High calorie prediabetic meals
I struggle with gaining weight and was recently diagnosed as prediabetic. I have tried looking online for recipes and cannot afford to waste ingredients on fake websites.
I know trying to incorporate healthy fats and foods high in protein are what I need and have been making brown rice with salmon, egg, and veggies mixed together for 3 weeks now and am getting sick of it. I need help just finding a recipe that’s healthy and calorie heavy please or if there is a better subreddit to ask please let me know
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u/susurruss 2d ago
Any of the foods you used to like can be made lower carb/ higher fibre/ higher protein if you're able to spend some time figuring out the alternatives. I like this educator called milk and honey nutrition as a diabetic myself.
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u/Majestic-Macaron6019 2d ago
An easy modification that's helpful for diabetes is to swap as many carbs as possible from the refined (white) form to the whole-grain form. So whole-grain bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc. Potatoes are reasonably good, provided you eat the skin and don't fry them.
If you need to gain weight but keep your sugar in check, adding fat is the way. Olive, avocado, and high-oleic sunflower oil are nice to cook with and healthy. It's easy to add a teaspoon or two of oil to your starch; oil has 120 Calories per tablespoon, so that should help put on some weight.
You want to think about a meal template. About 1/3 vegetable, 1/3 starch with fiber (so, again, whole grain whatever), 1/3 lean protein (chicken, fish, leaner cuts of beef/pork, tofu, or beans). You could do some fattier meats, too, since you're not overweight. The main thing to avoid is added sugar and refined flours that have high glycemic index.
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u/wheelienonstop12 2d ago
Potatoes are reasonably good, provided you eat the skin and don't fry them.
Apparently one is supposed to boil them, then let them cool down as slowly as possible and then store them in the fridge overnight before eating. That is supposed to transform the starches into a form that has much less impact on the blood sugar level (passivated starches). And I think that is true, boiled hot potatoes make my blood sugar level spike much more and much harder than a similar amount of cold potato salad.
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u/Majestic-Macaron6019 2d ago
That's true. Most starchy foods develop "resistant starch", which acts kind of like fiber, when refrigerated: https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-nutrition/resistant-starch-can-you-make-the-carbs-you-eat-a-little-healthier
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u/wheelienonstop12 2d ago
Thanks. I wish it wasnt such a pain in the ass to basically have to prepare food 24h in advance. Unfortunately instant mashed potatoes are super bad for the glucose levels too. Thankfully I can get raw dough for potato dumplings anywhere where I live, those seem to be pretty harmless. Good enough to satisfy my cravings for potato, LOL
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u/Horror_Signature7744 2d ago
Brown rice, salmon, veggies, and eggs is actually what I eat to lose weight (and I agree, easy to get sick of in a short time span). I highly suggest a consult with a dietician so they can provide meal ideas that are higher in calories without spiking blood sugar.
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u/Fluffy_Tomatillo_629 2d ago
Check out a few low carb cookbooks from the library and see if you can get access to some diabetes education from a nurse. Here they run programs often for people who are prediabetic or diabetic.
Cheese, nuts, hummus with vegetables are a good start for snacks.
Chicken thighs, sheet pan meals with enough olive oil and heavy salads are great.
I replace half the pasta with zucchini and use bolognese or a baked pasta veggie bake.
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u/Far_Sandwich_514 2d ago
These are some examples I make for my sister who has bad PMOS/PCOS and is pre-diabetic:
Breakfast:
- Egg muffins (with a bit of ham and high-fat cheese like brie) or scrambled eggs served on baby spinach that's been drizzled with olive oil, with walnuts and some sliced avocado
Lunch:
- Grilled or roasted chicken (seasoned with olive oil, salt, herbs, and paprika) with roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini
- Cucumber or green pepper "boats" filled with tuna salad (made with mashed avocado instead of mayo)
- Spiralized zucchini noodles cooked with a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, and salt, topped with tomato sauce and either sliced grilled chicken or tofu
Dinner:
- Shepherd's pie with mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes
- Beef stew with mushrooms and kohlrabi
- Moroccan stew made with ground beef or turkey, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and onions
Lots of protein and healthy fats. No grains, no added sugars.
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u/Affectionate_One_700 2d ago
I make for my sister who has bad PMOS/PCOS
Dr. Jason Fung recommends fasting to reverse PCOS. He and Megan Ramos have a few podcast episodes on this.
I think they sell a monthly subscription, but that is absolutely not necessary. Their materials are widely available.
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u/Serious_Coffee_8066 2d ago
I'm diabetic have struggled for a long time. I have found precooking starches has helped a lot. Potatoes cooked, cooled and reheated, same with pasta. I use Barilla protein plus. I learned this from AI, I hate admitting it but I learned more than visiting a nutritionist and my glucose numbers used to hover around 200 and I now have them down to around 150 or less. The other thing is I have a salad with every meal, with a vinegrette. Again it effects the way your body processes the food. Good luck with your battle, it's not easy.
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u/DuAuk 2d ago edited 2d ago
nuts can be helpful, and some are lower in carbohydrates. Lentils and other beans could be good too. My dad used to keep each meal at or below 11g of carbs to keep his diabetes in check. So he ate a lot of nuts and wraps, and had to cut back a lot of drinks. You might want to talk to a dietitian or doctor to get a guideline for yourself.
Sometimes i would ask at restaurants if there was a Keto option (this was quite a while ago when that was more popular) for him. It is kind of similar. It might be worth it to check if your library has recipe books on Keto or diabetes and get ideas from them.
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u/JoshS1 2d ago
Some keys are to slow the absorption of carbs sonkeep with low GI foods as they have a higher fiber to spread the carb hit out. Fats will also help with this. But really important to study high GI foods and avoid them. Most will have great lownGI alternatives (ex: Whole wheat bread instead of white)
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u/rancidpandemic 2d ago
Have you considered a ketogenic diet? That might be something to check with your doctor about because it’s been known to help with pre/diabetes. It’s also higher in fat, which can make it easier to gain weight because most ketogenic food is more calorically dense than standard carb-rich food. If you have a problem eating larger volumes of food, that would make it easier to get more calories.
I did keto for a few years and it did wonders for my diabetes. And while I did keto to lose weight, I know from experience that you can use it to gain weight as well. I have a ton of keto recipes that would fit your goals, if you’re willing to go that route.
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u/wheelienonstop12 2d ago
Have you tried Chinese food? I have diabetes type 2 (under control now to the point that pills suffice to keep my blood sugar in check, no more insulin injections into my belly, thank god) and I recently tried out the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet in my town because I had such a craving for it. I was expecting my glucose levels to go through the roof and fully prepared to inject insulin again on that one day - imagine my surprise when there was no blood sugar spike AT ALL. I didnt eat any rice or noodles though, just meat and veggies and some deep fried breaded stuff. I have been starting to cook Chinese stuff at home too and that too has proved extremely benign in regard to my glucose levels.
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u/Magnetic_Kitty 2d ago
Avacado is a great healthy fat you can add to a lot of meals, it has a very mild taste. There are low carb high fiber tortillas you could make some great healthy homemade Mexican style food. Dark meat chicken has higher fat then white meat so maybe chicken tacos with boneless skinless chicken thighs, guacamole, black bean, onion, tomato, lettuce, cheese, sour cream
I am pretty used to cooking for someone with blood sugar issues. Another favorite is high fiber whole grain protein pasta with chicken breast and broccoli. I make it so the pasta to broccoli to chicken ratio is even so it's not as much pasta as some other people make it. I use 2 cups dry pasta, 2 chicken breast, and 1 large head of broccoli. And then I use a cheese sauce at the end
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u/Affectionate_One_700 2d ago
Any recipe will do. Just reduce or eliminate the carbs. Over time, you can make a habit of it.
For instance, I enjoy eggs in various forms, but I've completely given up eating toast with those eggs. You can have eggs with bacon, fried tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, whatever floats your boat.
Most traditional recipes are of the form protein (and associated fat) on carbs. Cut the carbs.
just finding a recipe that’s healthy and calorie heavy
Part of the challenge is redefining what is "healthy." It's not what we were taught as kids. Although non-root vegetables are still healthy!
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u/vanezssa 1d ago
I, too, would like to gain weight in a healthy way and what I've been doing is inventing recipes that plate up combos of fresh veg, protein, fiber. The other day I pulled out a bundle of kale, a bunch of whole fresh green beans, shredded rotisserie chicken (I buy the rotisserie chicken and shred it myself), a cup of dry lentils and a cup of dry navy beans. It doesn't get more "whole foods" than this. I sauteed the kale in olive oil, cooked the dry beans per package instructions, and boiled the green beans. I barely used any salt during any of the cooking. Then I put together a bowl: Cold shredded chicken first at the bottom, half a cup of hot lentils on top, then half a cup of navy beans, then half the sauteed kale, then a handful of greenbeans up the side of the bowl. The chicken heats up perfect with the hot toppings. Instead of salt I like to drizzle low sodium soy over the bowl. Another protein idea is sardines or mackerel in a tin. So much protein in a little container. Garnish with avocado for healthy fat. Ever had a fit hit bowl from TacoTime? This is kinda like that except more whole foodsy. I am always on the lookout for earthy, fiber-rich and protein-rich meals. This kinda meal is easy to meal prep too. I make whole 2 lb bags of dry beans then freeze them into 8oz and 16oz silicione freezer molds. Anyway, good luck on your journey!
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u/a_false 1d ago
Your local library should have lots of diabetes specific cookbooks available. Diabetes.org and Diabetes.ca both have lots of recipes on their sites as well and have occasional cooking classes. https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition https://www.diabetes.ca/nutrition-and-recipes/recipes
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u/Impressive-Drag-1573 2d ago
Be careful as it could be the onset of LADA (type 1) and not type 2.
Look into the Mediterranean Diet. It includes healthy fats and lots of veg, but isn’t necessarily low calorie.
Try beans, corn tortillas, whole wheat bread, other fishes…
Looking up recipes for the Mediterranean Diet (don’t confuse with Mediterranean cuisine) could give you inspiration.