How to Follow the 2,000 Calorie Diabetic Diet
A 2,000 calorie diet is a good choice for a diabetic who needs to lose a lot of weight. Because it is not safe to cut down calorie intake too drastically at once, you can follow a daily 2,000 calorie diet as a first step in reducing your food consumption. For those just trying to maintain weight, this number should eventually be cut down to 1,500 to 1,800 (women and men, respectively).
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Instructions
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Divide your 2,000 calorie diabetic diet into 3 meals and 2 to 3 snacks per day. This is an optimal choice for a diabetic, as it helps regulate blood sugar and speeds up the metabolism, increasing energy and allowing the body to burn calories more consistently.
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Learn about serving sizes. You can do this by accessing the website of the FDA or a more specific site, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (see Resources below). For example, a tablespoon is about the size of your thumb, while a deck of cards represent 3 ounces.
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Eat 2 carbohydrates (such as whole wheat toast or sugar-free cereal), 2 proteins (skim milk, nonfat sugar-free yogurt or scrambled eggs) and a vegetable (you can try adding chopped veggies to omelets, for example). If you want to eat fruits in the morning, make sure you either substitute them for one of the carbohydrates or add more protein to your diet, so the sugar balances out.
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Eat a small serving of carbs (such as saltine crackers or peanuts) with fat or protein (peanut butter, cheese or a few olives) as a snack between the large meals of the day. This will keep your blood sugar establized and help you add more calories to the total day count.
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Follow breakfast with a similar lunch and dinner. Make sure you always eat protein, fat and carbs in each meal, but reduce the amount of carbohydrates at dinnertime (2 servings at lunchtime, 1 at night), since you need the extra energy at the end of the day. Add at least 3 vegetable servings to each meal by eating salads, adding veggies to sauces and mixes or choosing raw veggies as appetizers.
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Tips & Warnings
Design a food plan and then follow it. While it is acceptable to make food substitutions depending on your taste and what you have available at the moment, you should not leave your food choices to chance. Instead, have a plan that details your 5 to 6 meals for the day and a list of possible replacements in case something you wanted is not readily available.
