Healthy Eating

Many people contact us to ask if
Food optimising will fit in with their diabetes – the answer is a resounding YES! Not only will it fit around the condition – many members tell us that it has helped control it.

“At my heaviest weight I’d been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and the condition was steadily worsening. After losing 6 stones with Slimming World, my confidence and physical health have improved dramatically and I feel great. My GP has even reduced my diabetes medication – she told me that I’m the only person in the diabetes clinic to have their medication reduced. I’m hoping that it can stop altogether eventually!”
Barrie Walters, Shropshire

“I’d been controlling my type 2 diabetes for several year using tablets. When I went to a routine appointment at my local diabetes clinic however, my doctor was pretty blunt. He told me that if I didn’t change my lifestyle, in a few months time I would need to start injecting insulin.

Part of my condition meant that I experienced diabetic lows, where I’d feel light headed and would start sweating. After joining Slimming World and losing 6 stones I experienced my last nearly a year ago and took my last tablet – my diabetes is now controlled by my diet alone! My doctor is amazed. He’d never heard of someone with diabetes at my level changing their condition so drastically purely through diet.”
John Ritchie, Eyemouth

How can Food optimising help?

Food Optimising is perfectly balanced and totally healthy. With three eating plans: Green, Original and Extra Easy, Food Optimising is extremely generous and offers incredible flexibility. It puts you in control of the foods you eat and when you eat them. So all our members find that with the choice of plans it is easy to fit in any personal advice on diet they have been given by their diabetes team. Taking insulin or other medication need not be a barrier to losing weight; our research shows that Slimming World members with diabetes lose weight as successfully as other members.

Diabetes UK, the leading charity working for people with diabetes, recommends a number of steps to healthy eating, which can help control your blood glucose levels and blood fats as well as regulate your weight.

Here is how Food Optimising helps you take those steps easily and enjoyably to achieve your goals:

1. Eat regular meals each day

Eat regular meals each day
Aiming not to skip meals but eating a regular breakfast, lunch and evening meal (and healthy snacks when you need) helps control your blood glucose level and appetite. The flexibility of Food optimising means you can choose when and what you want to eat, making it easy to meet your individual needs.

2. Eat plenty of starchy, carbohydrate-rich foods

Food Optimisng’s Extra Easy and Green choice make it easy to eat regular meals based on starchy carbohydrates: Free Foods such as pasta, potatoes, rice and noodles can be eaten whenever you want them on Green, whilst all Free Foods can be eaten freely on Extra Easy*. In Food Optimising, wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals are Healthy Extras, so you can enjoy them every day if you wish. Filling up on fibre-rich foods is great for weight loss because they help keep you feeling fuller for longer and are low in energy density, which means they help you keep your hunger bay without piling on the calories.

3. Easy ways to eat less fat

When you are Food Optimising you automatically reduce your fat intake:

• High-fat foods are counted as Syns, so they are limited in Food Optimising, but olive oil which is rich in ‘good’ fats is a Healthy Extra on all the Food Optimising choices.
• You are encouraged to choose very-low-fat versions of dairy products, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese.
• Trim off fat from meat, bacon etc and remove skin (the lovely high-fat bit) from poultry.
• Cook using healthy, fat-free methods such as grilling, steaming or baking instead of frying.

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4. Fill up on fruit and veg

The Department of Health recommends that we eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day – with Food Optimising you can eat as much as you wish*. This is because fruit and vegetables are super-healthy, low energy foods to fill up on. All fruit and vegetables, fresh or frozen, are Free Foods on Extra Easy and the Green choice so you can keep the fruit-bowl full and pile you plate with vegetables at every meal.

5. Include more pulses

Following Food Optimising means it’s easy to include more pulses such as beans and lentils in your meals. Foods such as butter beans, cannellini beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils are all Free Foods on Green and Extra Easy and could be added to satisfying casseroles, stews, soups or salads.

6. Include more oily fish

It is recommended that you aim to eat at least two portions of oily fish a week such as mackerel, pilchards, salmon and sardines. Rich in healthy poly-unsaturated fats, oily fish are Free on Extra Easy and Original and Healthy Extras on the Green choice.

7. Easy ways to eat less sugar

Like high-fat foods, sugary foods count as Syns and so are automatically limited when you are Food Optimising. But there’s no need to go without sweet tea or fizzy drinks: artificial sweeteners are Free Foods and can be used in drinks and in cooking; diet and sugar-free versions of fizzy drinks are also Free.

8. Keep an eye on salt

It is easy to monitor your salt intake when you’re Food Optimising because you are encouraged to prepare meals using fresh foods, rather than eating at lot of ready-made and convenience dishes. Lots of flavourings such as herbs, spices and garlic are all Free Foods.

9. Keep an eye on alcohol

All alcohol counts as Syns, so it is limited when you are Food Optimising. A small glass of wine or half-pint of beer both have around 5 Syns, so with a typical daily allowance of 10 Syns, you can enjoy one or two drinks a day if that is how you like to use them. Drinking on an empty stomach, which is not recommended if you have diabetes, need never be a problem as there are always Free Food snacks to fill up on.

• We recommend that you talk to your diabetes care team about Food Optimising. This is especially important if you are taking insulin or other diabetic medication, as doses may need adjusting as you lose weight.

Your Slimming World Consultant and fellow members are part of your ‘care team’ too. Every week in your group you can look forward to sharing food ideas, building activity into your routine, learning strategies for success and enjoying the warm support of people like you who all want to lose weight, get fitter – and have fun. Let your Slimming World Consultant know you have diabetes; he or she won’t be able to give you specific dietary or medical advice, but will be happy to help you incorporate any advice you’ve been given and, of course, give you plenty of support and encouragement to reach your goals.

* NB. Some people with diabetes may be given specific advice on the amount of carbohydrate-rich foods or fruit to eat. If you’ve received this advice, it’s important to bear it in mind when choosing your Free Foods.

For more information on all aspects of diabetes check out www.diabetes.org.uk.

 

 

 

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