If you have diabetes, you may think that you will never be able to eat the foods you enjoy ever again. But you do not need to eat special food on the diabetic diet; you just need to eat moderate amounts of food and make most of your choices healthy choices. A calorie-controlled diet can help you learn how to balance your intake and make smart choices. A 1,400-calorie diabetic diet is best suited for women of small stature who need to maintain weight or active women who need to lose weight.
Diet Basics
When following a calorie controlled, diabetic diet, use the diabetic exchange diet as a guide to help you create balanced meals. On the exchange diet you eat a certain number of servings from each food group based on calories and blood sugar needs. A basic 1,400-calorie diabetic diet consists of seven starch servings, 5 oz. of meat and meat substitutes, three servings of vegetables, three servings of fruit, two servings of milk and three servings of fat. Exchanges are than distributed throughout the day to create balanced meals. When meal planning, you "exchange" food items within each group. For example, at breakfast you can exchange a small banana for a 1/2 cup serving of orange juice.
Breakfast
A balanced breakfast on a 1,400-calorie diabetic diet should include two starch servings, 1 oz. of meat, one serving of fruit, one serving of milk and one serving of fat. A sample breakfast meal may consist of a toasted whole wheat English muffin with 1 tsp. of margarine, a scrambled egg, a small orange and 1 cup of nonfat milk. Another breakfast meal may include a 2 oz. whole wheat bagel with 1 1/2 tsp. of peanut butter, 1 oz. of low-fat cheese, a small apple and a 6 oz. container of nonfat, sugar-free yogurt.
Lunch
A balanced lunch on a 1,400-calorie diabetic diet should include two starch servings, 2 oz. of meat, one serving of vegetables, one serving of fruit, one serving of milk and one serving of fat. A sample lunch meal may include 1 cup of chicken noodle soup with six saltine crackers, 1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese with 3/4 cups of diced pineapple, 1 cup of mixed greens and 1 tbsp. of salad dressing and 1 cup of nonfat milk. Another meal may include a small whole wheat pita stuffed with 2 oz. of lean turkey meat and 1 tsp. of mayonnaise, with 1 cup of grape tomatoes, 6 oz. of nonfat sugar-free yogurt and 1/2 cup of unsweetened canned fruit.
Dinner
A balanced dinner on a 1,400-calorie diabetic diet should include three starch servings, 2 oz. of meat, two servings of vegetables, one serving of fruit and one serving of fat. A sample dinner meal may include 2 oz. of grilled salmon with 1 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of cooked spinach with 1 tsp. of olive oil and 1 cup of diced melon. Another dinner meal may include a 2 oz. portion of beef eye of round with a 9 oz. baked potato with 1 tsp. of margarine, 1 cup of steamed green beans and a small pear.
