Gestational Diabetes Diet

My nutritionist was simple.

3 carbs (15 grams = 1 Carb) for breakfast
1 for snack
4 for lunch
1 for snack
5 for dinner
2 for snack.

Match all carbs with a protein at all times, IE Peanut butter and Apple.

The quick answer was .. if it was not meat, cheese or a green veggie it was likely a carb.. Like Milk is a carb. Corn is a carb.

I also learned that if I ate a spoonful of Peanut butter after every meal, it would help keep my numbers down.

Good luck mama.

Your nutritionist should be pretty prescriptive about how many carbs you should eat & when & how to pair it with other protein & fats. And she should provide you a calorie goal to stay healthy.
I was provided both an 1800 and 2000 calorie plan. The only difference in the plans was the recommended protein & fat portions. Here was my breakdown on the 2000 calorie plan, which seemed like WAY too much food:
Breakfast:
15g carb (like 1 slice bread or oatmeal)
at least 14g prot (scrambled eggs, or greek yogurt)
1 fat (butter or peanut butter on toast)

Morning Snack:
15 g carb (dairy) like a latte
15 g carb (starch) like pita with hummus or crackers
at least 7g prot (chicken or 1oz cheese)

Lunch:
30g carb like bread or rice or pasta
at least 21 g protein (turkey, chicken, etc)
1-2 servings veggies
15 g carb like fruit
1 fat (like avocado or salad dressing)

Afternoon Snack:
15g carb starch (crackers)
at least 7g prot (peanut butter or cheese or greek yogurt)
15g carb fruit

Dinner:
15g carb (dairy)
30g carb (starch) like potato or pasta or some veggies like beans, squash
at least 21g prot (3oz chicken or steak)
1-2 servings veggies
15g carb (fruit)
2 servings fat (butter, or olive oil, etc)

Evening Snack:
15g carb (dairy)
at least 7g protein (go-lean cereal or cheese or a hard-boiled egg)
15g carb (starch) like cereal or oatmeal

It sounds like SO MUCH food, but the important thing is it's REAL FOOD, not processed, no hidden sugars, and your carb intake is controlled and always paired with protein.

One thing to get advice on from your nutritionist is which foods are considered carbs. Yogurt, Beans, Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Hummus, are all considered carbs for GD, even though usually I'd consider them proteins or veggies. On the plus side, you get to consider peanut butter, and cheese as proteins and not fats!

It's as much about HOW you eat as what. You can't eat carbs without eating protein/fat - this slows down the absorbtion of the carbs and the sugar intake into your bloodstream.

You can pretty much eat what you usually eat, but you have to eat it a particular way.

For breakfast, you can't JUST have toast, or a donut or whatever. You HAVE to have a protein with the carb. Carbs by themselves are the problem. You will have to watch how much carbs in a meal. But you can still have a sandwich.

PM me if you like. It wasn't hard to do, just took paying attention.

Hi M.,

I had GD while pregnant with my son; my midwife encouraged me to pick up Dr Barry Sears " A week in the Zone" and monitor my blood sugar levels. Using the book as a guide was great and I had NO problem getting the GD under control. It's really all about insulin regulation and the book gives you good ideas, sample menus and a few different breakdowns on how to think about organizing your food. I also bought a food scale to help. Going for three meals and 2 snacks as recommended really upped my energy as well. Good luck!

It was so scary to me when I was diagnosed with GD, but I felt tons better after talking to the lady at the diabetes clinic and the nutritionist. Before I went, one of my friends found me this chart, which helped until I saw a professional.

https://provider.ghc.org/open/caringForOurMembers/patient...

It was pretty close to what my diabetes counselor had me on. I was scared of testing my blood sugars 4 times a day, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

One of my friends is diabetic, and she gave me some good recipes. My favorite was portobello mushroom pizza. Basically you hollow out the mushroom with a spoon (get all the black stuff out) then add your pizza sauce and whatever toppings, bake for 20 minutes at 375. Easy and full of protein with very little carbs. I also bought Breyers carb smart ice cream so I could still have ice cream, usually as my before bed snack with some strawberries.

It won't take long with checking your sugars to see what elevates them. For me, drinking milk would bring my blood sugar levels up too high, for example.

Good luck!

I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies. You're going to do great so don't let this diagnosis scare you. I invested in a glucometer so I could keep up with my numbers. Eating protein with carbs, like others have stated, is key. Drinking lots of water is also important. With me, when I drank milk my numbers elevated. So I would have yogurt and cheese more for snack and leave off the milk.

I still check my levels on a regular basis because of diabetes family history and because having gestational diabetes, my risk is higher. I wasn't able to exercise with my pregnancies because I was put on bed rest at 6 weeks with the first and considered too high risk with the second. However, I find if I get a 30-45 min walk in each day my numbers are lower than when I am not able to walk.

Blessings to you and the little one you're carrying.

L.

I had GD with my third pregnancy. I think my nutritionist told me to avoid pasta. I remember breakfast the most. I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to eat. The suggestion was 2 eggs and one slice of toast (using low carb bread). I couldn't stomach eggs every day, so that was a tough one.

One thing to think about is the increased risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. I wish I would have lost the baby weight and stuck to a low carb diet after having the baby. I did not, and I was recently diagnosed with type 2. It may have happened anyway due to my family history as well, but it may have been staved off longer if I'd paid more attention to diet and exercise.

Best wishes!

first off, i would ask to see the test results myself concerning gestational diabetes, secondly, diabetes medication has never been tested on pregnant women, so, if it were me, i would refuse to take it. my obgyn, dr mark hyde, (formerly)of va. phys. for women. tried to convince me that he "knew just by looking at me"..that i had gestational diabetes, when i demanded to see the test results myself, he bawked..bottom line, never take a doctors "word" for it..demand to see test results, if they refuse, refuse to take the meds..after all, its not their pregnancy, its yours..and if something goes wrong with the pregnancy because of meds the doctor put you on, he will never admit to anything, and his boss will back him up.
K. h.and, no i didnt take any meds during my pregnancy( except pre natal meds)..seriously pissed off my doctor, but, it wasnt his pregnancy..it was mine