How To Follow the 2,000 Calorie Diabetic Diet

Diabetics have to follow certain restrictions once they find about their condition. Because it is a chronic condition, you have no choice but to follow certain guidelines, especially regarding lifestyle modifications and diet. Uncontrolled diabetes is a very strong risk factor for other diseases and may give you increased risk of renal failure, heart disease and neuro-ischemic foot ulcers.

To control diabetes, it is not enough just to rely on the medications prescribed by the doctors. You will have to undergo a total overhaul of your lifestyle, from increasing your exercise to controlling your diet. Diabetics have to control their blood sugar - it is the excess of blood sugar in the bloodstream that is responsible for a lot of the sequelae of diabetes. You will have to take responsibility and start shaping up your life.

One good way to start your lifestyle modifications is the control of your daily caloric intake. If your caloric intake is too much, you will not be able to control your blood sugar. As such, doctors refer diabetic patients to dieticians who come up with meal plans that will help you lose weight and control your diabetes. Sticking you your diet will be very important: it is a test of willpower and discipline, so you should be prepared to fight a lot of cravings, especially if you're coming from a high calorie diet that may have been the cause of your diabetes in the first place.

Here are some tips for you to follow that 2000 calorie diabetic diet:

1. Instead of just cutting down on your food, you should eat smarter. Go for small and frequent feedings rather than just three big meals a day. It will be better for you into three meals and two to three snacks a day. This will be better for diabetics, because it will put your blood sugar to more constant and controllable levels instead of just spiking after meals.
2. Be more aware of serving sizes. You will have to follow serving sizes when counting calories, so check the website of the FDA for more information. For the foods you will usually eat, try to find out their caloric value so you know how much of each you can eat everyday.
3. Consult a dietician to learn about what foods you can and cannot eat. Diabetics are advised to avoid sugar-rich foods, or foods that are full of simple sugars (like sweets, chocolates and soft drinks), so you should be aware of what you have to avoid. A dietician will also be helpful for you to be able to find substitutes for these foods that you will have to avoid.
4. Follow a food plan every day. You should be able to create a weekly food plan and stick to it. This will help you control your diet better and your blood sugar as well. If you plan to eat something else in the middle of the day, be sure to make up for it in other meals. Remember, you will be gunning to keep your diet within the 2000 calorie limit.

Following and creating a diet is not easy, but it is possible. Try to stick to your meal plan for at least two to three weeks. If you have enough willpower and discipline to tide you over this trying time, you will not only get used to the diabetic diet, you will come to enjoy it as well.

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How To Track Calorie Consumption

Are you looking for an easier way to track your calorie consumption?  Many individuals who want to lose weight fail when they are told to count their calories.  Manual calorie counting can be a tedious task.  There are tools to help you keep track of your calorie intake minus the headache.

So what is a calorie?  In order for our bodies to perform any activity (sleeping, walking, exercising, and so on), it needs energy.  The food and beverages we ingest serve as the fuel that makes our bodies perform.  A calorie is a unit of measurement of energy in the food that we eat. Calories are found in fats, carbohydrate, proteins and sugar.  Carbohydrates and proteins contain half the qualities of fat.

Our bodies have a basal caloric requirement each day needed for it to function and keep our internal organs working properly.  Ingesting excess calories makes the body keep them in storage in the form of fat.  Calories become fats when you do not exercise or engage in calorie burning activities.

Before you start tracking your calories, find out how many calories you need each day. The U.S government’s website MyPyramid.gov lists the suggested calorie requirements per group level based on age, gender and physical activity.   Online calorie tracking programs allow you to input your weight loss, gain or maintenance goals, your current weight and current level of physical activity.  Based on this information, the software will give you a recommended caloric intake per day to reach your goal.

Once you know your required number of calories, start a food diary.  This is where you write down the food or drink you take each day, including the quantity.  Check out food diary software online for a more organized way of tracking your intake.  Based on your food diary, you can manage your calorie consumption either manually or electronically.

Manual Tracking

To count your calories manually, you need a source that lists the calorie counts for different types of food.  There are many books and online sources of this information. For each food or drink ingested, write down the equivalent calorie counts in your food diary.  At the end of the day, add the total calories and compare with your caloric goal.  

Electronic Tracking

A faster way to count calories is to use an electronic calorie counter.  There are many online calorie calculators.  Some counters are free.  Others need to be purchased like Calorie King, and then downloaded to your electronic organizer.  Calorie counters help you monitor your caloric intake easily.  They have a food database, which is updated, with a list of common foods as well as foods and beverages served at various restaurants.  This way, before you take a bite of that original glazed Krispy Kreme, you’ll know how many calories it contains (approximately 200).

If your goal is to lose weight, eat more healthy foods that are low in fats.  You can also create your own diet plans for weight loss.  Any diet plan should include exercise, whether you want to lose, gain or simply maintain your weight. Just remember to consult your doctor, especially if you have health issues.

Weight maintenance or weight loss is actually simple math:  the more calories you take in compared to the calories you burn will make you gain weight.  Tracking calorie consumption is a lot easier now with the many software programs available.  So next time you are told to count your calories, don’t fret; there’s a fast and easy way to do this otherwise tedious task.

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What Factors Seem to Affect Daily Calorie Intake?

You may find it difficult to consistently count your calories on a daily basis because some days you might be starving while other days you can get by with little food. The good news is it’s not all in your head -- most of it is physiological. Your hormone levels, genetic makeup, sleep and physical activity levels all play a role. By getting enough shut eye, maintaining a healthy diet and participating in regular physical activity, you can eat more food and maintain a healthy weight.

Physical Activity

• When it comes to how much you can eat in a day, physical activity is the factor with the most variability. According to Dr. Barbara Bushman, a fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine, this amount can be 15 percent of total energy expended for sedentary individuals and can reach as high as 80 percent for athletes. The frequency, intensity and duration of your workout also contribute to how many calories you need for that day. The more often you work out, the higher your heart rate increases and the longer you engage in physical activity, the more calories you burn and the more calories you need to maintain your weight.

What You Eat

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the energy density of foods is related to how many calories you consume in a given day. Energy density is calories per gram of weight in a particular food. Foods with a lower energy density typically have a high water and fiber content and a low-fat content, such as vegetables and fruits. High-fat foods tend to have a high energy density. When you eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy products you’ll control hunger, feel satisfied and lower your overall caloric intake. Most beverages are low in energy density, but don’t promote satiety, so stick with water and other low-calorie beverages.

Sleep

• You may want to turn in a little earlier for the night if you’re looking to prevent overeating and weight gain. When you don’t get an adequate amount of sleep, your hormone levels change, which is associated with weight and energy balance. A study published in 2012 in the journal “Sleep” divided men and women into a sleep deprived group and a group receiving nine hours of sleep per night. Sleep deprived men had bigger appetites and sleep deprived women felt less full, meaning the sleep deprived group consumed more calories than the group receiving a full night’s rest.

Other Factors

• According to College of the Canyons, men and tall people tend to have higher caloric needs. As you age, your body naturally gravitates towards more fat and less lean muscle, which means a drop of 75 to 100 calories every decade past 30 years. Those sick with a fever, adolescents and pregnant women, people living in a cold climate and menstruating women all need more calories. Those with naturally low levels of thyroid hormone and leptin, a protein that regulates metabolism, need fewer calories.

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How Does Physical Activity Affect Someone's Calorie Needs?

The most effective way for you to increase how many calories you need is to start engaging in regular physical activity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you participate in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every week. The more physical activity you participate in, the more calories you burn and the more likely you are to maintain a healthy weight.

Where Do Your Calories Go?

• Your daily caloric needs depend upon three things – resting metabolism, physical activity and heat thermogenesis. Your resting metabolic rate consists of the calories required to maintain body functions, such as breathing and heart rate, and it accounts for the majority of your calories. Physical activity is the next biggest contributor to how much you can eat on a particular day, and it’s also the least consistent because it depends upon your workout for that day. The smallest contributor to your caloric needs is heat thermogenesis, which is the energy required for you to digest and absorb food.

Physical Activity and Calories

• When you engage in regular physical activity, you increase how many calories you need a day. The extra calories your body requires depends upon how often you work out, how hard you’re working out and how long you’re working out. When you raise any of those factors, you’ll also increase your caloric needs. For instance, a 154 pound male burns 370 calories by hiking for one hour, but he burns 590 calories by jogging for one hour because jogging is a more intense workout than hiking.
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Caloric Needs for Men

• Your caloric needs depend upon your age, gender and physical activity level. If you're an inactive male, you need 2,000 to 2,600 calories a day with fewer calories needed the older you get. Moderately active men, on average, need an additional 200 calories, which equates to 2,200 to 2,800 calories a day. For vigorous activity, the USDA Center for Nutrition, Policy and Promotion recommends 19 to 35-year-olds consume 3,000 calories, 36 to 55-year-olds consume 2,800 calories, and 56 to 75-year-olds consume 2,600 calories.

Caloric Needs for Females

• Women tend to need fewer calories than men. If you're a woman between 19 and 25 years old, you need 2,000 calories; 26 to 50-year-olds need 1,800 calories and women 51 and over need 1,600 calories. If you’re a moderately active, you’ll need an additional 200 calories for your age. If you’re vigorously active, you can consume an additional 400 calories from the sedentary group, except for women 26 to 30 years and 51 to 60 years, who should strive for an extra 600 calories a day.

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Does This Calorie Make Me Look Fat?

You’ve most likely heard the term “a calorie is a calorie” before. This popular phrase, after all, encompasses the nitty gritty behind the foods we eat and weight we maintain. But the truth is, it’s really not that simple – and not all calories are created equal.

Let’s start with what a calorie actually is. As defined by Encyclopedia Britannica, a calorie is "the amount of heat required at a pressure of 1 standard atmosphere to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1° Celsius." From a food standpoint, and often used in the dietetic world, a calorie measures the calorific, heating or metabolizing value of foods. Simply put, calories give us energy, and that energy is transferred in a manner that allows us to perform everyday tasks on a day-to-day basis. These are the calories we “burn” for energy. Any calorie left over after we've used what we need for energy gets stored as fat. Any calorie. That’s where the term “a calorie is a calorie” really comes from – but that’s also where the justification ends. Further, going on a “diet” is often entwined with the theory that all calories are created equal, and that’s probably why diets fail. Here are the four types of calories that should dominate your diet 90 percent of the time.

1. Calories from fiber. Dietary fiber, the non-digestible part of plants, is well-known for lending a hand in keeping you regular, but that’s not it’s only act of kindness. Research shows greater dietary fiber intake is associated with a lower risk of both cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber, which dissolves in water, helps slow the digestion of food and can be found in oats, some vegetables, fruits and legumes such as dried beans and peas. Insoluble fiber helps promote regularity and a healthy digestive system and can be found in the skins of fruits and vegetables, as well as the bran portion of whole grains. Both types of fiber help your body thrive. We all know fruits and veggies are good for us, but what many don’t understand is why 100 percent whole grains trump refined grains – fiber (ding, ding, ding!). Let’s talk bread. Fiber, along with protein, carbs, B vitamins and phytochemicals, is abundant in 100 percent whole-grain bread, making it a terrific option to include in your diet. White bread, on the other hand, has been stripped of all the good stuff, including fiber, leaving nothing but the carbs, which your body quickly converts to sugar in your bloodstream – a reaction you want to avoid. Bottom line: Eat your fiber!

2. Calories from colorful foods, naturally found in nature. If you took a picture of your diet, would it be a colorful picture filled with natural deep greens, vibrant purples and reds, and earthy browns? Or would it be crammed with dull whites and artificial pigments? Quality calories always come from items rich in color naturally produced by nature. Although jelly beans, red licorice and superman ice cream are colorful, their colors are unnaturally produced – and therefore, do very little good for your body. Fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes should color your diet daily. Dark, red, blue and purple foods such as red cabbage, berries, black beans and black rice are rich in anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant flavonoid with cancer-fighting compounds. Bright yellow, orange, red and green foods such as carrots, leafy greens and tomatoes have carotenoids, antioxidants with disease-fighting compounds. In the plant world, colorful calories are endless, and all options are excellent. There are, however, some notable winners, such as strawberries, sweet potatoes and watercress.

3. Calories from lean protein sources. When most people think protein, they immediately think “meat.” Yes, meat certainly has protein, but unfortunately a lot of meat also has saturated fat and cholesterol. Not only does this add unwanted calories, but it also adds undesirable health effects, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. Protein is best supplied from lean sources, which include both animals and plants. Lean sources of animal protein include chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, egg whites and fat-free dairy. Plant-based protein is naturally lean and includes legumes, whole grains, nuts, soy and various vegetables. People often think animal-based protein is superior to plant-based proteins; however, a well-balanced plant-based diet can certainly provide an ample amount of protein. Not only are plants great sources of protein, they're also inexpensive and have a minimal impact on the environment compared to animal products. If you’re not quite ready to give up your animal protein entirely, that’s OK. Just be aware that plants are a great, sufficient supplement and alternative to a lean, animal-protein-rich meal.

4. Calories from healthy fats. All fats, whether unsaturated (“good”) or saturated (bad), are high in calories. One gram of fat weighs in at 9 calories, whereas 1 gram of protein or carbohydrates weighs in at 4 calories. However, having calorie “baggage” doesn't mean you should avoid consuming all fatty foods, as fat is still a nutrient needed for normal body function. This simply means you want to get the healthiest, fattest bang for your buck. To do this, eat monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, avocados and nuts, and omega-3-loaded polyunsaturated fats such as walnuts, fish and flax. Further, steer clear of saturated fats like butter, as well as fatty cuts of meat such as beef and pork. Also avoid trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) found in processed foods. According to the American Heart Association, Americans are eating less trans and saturated fats than they were three decades ago, but they're still consuming these bad fats more than what's recommended for good cardiovascular health. To keep your heart healthy, belly satisfied and waist slim, include an appropriate amount of healthy fats in your daily snacks and meals.

Finally, it’s important to note that the foods with the least amount of calories come from the best sources (like the ones listed above). So if you want to lose, maintain or even gain weight, choose wisely, and choose calories that will do you good.

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