I had a little chat with some mummies over the December 2015 babies Facebook group and realised that gestational diabetes is a lot more common than I thought. I started sharing my meal plan and readings with some of them, just so they have a little idea of what to do with food portions. Then I thought, how about putting it up here so people can download it easily instead. I’ve also included some pictures of the booklet I was given which gives a better idea of how the food portions are calculated.

• Elisia’s GD Management spreadsheet
• Food portion information

Information:

1. My glucose tolerance test readings were 6.5 (fasting) and 11.9 (after 2 hours). Yes, I failed it terribly. My body probably produces a lot more insulin-blocking hormones.
2. Ideal blood sugar readings should be 4.4-5.5 mmol/L before meals and 5.5-6.6 mmol/L after meals.
3. Based on my height, weight and BMI, I’m supposed to eat 14 servings of carbohydrates per day.
4. My first visit with the dietician, I was supposed to eat the number of servings of carbohydrates in this order:
   Breakfast — 2
   Lunch — 5
   Tea — 1
   Dinner — 5
   Supper — 1
   I soon found that my after lunch/dinner readings were too high, so I started cutting down my portions of rice. That gave me lower readings but my weight dropped probably because I wasn’t having enough carbohydrates to meet my daily requirement.
5. My second visit with the dietician, we reworked the carbohydrates portioning for each meal.
   Breakfast — 3
   Lunch — 4
   Tea — 2
   Dinner — 4
   Supper — 1
6. I do need to stay active after meals to bring my blood sugar down faster to acceptable levels. My choice of exercises include: doing housework like mopping the floor, going on long walks in the park/mall/supermarket, walking around the house/up and down the stairs (about 10-20 times) for a total of 30-40 mins, doing 10-15 squats or stretching exercises.

Things to note in spreadsheet:

• Tab ‘Dietician Visit 1’ — The carbohydrates portioning started out fine and then I started cutting down on my rice portions, so the total daily carbohydrates servings were not met by the end of the second week.
• Tab ‘Dietician Visit 2’ — Starting out on the new carbohydrates portioning per meal. Hope this works better. Will also work in more long walks and exercise to help with bringing down my blood sugar levels faster.
• Tab ‘Metformin + Insulin’ — Unfortunately, I have to take medication and insulin now to better manage my readings. The higher dosage of medication and insulin on the first day is to manage the effects of steroid jabs I took earlier for certain reasons.

Other things to note:

• You do not need to absolutely follow my meal plan. Your body may be producing a lot less insulin-blocking hormones, thus you can break down a lot more sugar than my body can. My spreadsheet is just a guideline on food portioning.

[Updated on 2015]