You may eat 1,800 calories a day on a diabetic diet plan, the American Diabetes Association states. Eleven servings of carbohydrates are allowed on this diet. You can follow this diet by measuring your intake of meats, fats and carbohydrates. The food pyramid developed by the American Diabetes Association provides guidelines about what you can eat with this diet plan. It tells you how many calories, or exchanges, are in each food type.
Breakfast
For breakfast, you may have two starches, one meat source, one fruit and one milk. This means you could have two starches equaling 1 cup of cooked cereal. For a drink, you would have 1 cup of skim milk. One meat will equal a quarter-cup of cottage cheese. A fruit would equal three-quarters of a cup of blueberries. A free food would consist of plain coffee or tea. Remember to always drink water at meal-time to add a liquid to your diet.
Lunch
Lunch consists of two starches, two meats, two vegetables and two fats. One free exchange would equal 1 cup of lettuce. Two starches would consist of two slices of bread and two meats would be 2 ounces of lunchmeat. Two vegetables equal a half-cup of carrots and a quarter-cup of tomatoes. Drink at least two glasses of water at mealtimes and in between your meals. Water holds no calories.
Snack
A mid-morning snack would consist of one fruit and one starch. A serving of fruit, for example, would be 15 grapes and a starch would be two rice cakes.
Dinner
Dinner would contain three starches, three meats, two vegetables, one fruit and two fats. Three starches would equal a quarter-cup of low-fat yogurt, and 1 cup of brown rice. Three meats would equal 3 ounces of baked haddock including 1 fat. One fruit serving would be, for example, 1-1/3 cup strawberries. One more fat would be two walnuts.
Evening Snack
The evening snack would include one milk and one starch. Foods on this list may include 8 ounces of plain yogurt and three gingersnap cookies.
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