be healthy?

Everyone manages their food in a different way. I use Fitday to track my calories and carbs and aim for a certain percentage of carbs/fat/protein. I also focus in fibre because it keeps me full longest for fewest calories. My plan is Phase II of the South Beach Diet, lots of whole wheat, legumes and absolutely no sugar. My HA1C is now nearly normal.

A dietitian will be your best bet. In the meantime, there is lots of information online. Try the diabetic websites listed above.

I'm following a plan from the 30-day Diabetes Miracle book. I adapted the plan a bit to fit my lifestyle better, but it seems to work pretty well.
The diet is vegetarian and has a lot of beans and salad.

A typical day for me:
Breakfast -- 1 cup of beans, small piece of fruit.
Lunch -- 2 cups spinach salad with dressing and carrots or peppers, 1 cup beans, veggie burger patty
Dinner -- 1 cup soup, 1 cup salad with a few nuts and dressing, 1 slice sprouted whole grain bread with SmartBalance light spread, frozen fruit juice bar.

The diet plan in the book has a larger breakfast, but I'm not a morning person and don't want to spend 45 minutes preparing and eating. This plan leaves me full and satisfied and my blood sugar level is controlled well.

My basic plan is -- lean meats, lots of veggies & salads, 2-3 lower GI fruits daily (lower-sugar), switched to whole grains, almost no sugar, water, tea, and limit coffee at 2 a day; having 3 meals + 2-3 snacks a day.

I measure everything (watching portion sizes) and track calories on my own to make sure I am not overeating; using tips from Volumetrics, the GI Plan, and the positive reinforcements of the Beck plan.

Plus I do some kind of exercise every day (esp walking) ... and my blood sugar levels are staying in the normal range for some time now. Rosebud

BF -- oatmeal (opt: 1 slice wg toast); OR eggs w/wg toast; OR wg bagel w/PB or cheese; coffee
MS -- fruit (ie peach, pear, berries, apple sauce, or small green banana); coffee
LN -- soup w/slice wg bread OR a sandwich & cupasoup
AS -- yogurt and/or fruit, nuts or cheese; tea
DN -- lean meat, salad, veggies with a small new potato w/skin; OR 1 cup or less of brown rice mix OR beans OR 'cooked' wg pasta
ES -- cheese and/or apple; plus tea

I adjust my snacks to make sure I am eating enuff.

I am in the same situation... just diagnosed last week and am working with a group in Chicago. Any product suggestions people discover will be helpful...

C

CARRIE ~ I try new products all the time: mostly ones that cut out or down on sugar and fat. I like JELLO no-sugar puddings and s/f jellos; SOURCE lowfat and nosugar Yogurt (many fruit flavors); 1% sour cream or cottage cheese; MOTT's no sugar applesauce or any other brand that is sugarfree.

I love the BLUE MENU or PC brand (President's choice) products; so far I haven't found a product of theirs that I don't like. I love BLUE MENU cereals and frozen dinners (all low fat) like Shepherd's pie. Today I found some cheese that is supposed to be FAT FREE, so I am trying it to see what it is like. I love those little babybell cheese that come in so many flavors now and are only 60-70 calories each; and laughing cow cheese or lite cream cheese (Philiadephia, I think) is great on wg Ritz crackers or bagels.

I usually buy OLD MILL ww bagels becuz they are medium-sized and only 220 calories for the whole bagel. Weight Watchers has some for only 150 calories each but we have a hard time getting them here. Wonder and WW have nice whole grain English Muffins for about 130-140 calories;great for breakfast or a snack.

To be fair, there are so many kinds of products, it would be hard to mention them all as I try new ones all the time. My focus is healthy: if they focus on healthy, I'll try it at least once. Today, I bought a thin crust pizza (made by Bernatello's) that saves 100's of calories on the crust: if we like it, I'll buy it again; if we don't, we won't. I would prefer a whole grain crust, but they are very hard to find; and I'll try whole grain anything: we really like to buy whole grain pasta now too.

I use Splenda brown sugar mix for my oatmeal or Red River natural Cream of Wheat (on 16 cals per tsp); it tastes great on it. I use it on apples with cinnamon and bake them in my microwave too; yummy. I buy ALL-NATURAL peanut butter with no sugar or salt added.

I'm sure there are many, many more; but you kinda have to turn into a "LABEL SLEUTH" these days, and keep your eyes peeled for new products that come out all the time. Hope this helps you in some way.