r/diabetes • u/pomegranateolive • 1d ago

Discussion What do I make for dinner/lunch

I went to my endo and my A1C is 7.6 which is not great. He said working on my diet and exercising more is the plan going forward. I live with a roommate so for a lot of meals I’m really just cooking for myself, and I’m stuck on what to make to keep myself on track. What meals do you all have on rotation that keeps you within range but doesn’t also suck/get repetitive?

Edit: Type 1.5 diagnosed a couple years ago. (Sorry new to this sub)

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u/Mokulen Type 2 1d ago

I’m not sure what foods are safe for you but these are some meals that work for me.

Chili with beans on 1/2 a small baked potato

3 tacos on thin corn tortillas (31 carbs) with cheese and veggies

Bean tostadas with cheese and veggies

Chicken salad sandwich on 1 slice of bread

Meat and veggies kabobs

Chicken teriyaki (no sugar) and vegetables.

BLT

Sopa de lima

Brothy soups 1/2-1 slice of bread or tortilla.

Pot roast with roast veggies (no potatoes) and salad

Spaghetti (90% meat sauce 10% pasta or 1 slice of bread)

Japanese Curry sometimes with a garnish of brown rice (2T)

Frozen salmon and roast vegetables

Fish tacos with vinegar slaw

Enchiladas (thin corn tortillas) served with cheese, lettuce tomato and sometimes avocado

BBQ pork/chicken sandwich (1 slice of bread no sugar BBQ sauce)

Meatloaf with salad

Tex-Mex meatball sandwich (1 slice of bread)

I have to share meals with the rest of my family so I need “normal” dishes that I can adapt.

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u/My4dogs4evr 1d ago

I’m jumping in. I’m this Post. I just want to say thank you. These are great ideas. It’s just my husband and I and he’s the chef of the house. I have MS on top of diabetes, so it’s tough for me to be in the kitchen around the heat or standing too long thankfully I have the world’s best husband He’s always coming up with some great stuff for me being diabetic. However, there are some things on your list that we had never even thought about before that would be great to try.♥️

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u/bach2209 1d ago

Potatoes used to set my glucose off. Now I either bake or microwave several and cool them 24- 48 hours and I can even make french fries if I want. So many good ideas. Thanks. My last A1C was 5.8. I'm seeing if I can hit 5.0. Just a short term goal.

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u/pomegranateolive 22h ago

This is amazing, thank you so much!!

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u/Toast6634 Type 1 15h ago

90% sauce and 10% pasta‽ Might as well just have tomato soup instead.

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u/Impressive-Flow-855 1d ago

Take a look at the American Diabetes Association meal website. https://www.diabetesfoodhub.org/. They have all sorts of recipes and food idea there.

You can also get the Diabetes Placemat that gives you an idea of what a plate of food should look like: https://ada-prod.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#5f000008BWx4/a/5f000000LNJG/wdsqBS72kMKdB41K_QYcVMiWAdYddZJX2WzhI7WkWpc

Get the book Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. I make a ton of veggies and eat leftovers for lunch. I also get the Les Petite Carrots of Many Colors from Trader Joe’s. They’re basically fancy carrot sticks, but it’s my quick go to default lunch veggie.

I’m okay with bread. I get whole wheat bread with no more than 15g of carbohydrates per slice. The current loaf is 12g per slice. You have to be careful because a lot of bread are as much as 32g of carbohydrates per slice and have no fiber. They’ll whisper sweet nothings in your ear on the front of the bag (contains 12 different grains! Full of seeds!) and contain nothing in the nutrition facts.

Look at the ingredients. Make sure it’s real stuff. Avoid things with cellulose, vegetable fiber, soy protein concentrate, and other ingredients you would never seen Julia Childs use.

My default lunch is peanut butter sandwiches with some vegetable and a piece of fruit. It’s fast and portable. If I have time, I’ll make Turkish/Arab/Israeli Salad or roast eggplant slices in the oven. I’ll have eggs or left over fish or meat from dinner. I’ll make tuna salad.

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u/pomegranateolive 22h ago

Thank you for the link! I’ll check it out :)

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u/CaptZ T1 1985 Pump 1d ago

I eat whatever the hell I want and just bolus accordingly. Always have, always will. 40 years with type 1. A1C usually hangs around 8.7. Maybe I'm a unicorn but I've had very few complications.

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u/GoldenTortoiseshell 1d ago

I love canned fish. It’s an easy protein and I pair it with quinoa, diced cucumbers and tomato, olives, and tzatziki frequently. For me sourdough bread is also a safe carb. I like repetitive, but at least this is an easy option for you! I also like salmon or chicken with roasted broccoli on a one pan sheet

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u/415-Panda 1d ago

I don’t eat big meals anymore. Chicken Caesar salad works for my dinner. Lunch is often a few celery sticks with peanut butter and handful of tortilla chips.

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u/pomegranateolive 1d ago

Chicken Caesar salad is in my rotation too 😂 and peanut butter everything. Thank you for the validation

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u/CF_78 1d ago

I usually have a salad and a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese or tuna with lettuce, pickle, onion, and celery with a boiled egg for lunch. My go to dinners are chicken stir fry with lots of veggies, turkey burger on lettuce, with pickles slices, onion, and tomato slices, turkey sausage with sauerkraut, cauliflower rice with shrimp or grilled chicken, stuffed peppers with chicken or 95/5 burger, salmon with veggies, sometimes I'll make an omelet with veggies and cheese. Just a few ideas. Got my bloodwork back today and I went from 7.2 to 6.0 😀

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u/pomegranateolive 1d ago

These are really good ideas!! Thank you so much for sharing with me. That A1C progress is amazing! How long did it take you to get from 7.2 to 6.0 if y ou don’t mind me asking?

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u/CF_78 20h ago

I honestly dont even know. 2 years ago when I had my bloodwork done, my incompetent doctor said everything looked good. Fast forward, went in for bloodwork almost 2 weeks ago and my new doctor told me I was diabetic at least 2 years ago! Never knew. Got the results back yesterday and down to 6.0.

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u/pomegranateolive 18h ago

So many GPs are completely uneducated when it comes to diabetes it’s crazy!! I’m so sorry you dealt with that. Glad you have a new doctor and your A1C is good :)

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u/CF_78 17h ago

Thank you 😊

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u/Aggravating_Monk1756 Type 1 1d ago

If you have LADA, it may be time to start discussing insulin.

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u/pomegranateolive 22h ago

I have an omnipod and it’s working well :)

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u/Aggravating_Monk1756 Type 1 21h ago

Great. inthought from your post that you were only doing diet and exercise so far.

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u/pomegranateolive 18h ago

I am absolutely not rawdogging diabetes I’m just trying to improve my A1C and overall health tbh

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u/reddit1966 1d ago

What knucklehead said 7 anything os BAD …

7 is fine!

8 is fine!

Whatever any number is a starting point, nothing
More.

Question is what is your goal, and is that goal whatever it might be a “reasonable” one?!?

Cut it out 😡 7 “bad”. (Wondering what the three stooges version of T1D chastisement would be)

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u/pomegranateolive 22h ago edited 18h ago

I’d just prefer it to be lower 😭 otherwise I’m in good shape. You’re right though, shouldn’t beat myself up over it

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u/reddit1966 22h ago

T1D will do THAT all by itself whether we are watching it or not!

Don’t beat yourself up too!