ONE Weekly Healthy Food And The Low Carb

I am back on the low carb wagon and I am loving it.

Made a lot of changes to the meal plan I posted below when I wasn’t low carb. The main reason is; I don’t eat as frequently as I did before.

Low carb for me is mainly meat and veggies. This means my body doesn’t burn through it as quickly as it did when carbs, even tho they were whole grains, was apart of my meal plan.

With that being said, here is my current meal prep menu for those who have been asking. It’s 5 days of:

Breakfast – Egg Muffins

AM Snack – Greek Yogurt

Lunch – Chicken Salad

PM Snack- Spicy Sausage w/ Peppers and Onions or Mild Cheddar Cheese Cubes

Dinner – A Home Cooked Meal

What’s In Your Lunch Box?

Every weekday morning I pack this bag. I really considered getting a Six Pack Bag (@6packbags) but I’m still not there. & I ain’t paying what they asking for them either ($60 – $350). It’s tax season so you know this is the time to splurge. But ima pass again.


This is a $20 (24 can size) Igloo Cooler from Target & it works for what I need. It holds 5 of my 6 daily meals & I never leave home w/o it.

Awesomeness.

Weekly Menu

I’m really proud of the direction my journey is headed in.

I never saw meal prep ever becoming apart of my life. Now it’s changing my life. Here is my current meal prep menu for those who have been asking. It’s 5 days of:

Breakfast – Egg Muffins & Fresh Fruit

AM Snack – Greek Yogurt

Lunch – Chicken Salad

PM Snack- Peanut Butter & Rice Cakes, Homemade Trail Mix or Raw Veggies

A Pre-Workout Meal (on days I workout) – Grilled Chicken & Dirty Brown Rice or Turkey Meatloaf Muffins w/ Mac & Cheese

Dinner – A Home Cooked Meal

Plenty of options.

Note: Yes, they keep well. Yes, they taste just as good as the day they were made. & no, it’s not strange to eat the same food for a week. Chances are you already do that now & don’t even know it.

Fail to Prep…

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Whether you prep each night for the next day, prep the whole week in advance or anything in between, fail to plan, plan to fail applies. My meals for the work week are prepared on Sunday, every week, no matter what. I generally eat five to six small meals a day (depending on the day). This is not by choice.

My metabolism is insane!!!

But without meal prep I am guaranteed to eat recklessly and w/ total disregard as my body is always looking for it’s next meal every 2-3 hours like clockwork.

& so it begins
Nov 11th 2013 was the official start of my structured meal plan. That preceding Friday I did a test run. I really thought about buying one of those Six Pack Bags ($60-$250) but I am not on that level yet but this $20 Igloo cooler I got at Target will do the job. It holds everything I need & more; breakfast (in its own hot area), am snack, lunch, pm snack & a pre-workout meal (also an extra meal just as a demo).

Prep for Change

IMG_93282 I prep every Sunday, without fail. I generally make 4 different meal to include breakfast for 5 days. I have come to learn that I eat the worst when I am at work. I eat the best when I am at home. So my meals are only for the days I am at work, leaving my nights and weekends free for me to make what ever I want. It was quite surprising to find out that the meals hold up for a good 7 to 10 days without question. I was kind of apprehensive when I started meal prepping such a large quantity of food but I am becoming quite accustomed to eating this way. Meal prepping works. I been avoiding this but it looks it’s the next step on my journey. Time to embrace it. I got body fat to lose & knowledge to gain. Let’s go.

How to Create a Type 2 Diabetic Diet Plan

A Type 2 Diabetic diet usually involves replacing simple carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates and processed foods with nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables. It is created to balance blood glucose levels and reduce the symptoms of diabetes or the on-set of diabetes for the pre-diabetic. A diabetes diet is sometimes referred to as medical nutrition therapy (MNT). You can create a Type 2 diabetic diet plan by following these guidelines.

Part One of Five:
Doctor Recommendations
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Ask your doctor what changes in diet are recommended after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Request pamphlets or sample eating plans.
Your doctor may recommend a calorie restriction diet, if you have weight-loss goals. However, your doctor may only recommend that you eat healthier foods and remove refined sugars and carbs, or medical nutrition therapy (MNT).
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Consider seeking treatment with a dietitian or nutritionist.
If you have allergies, a busy schedule or you do a limited amount of cooking, a nutritionist can give you nutrition counseling over several sessions. Implementing a plan may be easier if you can ask advice regularly.
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Keep a food diary. The process of tracking what you have eaten will make you more aware of the foods that exacerbate your Type 2 diabetes.
Part Two of Five:
Planning
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Go to your public library. Look up cook books made for people with diabetes.
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Subscribe to Diabetes Cooking and/or Diabetes Health. These magazines give seasonal additions to enhance your meal plan.
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Study the glycemic index. The lower the glycemic index, the lower the effect the food will have on your blood sugar.
Go to health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm to look at the glycemic index for popular foods. For example, a baked russet potato has a glycemic index of 111 but a serving of carrots has a glycemic index of 35.
Go to the University of Sydney's website to research the glycemic index of your favorite foods. It is available at glycemicindex.com/foodSearch.php.
Part Three of Five:
Carb Awareness
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Track your carbohydrate levels closely. These have the highest effect on your blood glucose level.
Consider downloading an application, like MyNetDiary Diabetes Tracker. It has a carb counter that can help you manage meals.
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Buy healthier versions of the carbohydrates you cook.
For example, choose whole grain pasta and bread over white bread and regular pasta. Try to find healthier versions of cereals, sandwich breads, tortillas and more.
Compare the packaging and choose based on the amount of sugar and the amount of fiber per serving. High fiber foods help to control blood glucose levels, so aim for carbohydrates with at least 5g or more of fiber per serving.
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Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat. Reduce your serving amount to 1/3 cup.
Part Four of Five:
Healthy Additions
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Add fish that is rich in Omega-3 to your diet. Salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines and cod are healthy, lean proteins. Replace your meat with fish at least 2 times per week.
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Replace trans fats and saturated fats with mono and poly-unsaturated fats. Instead of using animal fats and whole dairy, eat olive, almond, canola, walnut, pecan or avocado oil, as well as the whole food version of each.
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Do not eat high amounts of any of these foods. They have high caloric content, so they should be used sparingly.
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Add in low-fat dairy, such as non-fat yogurt, as a snack each day. Studies have shown that it can improve bone mass and help with weight loss if it is part of a healthy diet.
Part Five of Five:
Try Create your Plate
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Make a meal plan using your plate as the blueprint.
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Grab a paper dinner plate. Find a non-toxic pen and start to draw serving lines.
Draw a line down the center of the plate first, dividing it in 2.
Draw a line on 1 side of the plate that divides half of the plate into 2 sections. You should have 1 large section and 2 smaller sections.
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Load vegetables onto the largest section of the plate. Choose non-starchy vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, turnips, broccoli, green beans, beets, onion, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, other greens or peppers.
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Add your whole grain or vegetable starch to 1 of the smaller sections. This could include a serving of bread, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, cereal or crackers.
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Finish by adding a lean protein to the last section. This can include a 4 to 6 oz. piece of turkey, chicken, lean pork or beef, fish or tofu. Do not include skin or high amounts of oil.
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Eat fruit, dairy and low-carb snacks as snacks. You may also include a small piece of fruit or 1/2 cup of fruit salad after a meal.
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Consider choosing all the raw ingredients of a meal using your plate blueprint. Then, cook a recipe that contains these ingredients and place it back on your plate in a mixed form for mealtime.
Adjust recipes that do not contain enough produce or contain too much oil or protein according to the "Create your Plate" plan.
Use the plate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Stick to meal times with a few snacks in between. Healthy, low carbohydrate mid-morning or mid-afternoon snacks can curb spikes in blood glucose levels.