How do you get through the few months of dieting if you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes? How do you start transforming your diet? Tips from a friend.
Usually, by the time a person receives the diagnosis, the pregnancy is already in full swing, the malaises have passed, the nursery can be planned, the mother-to-be is finally starting to bloom – and then out of the blue, like a lightning strike, she receives the result after a routine examination: gestational diabetes. This is something that, of course, every expectant mother has heard of, but one tends to think that such things only happen to other people.
A complete shock (of course, it may have already happened to a close friend or family member and you were prepared to be affected, but let’s face it, that’s not exactly how you imagine expecting a baby with pink clouds)! Then, surprisingly quickly, they are accepted at the diabetology department, and possibly sent to a dietitian nurse for a consultation. The doctor estimates the amount of carbohydrates that a person can consume in a day, divides it into 5-6 meals, issues the task of keeping a blood sugar diary, and then waits for a check-up.
For my part, I started to lose weight in this phase a few years ago, I hope my personal experiences will help you if you find yourself in this situation!
What is gestational diabetes?
In short: diabetes that develops during pregnancy due to hormonal changes, which in most cases goes away on its own after childbirth. There are usually no symptoms, so it is only revealed during a stress test, through a blood test. During the test, after taking blood on an empty stomach, 75 g of glucose dissolved in water must be consumed, after which blood is taken again 1 and 2 hours later. If the fasting blood sugar level is at least 7.0 mmol/l and/or the value measured at any time is above 11.1 mmol/l, we are talking about gestational diabetes. If the fasting value is 5.6-7.0 mmol/l and/or the 120-minute value is 7.8 mmol/l or more, then it is gestational hyperglycemia, which is a state of elevated blood sugar, but not yet diabetes – but it requires attention! Untreated gestational diabetes can lead to many complications, and should not be taken lightly.
I was set on a diet of 185 g, but this is always determined by the doctor based on your results and medical history (and who knows how many other aspects). For me, this was divided into 6 meals, strictly every 3 hours – but for some, the doctor prescribes 5 meals, this is also unique. I received a booklet from the diabetology department with the carbohydrate content of foods, there were 1-2 things that I had to hunt for separately – for example, I definitely remember that avocado was not in it and I couldn’t find much specific information about it anywhere else.
Fortunately, the collection of calculators, applications and other useful things is constantly expanding, for example, you may find this site useful: www.kaloriaguru.hu . First of all, you should always look at the packaging, if there is one, that’s for sure. 55 g was allowed for lunch, this is the meal of the day with the highest amount of carbohydrates allowed – an example to give you an idea: 50 g of carbohydrates specifically (before cooking) means 70 g of durum pasta, which is about half of what I served myself before. You still have 5 g of usable carbohydrate credit, which you can use to make a filling sauce for it, or eat a mini apple the size of a child – because you are missing fruit, which unfortunately you can hardly eat from now until you give birth.
And then comes google, where you can find an immeasurable amount of recipes and information, but how should you start? It’s not a disadvantage if you have a lot of time, because counting/boxing/poisoning will probably be extremely difficult at first. Some people find it difficult to eat at a specific time, and some people find that 3 hours between two meals seems like an endless amount of time. I know the latter feeling, so my principles are:
1. Eat well at every meal!
You don’t want to reach the specified amount of carbohydrates in one meal by eating a smaller portion of semolina pasta, for example, because then you’ll be starving after an hour. Have volume in what you eat! Eat a large portion of salad, for example, with potato dishes, eat grilled vegetables, meat, fish or eggs if you are not a vegetarian. As much as possible, the food should consist of things that are completely carbohydrate-free or almost hardly contain them, and for this, eat extra carbohydrates in the required amount. So, for example, a good substantial meat/cheese/egg/grain salad and a little rice/potatoes on the side, not the other way around. There should always be enough calories in the food, so for example if you eat a vegetable with some toppings and it has already maxed out the carbohydrates you can consume, but you are not full by the time you finish, feel free to eat another handful of seeds, for example, or something that has hardly any carbohydrates, but also on its own filling.
2. Don’t starve!
The doctor directly emphasized to me that I should never starve. If it’s not time for your next meal, but your stomach is still grumbling, eat something carbohydrate-free. With lettuce leaves, cheese, ham, for example – but not low-carb cocoa snails. Try to stick to the diet to the best of your ability!
3. Notice what you’re missing/ what you’re longing for and find a compromise alternative!
If you feel that you cannot last 3 months without cottage cheese dumplings, fried rice pudding or banana smoothie, then eat them, but with modifications and reason. It is not worth eating a fingerful of traditional food and then starving until the next meal. The amount of carbohydrates calculated from these is just right for making you hungry, not for making you feel good! So either eat a hearty, almost carbohydrate-free main course for lunch and then eat a bit of the desired dessert, or change it so much that it is not on the forbidden list.
Instead of sugar, you can use xylitol or stevia – of course, these should not be consumed without limits either. Instead of crumbs, you can roll the dumplings in ground toasted almonds and skip the jam, for example, you save a lot of carbohydrates. For me, pasta is something I can’t imagine days without. For this, it’s worth making a large amount of roasted vegetables and cream-cheese sauce, for example, and eating vegetables with pasta rather than pasta with vegetables. You can also find low-carb dishes on our website – some mouth-watering examples:
4. Don’t panic if you don’t measure such a good value!
There are times when people account for themselves – especially restaurants and hospitality are difficult, even with some routine – or the body simply has such a day that even with the calculated amount, the blood sugar level rises more. Make a note of what you ate, how much you ate, maybe think about whether you were stressed about something, whether you drank enough water, how much you exercised that day, all of this can have an influence on your values - even weather fronts. You can’t change what you’ve already eaten anyway. It is also possible that potatoes with the same amount of carbohydrates raise your blood sugar more than the same amount of rice, or vice versa. Or steamed, the body does not tolerate the individual ingredients as well as fried – you have to experience this for yourself. Make a note of what caused the problem, but don’t worry about it afterwards – it’s not good for the baby either.