FITNESS: Low Carb Meal Ideas

I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes when I was pregnant with my first baby. I remember crying the whole way home. Despite eating healthy and exercising daily, I felt like a failure (although I know now that Gestational Diabetes is generally due to hormonal imbalances rather than lifestyle choices).

Thankfully, my health education background helped me to better understand my nutritional needs at the time, and create a healthy diet for both me and my baby.

Several months ago, my mom was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. For any one who has ever dealt with Diabetes before, you know it can be quite overwhelming at first. I'm sure, like myself, there was probably much crying and feelings of failure and despair.

At first glance, a diabetic diet can seem very restrictive and, well, blah. But, I'm here to tell you, it doesn't have to be that way!

While visiting family this week, I was able to sit down with my mom and create a meal plan that works around the foods that she likes. She was shocked at how much food she can actually eat, and was pleasantly surprised that she doesn't have to feel like she is starving all day :)

She is currently on a 30, 15. 30, 15, 30, 15 diet meaning, meals are to be right around 30 carbs, snacks around 15. I wanted to share what we came up with to help others realize that low carb doesn't have to mean starvation :) You can actually eat a good amount of food on a low-carb diet, you just have to be smart about how you plan it out!

Fill up on greens and protein! And while counting calories is good too, you'll find that you will fill fuller faster with a high protein, high fiber diet.

Here is what we came up with for her:

Now, we based this meal plan off of foods that my mom currently eats and likes. It is definitely not for everyone. My mom is a teacher. By the time she gets home at night, cooking a big fancy meal just doesn't fit her lifestyle. We kept her meals super simple. Not a lot of prep. 

To make things even easier, I have found that prepping my meals once a week saves a ton of time, and also helps me to eat healthier throughout the rest of the week. I generally choose 1 or 2 days throughout the week to prep my meals for the remainder of the week. This means if I plan on eating chicken in several of my meals that week, I cook all of my chicken at once and put the remainder in the fridge to use throughout the week. Same with my veggies. I generally bake a ton of veggies all at once, and then I have them done for the rest of the week. Saves me so much time throughout the week, and guarantees that I have healthy options all week long!

Below is a meal prep list, as well as, a grocery list for the above meals.

Sidenote: Grocery list and meal prep is for a family of 2. 

Eating healthy does take some thought and a little bit of effort, but it is SO WORTH it in the end!

What are your favorite healthy snacks/ meal ideas? I'd love to add some more to my list, and even feature some on the blog and on my Facebook page! Feel free to post ideas below, or email them to cookrach@hotmail.com ♥