The six meal rule how does it work out

Ugh, yes this is something that I have to do every day of my life. This and insulin shots and pills to keep my diabetes under some sort of control. It gets to be a real pain sometimes. But about the food and eating. I try to eat smaller meals but more frequently. I have to eat when I first get up, no way to avoid that or I get to feeling really sick and sometimes crying. It's pretty awful for me and my family. So I have to eat something I call "real" right away. For instance, I can not eat cereal or pancakes because my body does not recognize those are "real" food. I must eat protein such as eggs, turkey bacon, lunch meat, beans, hot dog, just a protein of some sort, any sort. Then if I want, then I can eat cereal or one pancake but I usually don't. Maybe toast or a bagel, if we have fruit then I may have that. I am living on a very limited budget and it is very hard to eat to feed the diabetes when you have NO food budget so I do the best I can with what I have. But protein is the first and foremost thing that I MUST have, I can not fudge on that at all. After eating breakfast, I can usually last about four hours before I need to eat again. Then I eat lunch. I do try to make sure to have vegetables though I must admit that it is hard to buy them so I don't eat enough of them. I do concentrate mostly on the protein. Usually I do need a small snack in the afternoon, something with protein, lunch meat sandwich maybe. Then dinner. I have found that I must eat before I retire to my bedroom so I must eat at around 10 or 11PM. I do not go to sleep right away, instead I don't usually fall asleep until maybe 3 am and most times I need a snack then. I try to drink those Glucerna shakes for diabetics but they are very expensive and insurance won't pay for them. So it looks like I am eating tons and tons of food each day but it is in smaller amounts so it equals out to around the six meals a day pattern. I have found this to work okay for me but it is hard when I go to visit someone and spend the night with them, like my parents, because in their minds, I am eating all the time. Which actually I am but I must or I feel very ill. I don't cook all day to have my food either. I try to plan for leftovers, which I love. I also try to have things on hand that are easy to grab and eat when I need to eat something "real." Some of the healthy TV dinners are good to have on hand though I rarely get them because of the cost.

I eat a bigger breakfast and then eat lots of fruits and veges for snacks. I am not diabetic, but I have insulin resistance from polycystic ovaries. I would find a lot of good recipes on www.dlife.com They have a lot of very easy ideas that really help. I usually make big portions and freeze some for a later date. Try looking for some snacks that have fruits and veges in them. You'd be surprised as to what you can find. Kraft also has recipes, I can't think of the website though.

Hi suspenseful I think I have mentioned this to you before. There must be a support group or a diabetes information program in one of the health or community centres or hospitals where you live. There are registered dieticians that give excellent advice and help you design an eating plan for yourself. Here in Ontario we generally talk about 5 meals a day. They should be balanced yes, but as an example your breakfast could be an omlette made with eggwhite from the liquid eggwhite you buy in little cartons, 1/2 apple, 1/2 English muffin or one slice of toast. At 10 o'clock you could have a 1/4 cup of walnuts, or another 1/2 fruit, at noon 1 cup of homemade soup, a slice of bread (whole grain) and 1 cube of low fat cheese, 1/2 apple or orange,or 10 grape berries,or 1/2 cup of blueberries,or 1/2 cup of yoghurt or 1/2 cup jello which is made with a sugar free sweetener such as Splenda, Stevia or Xylitol. In the afternoon you could have 1 cup of coffee or plenty of herbal tea without sugar. For supper divide your plate into 4 quarters. Fill 2 quarters with a vegetable that is low on the glycemic index such as a green vegetable. Fill 1/4 with a piece of protein the size of a deck of cards, the last quarter with a carbohydrate such as brown rice, red rice, l/2 sweet potato,or one small regular potato. For protein you could also substitute the meat with beans, lentils or up to 3 eggs per week. For evening snack while watching TV prepare a plate of cucumber sticks celery sticks, carrot sticks and a small dip with nofat sour cream, no fat yoghurt or just eat them plain. Or you could have a green salad made with green leafy veggies, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers and dressed with very little nofat dressing. I don't see where you have to cook all day. a

I'm not sure if this would work for you or not. I am one who ate several "mini-meals". the reason for that is that I was always underweight and I could not eat a lot in one sitting. In order to eat the calories and hopefully gain some weight the doctor recommended that I do this. I hate a decent breakfast. Then in between lunch and breakfast I would have something like fruit, maybe a shake. Then lunch. Then left-overs from lunch....dinner....leftovers. I made huge use of the left-overs.

I don't think they mean six full meals a day.My friends son is diabetic he had breakfast usually cereals,juice,then he takes a snack for mid morning.then he has his dinner,then he must eat somthing mid afternoon then he has his tea in the evening then a snack before bed time.there is no way he could sit and eat six full meals aday he would end up being obese.As long as he has six portions of fruit and veg a day plus 6 portions of carbs a day ect.Thats what he does anyway.

It's these sort of diets that we should all be going by because they are actually a lot healthier. It's like we should be eating dinner at breakfast time and breakfast at dinner time for some reason i wasn't listening to the person who was telling me about it, apparently she did it for a week then got so sick of cooking in the morning so she stopped.

A diabetic should never eat so many meals either big or small. You should be eating small every four hours, cutting down on carbs.

I've tried that way of eating, it works out well for me. I make my three meals but I only eat half of each one. Sometimes, for variety, I'll put one portion in the fridge and exchange it for one I've saved from the previous day. Instead of having eggs and toast for breakfast, for example, you can eat just half and save the rest for later. Or eat the eggs and have the toast later.

hi suspenseful whenthis was suggested to me I too had a lot of problems trying to figure out how to do all this. then I found that since I was always making too big a breakfast I would still cook the same things,just have my oatmeal with milk, then mid morning have my eggs with maybe a half slice of toast, then when I fixed my lunch I would do the same thing, just halve it,eat part then eat the rest say a meat sandwich mid afternoon then at dinner I would just save a small portion of something for a bed time snack. now I am at the mercy of the kitchen here and I only get three meals a day plus snack in the evening so Ihave had to just not eat all of any high carb food, which involves just cutting back some things on my plate to maybe a fourth of what they serve, they seem to lean heavily on rice and pastas,as for rice I find any amt. seems to send my bs way too high so just dont eat it. Wish I could again fix my own meals.

It is tough to do, first you have to plan your meals for the day and if you can, prepare them the night before. That way you don't spend all your time in the kitchen cooking or preparing. Also, there are substitute meals like power bars or quick meals that you can take on the go or have ready in minutes. Preparation is the key to making it all work.

I was diagnosed 2 years ago with diabetes. What i do is eat a big breakfast, and then every 2 hours or so i have something small like a small cup of soup, or a half of a sandwich, maybe just some fruit, or just some raw vegetables, or some nuts. Usually for lunch i have some type of salad, and for dinner i cook a full meal because my husband likes a good meal then, but i only eat small portions.

my dad is a diabetic but that six mels meaning eating just proportionate amount of food. and some would be snacks. that is how he did it and that is what his doctors tell him to do. eat small breakfast, some not so heavy snacks... then same when it hits night time. what is important for diabetic persons are having small amounts of food to intake. that is how to manage their diets. well that is so far i know about my dad. jhelai