Posie’s Place

As I said in the update to my last baby post on Friday I have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.  Although my doctor said it’s not a severe case she said that it would be better for me to meet with a dietician to have a diet plan drawn up to keep things under control and to give me a more complete understanding of what GS meant for the rest of my pregnancy, my baby and my life after he is delivered (when hopefully my diabetes will disappear).

I’ll be happy to eat and do whatever it takes to make sure the next 14 weeks are safe for me and my baby and that he is delivered healthy.

All weekend I trawled the internet reading about diabetes and  diabetic diets.  I decided that the best thing I could do would be to keep a food diary until I saw the dietician, this would allow me to demonstrate what I eat and when I eat it.

Monday morning I got a call from the dietician and was given an appointment on Tuesday afternoon (they don’t keep you hanging around here in Switzerland).  Off I went with my little food diary thinking that I was doing pretty well and that I was quite knowledgable about diabetes.

I was wrong Although what I was eating was (for the most part) pretty healthy the dietician went on to explain that I was eating the wrong combinations of foods and the amount of fruit I was eating was too much (I didn’t know you could eat too much fruit!)

According to her I should be trying to eat a lighter breakfast, and more in the evening (the bodys sugar processing system works better as the day progresses).  As anyone who has ever dieted will know this is counter intuitive to everything you try to do to loose weight.

I’ve got to keep an eye on my weight once per week as I must not allow myself to loose weight but my rate of weight gain should slow.

After going through the details about diabetes is and the impact it will have on my pregnancy and my life I was given a sample diet which I must adhere to.  It may be necessary for me to monitor my blood sugar several times daily in ordre to assess whether the diet is sucessful .  I’m relieved that at this point it looks like insulin injections will not be necessary…  Phew, I can’t tell you what a relief that is!

Here is the diet I have been given to follow:

Breakfast ~20g Carbohydrates

Example :

• 1 Small piece of fruit and 1 slice wholemeal bread

Lunch ~50g Carbohydrates

Example:

• 60g Rice/Pasta/Grain (uncooked weight) or 80g Pulse (uncooked weight)or 100g Wholemeal bread or 240g Potatoes
• 80-100g Meat or 100-120g Fish or 1-2 Eggs or 40g Cheese or 50g Dried meat or 150g Cottage cheese
• Large portion of vegetables or salad
• 3 Tsp oil for cooking or salad (olive or Rape seed oil)
• 1 dessert (small piece of fruit/low fat pudding/1 piece of chocolate/2 biscuits) – should not exceed 10g Carbohydrates

Dinner ~50g Carbohydrates

Example:

• 60g Rice/Pasta/Grain (uncooked weight) or 80g Pulse (uncooked weight)or 100g Wholemeal bread or 240g Potatoes
• 80-100g Meat or 100-120g Fish or 1-2 Eggs or 40g Cheese or 50g Dried meat or 150g Cottage cheese
• Large portion of vegetables or salad
• 3 Tsp oil for cooking or salad (olive or Rape seed oil)
• 1 dessert (small piece of fruit/low fat pudding/1 piece of chocolate/2 biscuits) – should not exceed 10g Carbohydrates

Snacks (morning/afternoon and evening) ~10-20g Carbohydrates

Example

• 1 Small piece of fruit or 1 Slice of wholemeal bread or 1 Low fat yogurt or Vegetable sticks

Total Carbohydrate Intake Per Day Should Not Exceed ~180-200g

My check ups at the ObGyn will be more frequent over the next few weeks, so I’ll see her in 2 weeks time instead of 5 and then I will be seeing the dietician again.

I’m off over to Kalyn’s Kitchen to check out more of her great low carb receipes!!  I’m certain I’ll be featuring more of them in the coming weeks as I need inspiration for my lunches.  I had been eating at the company restaurant but since I need to enforce strict portion control it is easier for me to bring my lunch with me and eat at my desk.

Take care for now!

Pamela