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2200 Calorie Meal Plan for Diabetic Pregnant Women

Pregnancy causes hormonal changes in the body that can make a woman diabetic, a temporary condition called gestational diabetes. The body's ability to produce and use insulin properly fails and it is necessary to control blood-sugar levels through the diet. While a woman's ideal daily caloric intake is dependent on a number of factors, including pre-pregnancy weight, age and blood sugar levels, and increases after the first trimester, a 2200-calorie meal plan will work for many women with gestational diabetes.

  1. Balancing Carbohydrates

    • One of the most important steps in controlling blood-sugar levels is to count carbohydrates. The same number of carbohydrates should be eaten at the same times every day. Just like in a standard, non-diabetic diets, much of the food intake will come in the form of carbohydrates, but those carbs must be balanced out with enough protein and fat to help keep blood-sugar levels even. In a 2200-calorie diabetic diet, carbohydrates should make up around 248 grams of the daily food intake, which is roughly 47 percent of the daily caloric intake. Protein should constitute 123 grams of daily intake, which is around 23 percent of daily calories, and fat should be 72 grams of intake, or 30 percent of daily calories.

      Eat complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole-wheat breads and pasta, beans, fresh fruit and vegetables, oatmeal, cereal and milk. These carbohydrates break down slowly in the body, which helps maintain blood-sugar levels. Consumption of simple carbohydrates, such as sugary and processed foods, white rice, white-flour breads and regular pasta, should be limited or cut out of the diet completely.

    Breakfast

    • Breakfast in a 2200-calorie diabetic meal plan for pregnant women should contain 42 grams of carbohydrates. A 42-gram carbohydrate breakfast could include: two breads (such as two cups of cereal or oatmeal), one milk (such as one cup of skim milk or nonfat yogurt), one ounce of meat or protein (such as lowfat cottage cheese or an egg) and two fats (such as two teaspoons of butter).

    Lunch

    • Lunch in a 2200-calories diabetic meal plan should consist of 67 grams of carbohydrates. A proper lunch could be: Two slices of whole wheat bread, two ounces of protein (such as chicken or beef), one vegetable (such as two lettuce leaves and two slices of tomato), one fat (such as one teaspoon of mayonnaise), one piece of fruit or an additional vegetable (such as ½ cup of veggie soup) and one milk.

    Dinner

    • Dinner in a 2200-calories diabetic meal plan should consist of 82 grams of carbohydrates. An ideal dinner would include five servings of carbohydrates (such as one large potato, one cup of pasta and a one-ounce roll), three ounces of protein, two vegetable, two fats, one fruit and one milk.

    Snacks

    • Three daily snacks should be consumed between meals each day, in the morning, afternoon and evenings. The morning and afternoon snack should include 15 grams of carbs, which can be obtained from one fruit (such as one half of a large banana) and one ounce of protein (such as two tablespoons of peanut butter). The same type of snack should be consumed in the afternoon.

      The evening snack should include 27 grams of carbohydrates (such as one slice of whole-wheat bread or six whole-wheat crackers) with one ounce of protein and one milk.

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