Easy Weekly Meal Plan for Diabetes

A healthier diet and lifestyle is the first thing that is recommended to anyone that is diagnosed with diabetes. This is because the foods you eat have a direct impact on your blood sugar levels. Meal planning is the number one way to help you follow through with a healthier diet.

No Guess Work

Perhaps the best thing about meal planning is that it takes the guess work out of your daily meal plan. A meal plan gives you a clear strategy for each day and what you will eat for every meal and snack. This makes follow through a lot more likely, because you don’t have to think about what you eat. You also are a lot less likely to get caught unaware and end up making desperate food decisions at a vending machine or fast food counter.

A meal plan does not have to be a complicated thing. You can use one general base idea for a whole week’s worth of meals, making a simple process even easier.

Breakfast (Base: Oatmeal)

Pre-make oatmeal for the week. You can do this by cooking the oatmeal and then separating it into servings for each day, or by making a no-cook refrigerator version for each day. To make the no-cook version, place oats and your milk of choice in a container overnight. Each day, add something different to the oatmeal to make it a different experience.

For Example:

•    Almonds and Honey
•    Apples, Pecans, and Cinnamon
•    Granola and Cinnamon
•    Peaches and Coconut Milk
•    Pureed Pumpkin and Pumpkin Pie Spice

Lunch (Base: Salad)

Salads are always a great lunch idea. They are lean and clean, so they won’t slow you down or make you feel sluggish. They are easy and are great for spiking your energy in the middle of the day. They are also incredibly versatile. Here are some ideas to add to simple lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers to make salad interesting every day:

For Example:

•    Chicken, Corn, and Black Beans
•    Re-fried Beans and Salsa
•    Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Vinaigrette
•    Deli Turkey, Cherry Tomatoes, and Olives
•    Salmon and Pecans

Dinner (Base: Chicken and Rice)

There are a lot of things you can do with a base meal of chicken and simple brown rice. These are both very versatile meal options. Simply cook your meal a little differently each night, and add a few different touches to make it a whole new experience.

For example:

•    Italian: Pan Fry chicken, covered in Italian bread crumbs, in a small amount of olive oil. Infuse rice with Italian spices. Serve next to a Caprice salad.
•    Bake chicken in salsa; serve with rice and black beans.
•    Bake chicken in sauce made with chipotle spices and a little agave nectar. Serve over plain brown rice with a small amount of butter, and sautéed zucchini.
•    Teriyaki chicken over plain rice, serve with Asian mix vegetables or broccoli.
•    Stir-fry chicken with all your favorite vegetables, serve over rice.

With one simple base meal idea, you can build a whole weekly meal plan for each meal. It is so simple you are guaranteed to do well, which means a healthier diet and lifestyle for you. For more information on diabetes, click here.