Change your food, change your life.
Yes, it may be as simple as that. We all know that many of us are prediabetic because of our food choices.
Although some of us have skinny prediabetes (we don’t look like the typical overweight prediabetic, but we are prediabetic), we still need to look at the food we eat.
We’re sharing ideas for healthier eating that will not require “new” or substitute foods for you. Ideally, you’ll learn what is healthy for you and what is not, and you’ll adapt your current diet to be healthy and, critically important, to your liking.
If it’s loads of extra work, or extra time looking for unusual ingredients, or you just plain don’t like it, what’s the point?
You won’t stick to it.
Together, let’s share recipes that are common and healthy. Let’s learn from each other—life is much easier that way, don’t you think?
Note: Before making any changes to your diet, talk with your healthcare provider and a nutritionist/dietitian to discover what will work for you.
Prediabetes will hang on and potentially develop into full-blown diabetes if we don’t make permanent lifestyle changes.
For most of us, that means choosing healthier foods, eating fewer calories, and increasing our daily activity level.
In this section, we offer tips on making life in the kitchen easy and fun, and we’ve tossed in a few recipes to help get you started.
The goal is to find a way of eating for you that doesn’t contribute to elevated blood sugars.
We don’t want to concoct reduced-calorie versions of our current diets. That requires finding sugar or flour substitutes, and ending up with weird flavors that aren’t as satisfying as the originals.
Natural flavors, maybe new flavors, but foods you can put together that don’t require special orders from online shops every few days — that’s what you want to eat.
On the other hand, don’t sweat it if you want to try a recipe that requires a substitute. It could be that you’ll love, say, almond milk, and want to use it on a regular basis. That’s OK. We’re just offering the notion that it’s easier to find and use options common in your shopping world.
These recipes are quick versions (yummy, don’t take long, possibly fewer ingredients) that we’ve adapted for you from more complex versions (yummy, take longer, more ingredients).
We will add more recipes on a regular basis.
There is no one way of eating that will reverse the diagnosis of prediabetes for everyone affected. These recipes are slanted toward fewer simple carbs and may be a good launching point for you, as you alter your eating habits and develop a new way of eating.
We want to eat healthy foods, but not many of us have time to devote to cooking. The goal is to get us all in the habit of cooking, rather than eating primarily fast food or processed food.
Try these recipes. Once you’re comfortable and happy in the kitchen, expand your choices to include more challenging dishes.
You’ll find that as you get into cooking, you’ll develop a handful of go-to recipes that are healthy, easy to make, and perfect for your palate. When you’re tired or in a hurry, those go-to dishes will save you from reaching for a pizza or cookie.
One huge motivator for getting in the kitchen is losing weight. Once you make a few changes in your food choices, you’ll notice pounds coming off. This will encourage you to swap out more foods, which will cause even more weight to disappear, and so on. Wootwoot!
Until then, enjoy the relatively quick recipes we’ve whipped up, and please share your own! We’re on the hunt for a healthy granola, if you have a favorite!
After trying a recipe, make notes on the amount of each ingredient that needs adjusting to suit your taste, and add new ingredients if you think they’ll work for you. Experiment.
In case it’s not mentioned in a recipe, always clean all of your produce before using.
Most of us working our way out of prediabetes land need to lose a few pounds. To do that, we need to adjust our daily calories and our level of activity. Keep that in mind as you decide what, exactly, you’re going to eat on any given day.
Nutritional information is not included because of the variations available for some recipes. You can easily find the nutritional info for each recipe by using websites such as CalorieKing, or apps like Carb Manager. Ignore the big “Keto” blurb on the Carb Manager website. This app works for anyone tracking foods (and FYI, we are not Keto fans, but to each their own).
T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon
EVOO = extra virgin olive oil
c = cup