Gestational Diabetes - snack and breakfast ideas

christinanoelle

I have not been very active over the last two weeks with the business of the holidays and want to apologize for that! I also want to wish you all a Happy New Year and an amazing 2014!

I did my 1 hour glucose test and had to go back to do the longer one. My doctor advised me I do have gestational diabetes and I will have to check my blood sugar level. The good news is, I may be able to maintain it with diet alone. I know it is not a huge deal but it still bothered me for some reason and I am trying to process it.

I am wondering, for those of you who have had or who currently have, what have been some interesting and tasty low carb/sugar snacks and breakfasts you've discovered? Lunch and dinner seem to be pretty simple with salads and protein and veggies..However, I am having a harder time with snacks and breakfasts. 

I've come up with (and googled): 

carrots and hummus 

celery and peanut butter

rice cakes (?)

cheese snacks

nuts 

MegJ17

I'm having eggs and toast every morning. I'm tired of it but not being able to have fruit or milk is pretty limiting.

ksulli

How are you with eggs?
Greek yogurt is high protein, but I'm not sure what the sugar situation is (it clearly gets worse when you add fruit).

porterlove525

I'm currently waiting for my last draw of my 3-hour test, but I live a low carb and sugar lifestyle already (so I'll be just as shocked if I fail this!). For breakfast I love to make muffins of eggs, a little cheese and some veggies, or some nitrate free turkey bacon sprinkled in. Or just have eggs with the above.

Almond butter is a delicious alternative to pb along with sunflower seed butter if you want to switch it up. I also love peppers with hummus and cucumbers. Smoothies are also super easy to make and great fillers, especially with kale and carrots and banana (not sure how much, if any, fruit you can have).

Could be worth checking out some paleo sites for snacks too!

LBStewart

I had GD with DD and am taking the 3 hour test on Thursday.  It can get a bit frustrating at times.  I've never been much of a breakfast person since I have to be at work at 7:30.  I generally had toast.  If I was on the go, I would have ONE breakfast burrito from McDonalds.  The only breakfast time I had high levels was when I had PLAIN oatmeal so I wouldn't recommend that.  For snacks, I made a trail mix with nuts, raisins, and m&ms.  I'm a huge yogurt fan and I found that the yobaby yogurts were fine for my diet.

DaisyJanie

Breakfast:

Whole wheat bagel thins w/ cream cheese and sometimes a fried egg

For a fast breakfast I like the Special K flatbread sausage-egg-and-cheese (in the freezer section). I think they're like 20 g of carbs.

Snacks:

I'm currently eating a cottage cheese with strawberry (Breakstone's Cottage Doubles) - 15 g carbs

I keep a jar of peanut butter in my office desk and bring an apple most days

Pistachios

spocker

I don't have gestational diabetes, but did do a low carb diet prior to becoming pregnant.

Do you like eggs? Your favorite style for breakfast, hard boiled for a snack. Quiches, omelettes, breakfast bakes, all great ways to fill up on veggies and protein.

Snacks - protein shakes, fruits that are lower in sugars such as apples, a glass of milk if you do milk. This site has a few recipes and ideas: https://gestationaldiabetesrecipes.com/

Also consider that you don't have to eat breakfast foods at breakfast. You can eat salads, meat and veggies, any time you like.

christinanoelle

@MegJ17 are you having whole grain toast? 

Did you meet with a dietitian? Did they rule out fruit and milk completely? I have yet to meet with the diabetes center so am also hoping they give me some options.. 

@ksulli I don't mind eggs! I guess I can always do omelets too.. I found a recipe for mini omelets in muffin tins so I will try that out.

christinanoelle

Thank you for all the great suggestions so far!!! @porterlove525 good luck with your three hour test! I hope it goes well. 

MegJ17

@christinanoelle I have met with a dietician. She said no milk or fruit for breakfast but I can have it for snack or lunch or dinner. They suggest whole grain but I get the whole grain white so the kids will eat it too. I was told to make sure I have protein with every meal and snack. For snacks I'll do apple with peanut butter, cutie and string cheese, pretzels and almonds.

christinanoelle

double post - sorry! 

@MegJ17 - that must be so hard At least it is only for a little while longer.. 

Did they suggest any fruits? I know some are lower in sugar than others.. 

acrookston

I usually ate eggs with cheese or yogurt (can't remember which kind was GD friendly).  You can always do NF bacon and/or omelets with veggies too

MegJ17

They didn't give me any restrictions or suggestions on fruit. They did give me a hand out on how much equals one serving of carbs (15 carbs is a serving for me). I was also told its important to get your carbs in because they help with brain development. Do you have an appointment set up with the dietician? I have to take insulin at night but I am able to control it during the day with diet.

christinanoelle

MegJ17 said:

They didn't give me any restrictions or suggestions on fruit. They did give me a hand out on how much equals one serving of carbs (15 carbs is a serving for me). I was also told its important to get your carbs in because they help with brain development. Do you have an appointment set up with the dietician? I have to take insulin at night but I am able to control it during the day with diet.

Not yet, they just called me on Friday with the news so I am trying to get used to changing my diet. The dietitian is supposed to call me this week to set up an appointment. 

MegJ17

It's not that bad. I find the hardest thing is planning out meals and snacks. It takes me forever to figure out what to eat when I go out but I always find something.

amhah09

I usually did cheese snacks. Like cheese with yogurt or cheese with fruit (1/2 an orange, for example). I ate a lot of eggs for breakfast and no milk. It was usually eggs and a piece of toast. Or eggs and an English muffin. It got old. But it was only for 12 weeks.

mooncusp22

I have GD (diagnosed with it around week 10). I have the same thing every morning and I am getting tired of it:

-2 egg white, 1 whole egg with cheese on  a slice of eziekiel bread

-Lunches I try to have salads with chicken, soups or a frozen meal with 45g carb or less

-Dinner I mix it up but have 45g of carbs to work with

I get 2-3 snack a day that have to be 15g. I have: greek yogurts, cheese & crackers, and ok sometimes something bad but at 15g like chocolate covered almonds

"Free" snacks I can have: cheese, cottage cheese, nuts

fourthnlast

Eggs with any type of breakfast meat and either a piece of fruit or toast

Oatmeal with nut butter

Yogurt (If you have a Kroger near you, their brand Carbmaster has only 4 grams of carbs) with eggs on the side and again, fruit or toast

Toast with peanut butter, hardboiled egg on the side

Snacks: pickles, cheese, yogurt, any and all vegetables, sugar free jell-0 (not pudding), fruit (as long as you pair it with a protein source).

These are some of my favorites. I'm a type 1 diabetic, so if you need any other ideas, just PM me

Lacynduck

Oatmeal pancakes

Egg whites
Cinnamon
Oatmeal
Vanilla extract
Cottage cheese

You can google the portions but they're so tasty and filling

christinanoelle

Thanks everyone!
@fourthnlast thanks so much for the info! Good to now about the jello, but why not pudding? Is even the sugar free one too high in carbs?
Also, I have one coffee a day and add one pack of white sugar. Can anyone advise if they think this is ok?
I am meeting with the nutritionist and nurse on Thursday so will ask them as well.

fourthnlast

The sugar free jello is 0-2 carbs depending on the flavor, but the sugar free pudding still has between 8-10 grams of carbs. Way better than the regular pudding, but my snacks have to be 15-30 grams of carbs, so I try and keep things as low as possible.

zoopsiedaisy

@mooncusp How many carbs are you aiming for per day? I'm having episodes of hypoglycemia so my doctor advised I watch my carb/sugar and pair with protein but no guidelines. As I'm looking I see that there are a lot more carbs in things than I thought!! It looks like around 120-150? I'm guessing with breakfast.

JuneDay2913

Breakfast: 2 Eggs & 1 slice of toast

Yogurt & Fruit

A pancake with Strawberry's 

Snacks

Apples & String Cheese

KelleAlward

Snacks- cottage cheese (super high protein) or string cheese