Meal suggestions in Balance - would they suit you? (genuine question)

[everydayupsanddowns]

I was flicking through the latest copy of Balance the other day and my eye was caught by an article relating to Public Health England suggestions to limit calorie intake to 400 cals at breakfast; 600 cals at lunch and 600 cals for evening meal. The logic being that by limiting to 1600 calories daily a person would still have some 'wiggle room' for an occasional healthy snack, milk in tea and so on.

Struck me as a very useful idea (I remember when newly Dx I was put on fixed doses of insulin with a carb count for regular meals/snacks and a spare extra 'exchange' for milk in hot drinks).

The menu ideas seemed to be taken from DUK's 'Enjoy Food' website, which seeks to give people with diabetes some tasty ideas for different meals and snacks.

All very promising so far.

But when I scanned down the 7 days listed I kept finding myself thinking, well I'm not sure I would cope well with that. Erm... that would be very tricky BG-wise... I couldn't eat that... etc. And that is with me having the benefit of rapid acting insulin to dose as I please.

I know that some here try to restrict carbs as much as possible, while others can tolerate a higher intake. We all agree that there is no 'one size fits all' approach. But for those who have used a BG meter to develop their own 'low spike' eating plans I would be very interested to hear whether you think any or all of these ideas would be suitable for you. I haven't done a carb count look-up for all of them, but having done the last three days it seems that they are all in quite a similar ballpark carb-wise.

Monday
Breakfast: Avocado, banana and cashew toast 316cals
Lunch: Salmon and cucumber sandwich 413cals
Dinner: Tortillas stuffed with chicken, salad guacamole 652cals
Dessert: Banana bread 170cals

Tuesday
Very Berry Porridge with 1 banana 348cals
Chicken salad sandwich, apple, 125g low fat low sugar yoghurt 456cals
Bean and mushroom enchiladas; chargrilled red pepper and tomato salsa 533cals
Mango 160g, 3 scoops reduced fat vanilla ice cream 242cals

Wednesday
No-added sugar muesli (40g) 100ml semi-skimmed milk, 1 banana, 125g low fat low sugar yoghurt 364cals
Vietnamese crunchy peanut salad with noodles 468cals
Pasta and vegetable cheese, rainbow salad 483cals
Blackberry upside-down pudding 245cals

Thursday
2 Weetabix, 200ml semi skimmed milk, 1 banana 326cals
Mediterranean pasta salad, pear, 125g low fat low sugar yoghurt 574cals
Pasta in brodo with couscous (30g uncooked) 510cals
Peaches in juice (217g), reduced fat custard 201cals

Friday
30g porridge oats, 142ml semi-skimmed milk, 30g raisins 274cals 45g carbs
Turkey and tomato sandwich, 30g almonds, pear 508cals 50-60g carbs
Speedy salmon pasta, 160g mixed veg 615cals 69g carbs
Raspberry shortbread mess 180cals 22g carbs

Saturday
Breakfast burritos 391cals 38g carbs
Goats cheese and roast vegetable pan bagnat, afghan salad 456cals 52g carbs
Vegetarian shepherd's pie with sweetpotato mash, roasted tomato and pepper bulgar wheat salad 455cals 75g carbs
3 scoops vanilla ice cream, 1 banana, mango 277cals 40g carbs +

Sunday
Apple and muesli smoothie 301cals 50g carbs
Roast butternut squash and red lentil soup, 2 slices wholemeal toast, 20g reduced fat spread 456cals 75-85g carbs
Black-eyed bean, feta and herb burger with bun, chunky chips 460cals 85-115g carbs
Apple and cinnamon cake, reduced fat custard 337cals 40g carbs +

All the food sounds lovely, though I am struck by the inclusion of a dessert every single day, which I found a bit odd.

I'd be really interested to hear what our self-monitoring T2s make of the suggestions - especially given that these are intended for people with diabetes who more often than not will have absolutely NO WAY of seeing what these meal plans do to their BG levels.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Difficult to answer, as I don't eat puddings, and its not really a range of food I eat either.
I can see where they are coming from though. It's a much better diet than the majority of the junk food that was being eaten by the majority of newly diagnosed diabetics I have been on courses with.

 

[Robin]

I won't comment too much on the carb intake, as I'm type 1 and you've asked for type 2 opinions ( though I would struggle with the prospect of 14 units of insulin on Sunday evening!) but having said they advocate a 400, 600, 600 split, most of the evening meals including the pudding are around 800 calories. So they aren't following the PHE advice!

 

[silentsquirrel]

I would not tackle any of these, even with insulin. All meals/snacks have at least one element I would view as a non-starter carbwise, or if it's something I might eat, the quantity is too much.

 

[mikeyB]

I’m with Robin on this. Putting aside Avocado, or sweet potato, which I can’t stand, I would run out of insulin by the end of the week. That being the case, how would a T 2 tolerate the carb assault?

 

[Amigo]

What country is this aimed at? ‘Roast vegetable pan bagnat, afghan salad’, ‘cashew toast, pasta in brodo(?), breakfast burritos?’

Would help if the menu suggestions were more culturally realistic and not so time consuming to prepare. Who has all these ingredients in and as a diet controlled type 2, the carb content would have me spiking badly after meals. The Sunday meal has a potential 155 grams of carb for one meal!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I actually rather liked that the suggestions were varied and interesting and from lots of different places @Amigo. Most recipe books seem to be similarly grandstanding, with mega ingredient lists and I think people just adopt one or two and mostly do simplified/adapted versions.

I think the evening meal suggestions (without the puds) would be mostly ok for me, and some of the lunch counts aren’t far off what I would go for - but I am well aware that I have insulin to just whack in to cover it. The breakfasts would have me all over the shop I’m afraid. Not much fat to slow the carbs and lots of additions of a banana here and there.

Interesting to see these early responses. Lurkers and moderate-higher carbers please wade in for balance.

 

[Brando77]

Not too shabby except for the desserts, I'd skip them all and have my usual, Greek yog.

 

[Ljc]

1600 calories a day might be fine for someone doing a days graft but me, no way I’d be putting on weight which I don’t need to do. As for the carbs I do moderate carbs @nd I’d hate to think how much insulin I would have to inject for some of those meals and as for puds everyday noooooo

Also most of those meals are not to my taste , I am more of a meat and two veg person with the occasional curry, Chinese etc and I much prefer my toast and peanut butter for brekkie.

 

[CathyB]

Wouldn’t work for me, banana, mixed berries, muesli, sweet potato mash....all of these would push my bg up If I wasn’t diabetic these foods would really appeal to me but sadly, not an option

 

[Rachel64]

Looking at the 3 days with the carb count, they are way above the 100/110grams of carbs that I allow myself so probably wouldn’t eat any of the meals 🙂

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I think it's designed to be a massive shake up.
Get off the burgers and chips, and onto different food.

But, then it needs a follow up.

 

[Amigo]

I think it's designed to be a massive shake up.
Get off the burgers and chips, and onto different food.

But, then it needs a follow up.

I’m all for that travellor but I think weekly meal suggestions should be what the average person recognises and can adapt to. The most pressing question from newly diagnosed on here seems to be, ‘I don’t know what to eat now!’ Some of those suggestions would have your average bewildered newbie thinking, ‘dear gawd, what the hell is Afghan salad and roast vegetable pan bagnat!’ 😱

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Even as a type 1 with insulin, I'd have to do a heck of a lot of exercise to avoid spiking after all those bananas. And why do they think raisins are a good idea? I can eat raisins with insulin, but sometimes I use half a dozen of them to deliberately raise my blood sugar quickly when it's hovering near a hypo. 30g of them can't be a good idea for a diabetic not on insulin, surely?

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Btw, will the results be viewable to type 1s after the poll closes, Mike? Or should I tick the oops box to see them?!

 

[Ljc]

TBH I really think the folks who thought that menu up need to get into the real world A lot of people couldn’t afford it.

 

[Drummer]

As a diet controlled type two there is nothing much I could eat on that menu.
Many of the meals have more than my entire days carbs - I have a maximum of 40 gm per day, and few of the ingredients are going to be in the ten percent or less range I chose from.
For type twos it looks like they are out to ensure deteriorating health,weight gain, complications, pain and death.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Btw, will the results be viewable to type 1s after the poll closes, Mike? Or should I tick the oops box to see them?!

I’ve tried to make it so that you can see the results without voting.

 

[Drummer]

I just realized that there isn't an option for me to cast a vote. By eating low carb I have negated my diabetes and can eat things which are high carb - I have tried a couple of times in the last year and seen normal BG levels afterwards.
I would never go back to eating high carb though - I would regain weight at a great rate, feel unwell and probably lose sensitivity to my own insulin.
I would eat that sort of food the day after old nick is skating to work but not before.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

I’ve tried to make it so that you can see the results without voting.

Thanks Mike, that works 🙂