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1300-Calorie Diabetic Diet

In order to lose weight, you simply must burn more calories than you consume. To figure out how you can lose weight, you need to consider how much you currently weigh, exercise, eat and what your ultimate goal weight is. For people who have difficulty losing weight, including diabetics, consuming 1,300 calories per day plan is beneficial.

  1. Calories

    • Adults should not eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day or the body can go into starvation mode. Starvation mode is when the body is being deprived of calories, so it hangs onto fat, rather than burning it efficiently. This makes it more difficult to lose weight. The 1,300-calorie plan is a low-calorie diet that still supplies enough nourishment to keep your metabolism steady while burning calories. Within six weeks you could lose up to twenty pounds on the 1,300-calorie diet.

    Diabetes

    • This plan is ideal for diabetics because it keeps a steady stream of healthy nutrients flowing into your system. This keeps blood sugar levels from jumping up or down wildly. Also, to be able to consume only 1,300 calories, you cannot overload on sugars and fats which are detrimental to a diabetic's diet and control of the disease.

    Food

    • Eating only 1,300 calories in a day doesn't seem like a lot of food when you consider how many calories are in a typical fast food meal. You could use up your entire calorie allotment with one trip to Burger King. The key is healthy, fiber-filled food. You can eat a lot of fruit and vegetables for just a few hundred calories. An entire cup of celery is only 17 calories so you could eat celery all day and still eat less than 1,300 calories, but you would probably rather keep the 20 pounds. The easiest way to stick to the plan is to choose a generous amount and variety of fruits and vegetables, whole-grains, moderate low fat dairy products and lean meats. When you eat healthy food, your body is satisfied making it easier to stick to 1,300 calories each day.

      Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks. Aim for 300 calories at each meal with 150 calorie snacks. If you want to eat a little more at a meal you can try a 400 calorie breakfast and a light 200 calorie dinner. It doesn't not sound like much but having eaten many small yet nourishing meals throughout the day you probably won't be hungry for more at dinner. The body confuses thirst for hunger, so be sure to drink at least eight cups of water a day to stay hydrated and full. Exercise is beneficial to any diet and also suppresses the appetite.

    Meal Ideas

    • For breakfast you can have a cup of cereal (try Cheerios), a banana and milk for under 300 calories. Lunch can be a medium-sized baked potato with salsa and a cup of fruit. Dinner can be a large salad of green, leafy vegetables and 6 ounces of grilled chicken. Use only 2 tablespoons of low-calorie dressing and you can include a whole wheat roll. For snacks, find protein bars or shakes that are only 150 calories.
      Make sure to check labels on food products and get the healthier version of the food and keep portions small.

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