Help!!! Meal Planning.

freespirit6315

Having trouble meeting calorie equirements. Need suggestions and ideas on meal planning.

kommodevaran

Use your food diary, prelog - fill it with food you like, hit your calorie target.

freespirit6315

I do but when I get close to my calorie limit the carbs will be too high. Need to stay at 20% or under for carb intake because I'm diabetic and I can't seem to even both at the same time do you have any suggestions on that I appreciate it.

Also, I'm looking for help planning meals recipes for cooking at home I'm single but I usually just grab something easy or go out and eat and I'm trying to stop doing that so I really don't know the proper way to cook. So I'm looking for meal ideas (recipes) for a one person.

L1zardQueen

Have you tried a getting a referral for a registered dietician through your doctor?

kommodevaran

freespirit6315 wrote: »

I do but when I get close to my calorie limit the carbs will be too high. Need to stay at 20% or under for carb intake because I'm diabetic and I can't seem to even both at the same time do you have any suggestions on that I appreciate it.

Also, I'm looking for help planning meals recipes for cooking at home I'm single but I usually just grab something easy or go out and eat and I'm trying to stop doing that so I really don't know the proper way to cook. So I'm looking for meal ideas (recipes) for a one person.

If you need to reduce carbs, reduce amounts and frequency of high carb foods. Cooking at home is great for this! Base your meals on protein, fat (naturally fatty protein sources are especially delicious) and vegetables. THEN add small amounts of starch and fruit. You can rotate your meals on a weekly basis - more or less the same meal for each weekday, for instance pork on Mondays, chicken on Tuesday, fish on Wednesday, etc. Use recipes as meal ideas, not as prescriptions. Limit treats and snack foods which tend to be high in carbs and low in nutrition.

toxikon

I do a lot of meal-prepping, and here are some strategies I use to make sure my daily requirements are met.

- Before dividing my batch into portions, I input all my ingredients into the MFP Recipe Builder to get the calorie count. In the Recipe Builder, you can change the serving size to get a prediction of how many calories you're looking at for each serving. So if I want each meal to be about 500 calories, I will mess with the Servings in the Recipe Builder until I find a serving size that matches 500~ calories. Then I divide my batch into that many servings.

- If I find that calories still need to be higher, I'll just add in a few higher-calorie snacks into my day. A handful of almonds is usually enough.

whathapnd

Use the search function on this site to search "diabetic recipes." There are several threads, one of which includes a link to a website for diabetic recipes. I also suggest doing a google search for "simple diabetic recipes."

Baking meat and stir-frying are easy ways to prepare simple meals. Watch a coupe of YouTube videos on stir frying. You can learn simple cooking techniques by reading and watching videos.

Good luck!

freespirit6315

Thank you! everyone for your suggestions.

To be honest it's getting a little frustrating and confusing at times trying to figure this all out.

CMNVA

I hear a lot of people complain about cooking for one and it being difficult. I find it the easiest thing to do; but a lot of that ease may be due to having good grocery stores.

I'm used to cooking for 4. What drudgery. My kids are out of the house now and when my husband is on a trip it's just me. I get so inspired!!! I go to Wegman's and buy a small portion of salmon, a bunch of kale or a small amount of some other veggies and cook away. It's easy and I often have enough for lunch the next day. If you have a Wegman's or similar grocery store, they also have a lot of preprepped veggies to just throw in a skillet and cook (stir fry type stuff, spiralized, etc). Couple that with a protein and some fat and you're done.

lemurcat12

freespirit6315 wrote: »

I do but when I get close to my calorie limit the carbs will be too high. Need to stay at 20% or under for carb intake because I'm diabetic and I can't seem to even both at the same time do you have any suggestions on that I appreciate it.

Also, I'm looking for help planning meals recipes for cooking at home I'm single but I usually just grab something easy or go out and eat and I'm trying to stop doing that so I really don't know the proper way to cook. So I'm looking for meal ideas (recipes) for a one person.

Log your ideas for the day and then adjust portions -- add more protein and fat, reduce servings of things with lots of carbs.

Think about talking to someone about your needs for T2D -- my understanding is that there are a variety of ways to handle it, and under 20% carbs is not the only way. Also, source of carbs may be more significant, as well as eating them with other foods (like protein). I know more fiber with the carbs (fiber counts as carbs in the US and Canada) is often good, and some T2Ds find that they don't have blood sugar issues with fruit or some other things, like oats. I'm not an expert, so I'd ask for a referral to a certified diabetic educator, who should also give you meal planning tips.

Beyond that, I think a good plan is to structure each meal around protein and vegetables. For example, if you like eggs, having eggs and veg (with maybe a little cheese) is a good breakfast. Breakfast is easy since many like the same thing over and over. Then for lunch maybe a salad with protein on it or a bean or lentil stew with lots of vegetables. If you have room for some more carbs, add them in sparingly -- a little rice or pasta or a piece of fruit. Then dinner can be any kind of meat (including fish) or something like tofu or tempeh with vegetables -- stir fry but with a mix of rice and cauliflower rice and lots of other vegetables and your protein or something simpler like roasted chicken breast (skin on, bones in) with a very small amount of potatoes or sweet potatoes (or none) and lots of roasted vegetables. You can use root veg like carrots and turnips and rutabaga instead of potatoes or have winter squash for a similar feel.

Tons of variety available here.

If you don't mind leftovers, it makes no difference that you are cooking for one, and many things are really fast to cook. I used to roast a whole chicken and just use the leftovers in lots of ways throughout a week.

freespirit6315

Wegman? I have never heard of them before are they in the United States?

Yes, I have been to a diabetic specialist many times they are the ones that say Lower your carbs, for me not eating a lot dairy or carbs helps me maintain a lower blood sugar count enough so that I don't need the medicine.
.
I don't mind the cooking I'm just not a good cook haven't done much cooking in my life I haven't had to when I wanted something to eat I'd go out to restaurants fast food places or just have simple snacks and stuff at home. One of the reasons I have a weight problem.

toxikon

freespirit6315 wrote: »

Wegman? I have never heard of them before are they in the United States?

Yes, I have been to a diabetic specialist many times they are the ones that say Lower your carbs, for me not eating a lot dairy or carbs helps me maintain a lower blood sugar count enough so that I don't need the medicine.
.
I don't mind the cooking I'm just not a good cook haven't done much cooking in my life I haven't had to when I wanted something to eat I'd go out to restaurants fast food places or just have simple snacks and stuff at home. One of the reasons I have a weight problem.

Everybody starts somewhere. There are lots of really simple recipes you can try. I find slow-cookers and Instant Pots (pressure cookers) are excellent tools for simple, easy cooking.

CMNVA

freespirit6315 wrote: »

Wegman? I have never heard of them before are they in the United States?

Yes, I have been to a diabetic specialist many times they are the ones that say Lower your carbs, for me not eating a lot dairy or carbs helps me maintain a lower blood sugar count enough so that I don't need the medicine.
.
I don't mind the cooking I'm just not a good cook haven't done much cooking in my life I haven't had to when I wanted something to eat I'd go out to restaurants fast food places or just have simple snacks and stuff at home. One of the reasons I have a weight problem.

Wegman's is just one of the "bigger" chains on the east coast of the U.S. It is a regular grocery store but they also have a big selection of pre-prepped uncooked foods that make it easy for the solo cook. I do realize that many grocery stores don't have that.

MikePfirrman

Two ideas for meal planning I use all the time -- Yummly and Copymethat. Both are amazing sites. Yummly is like a recipe aggregator/megacrawler. You put in ingredients, diet preferences, allergies, etc and it will pull from all over the net based on "yummliness" rating. It pulls from all the major sites like Food.com as well as blogger, which is why I like it.

Copymethat is my favorite, though, now. You can copy any recipe on the internet with a Chrome extension and it automatically formats it into your recipes where you can add your own tags or customize it. You can also create your own recipes too, so having one site with your own creations in addition to anything copied is amazing.

Plus, it's like Spotify or a music app in that you can "follow" people who eat like you do. Love Copymethat.

freespirit6315

MikePfirrman! I'll check both sites. Thank you

freespirit6315

Toxikon! I'll check both sites out. Thank You.
Thank you everybody! I appreciate all the suggestions and advice and answering my questions.

freespirit6315

Toxikon! Sorry I meant to say, the slow cooker that would be easier for me I appreciate the suggestion.

jgnatca

It is easier to meal plan as a diabetic by taking care of the protein first. Figure out your protein at every meal and you won’t be stuck with too many carbs by the end of the day. Then plan the rest of the calories around that.

Set up a few meal plans that are easy for you and then you can rotate through them.

Figuring this out first time around can be mind blowing but it does become routine.

Fat adds calories fast if you are in a pinch. This can be accomplished with a little full fat dressing on your salad.

Common protein breakfasts include Greek Yogurt and eggs. It pays to learn how to cook eggs a couple ways.

Lunch protein can be yesterday’s leftovers, tuna, chicken or sandwich meat.

Dinner protein can be, well, anything. Meatballs, chicken, turkey, pork, tofu.

Prepared meals can so easily take you over the top. Frequently carbs are “doubled up” (pasta AND bread) when really you can only afford one.

This is where learning to meal prep on your own can really pay off.

freespirit6315

jgnatca
Thank you, I'll look into meal propping and I appreciate all your suggestions and ideas.

jgnatca

You are welcome. You’ve got this. I just noticed you asked for recipes for a single person. I cook for two so I have a similar problem. The secret is to cook for four (most recipes) and then take out one portion. Have the second for lunch the next day and the last two frozen for later.

This way you put in the effort to cook once and benefit four times.

jgnatca

https://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/foods-everyone-should-learn-to-cook?utm_term=.xjvMv5Dg8#.dbbZaKjnA

freespirit6315

That's a good idea! never thought of cooking for four people and then divided into different meals.

I'm going to figure out this meal prepping, I've never done it so we'll see how it goes. I need to go to the store and see if they carry those meal prepping containers.

Thank you! You've been a great help. I'll check into this website.

jflongo

I do some easy things for my meals at times.

1. Protein Shakes, adjust as needed for macros
2. Cook up a ton of chicken breasts on the weekend, use them all week in salads, low in carbs, high in protein
3. Make up omlets with a couple of eggs and egg whites, and whatever, quick and easy, high in protein
4. Frozen fish, put one in the fridge, use it the next day, takes only a few minutes to cook, lots of protein

Just a few ideas

freespirit6315

Thanks! Appreciated.