Toni’s Tip # 10: Eat Like a Diabetic

Tip #10 | Eat Like a Diabetic

From the book, BITE ME! Change Your Life One Bite at a Time

Toni Julian, health advocate & author

Last week we talked about eating high quality foods. That’s a significant step in making sustainable lifestyle changes to improve your health. The next step is to eat high quality food in the right amount, at the right time, in the right proportion. In other words, eating like a person with diabetes would need to eat to balance their blood sugar.

We all understand the need for balance in our lives; we practice it every day. We juggle all the elements; work, family and friends, exercise, nutrition and sleep. The focus is external, in other words, the activities in our life taking place on the outside.

Our body has a balance on the inside as well and the key to our health and weight management lies in our ability to keep our bodies in homeostasis, a physiological balance of our internal systems.

We’ve all heard of insulin, the hormone our pancreas produces and kicks in when our blood sugar levels are too high. There’s also an opposing hormone called glucagon which is responsible for elevating our blood sugar levels when they fall too low. You see, our bodies are working so hard to keep us regulated, and if we abuse our bodies by eating too many calories at a sitting, going too long between meals, or consuming sugar-laden foods, we set ourselves up for disease.

Here are some tips that I personally use to keep me balanced:

• Eating small balanced meals consisting of lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. Eating a combination of 20% protein | 60% complex carbs | 20% healthy fats, slows the rate of digestion so it doesn’t hit your system so quickly.
• Eating small meals every four hours or so, and not going longer
• Starting my morning with a healthy, balanced breakfast, within an hour upon waking
• Always eating a small meal before a workout, and replenishing after with protein, complex carbs and healthy fats
• Limiting alcohol, it can contribute to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) even a few days after consumption, according the National Institute of Health
• Break up your calories evenly throughout the day:
  • For a typical woman: If you need about 1600 to break even, eat around 400 calories, four times per day or even better, 320 calories, five times each day
  • For a typical man: If you need about 3000 calories to break even, eat around 750 calories per meal, four times per day, or even better, 600 calories five times each day.

If you are interested in learning more, check out my instantly downloadable BITE ME! e-book which goes into detail about blood sugar regulation and features over 50 macronutrient balanced recipes.

On another note, I want to extend my appreciation to all of you who selected TONI’S Protein Meals as part of the Sigona’s coupon giveaway last week! I’ve been holding some sampling events and had the pleasure of talking with many of you. Come say hello again and let me know how your protein meals are working for you. They are a perfect solution to keeping blood sugar regulated, according to several of my clients who suffer from Diabetes.

As always, I look forward to connecting again next time, where we will be talking about specific foods to keep your blood sugar regulated.

Please share this with your friends who are interested in how to improve their health by keeping their blood sugar stable!

From my heart to yours,

Toni Julian is a nationally renowned health advocate, nutrition adviser, fitness expert, and author of BITE ME! Change Your Life One Bite at a Time, as well as a 50-something mom of four!  She is also the creator of TONI’S High Performance Meals, a complete and healthy hot protein meal that’s ready in minutes. Get yours at Sigona’s! Visit www.ToniJulian.com