Diabetes management can be tricky. It seems like it should be easier, but one of the things we can do is to control our diet and yet many of us aren’t interested or disciplined enough to make those changes. But is it discipline or is it just not knowing how?
Table of Contents
3 Dietary changes to make to help diabetes management be easier (and tastier)
Make a plan
Creating a healthy eating (and shopping) plan ahead of time will help you in your diabetes management goals. Your doctor will likely recommend that you speak with a nutritionist (and if they don’t, you should anyway), to help build a plan.
A plan can help you shop, stick to healthy foods, lose weight and manage your diabetes numbers. Without one, you might be at risk for emotional eating (usually carbs and sugars), but with one, you can start to make exciting and tasty recipes that are not only healthy, but yummy.
Switch perspective about the “good” foods
We tend to think, “I can’t have donuts and I have to eat vegetables. How much fun is that?”. But so much of making any habit stick (especially a new one) is to change how we think about the habit. If we think, “I get to go exercise now and I always feel so good afterwards!”, instead of “I have to go exercise, ugh.”, then it helps rewire our brains to associate that activity with pleasure, not dread.
It’s the same with food. Once you have your healthy eating plan, look at dietary diabetes management as an adventure! How many amazing and delicious meals or foods can you experience? It’s truly all in how you think about what you’re doing.
Source out some great recipe websites
Coming up with yummy and healthy meals is key to not feeling cheated and as though just because you have diabetes, you need to eat bland foods. Decadent dessert recipes or savory dinner meals that will make your taste buds dance?? Yes, please!
You’ll need to hunt for the best recipe sites, but we’ve done a little starter work for you:
PRO-TIP:
Don’t shop when you’re hungry or stressed. Shopping when we’re “hangry” (a little angry that we’re hungry), stressed out or tired is exactly when we buy the empty value, high calorie (often sugary) foods, based on emotion and impulse.
If you shop when you’re rested and have had a good meal, you’ve got a much better chance of not being taken over by your impulses and potentially negatively impacting your health. Plus, when it comes to controlling and managing your own health, the more strategic you are, the better.
Wrap Up
When facing diabetes management, controlling your diet is one of the easiest ways (healthiest and low cost too). You may have to get creative with recipes, but then again, you might just discover some new favorite foods!
Speak with your doctor or nutritionist for other diabetes management strategies.
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