Former chef Chris Ferguson, who lives with type 2 diabetes, shares his strategies for healthy, time-efficient meal planning.
“Two years ago, I was at a low point. I’d got to 120 kilograms, and I needed to lose weight for necessary surgery. Plus I wasn’t very active because I’d had a couple of falls. My wife Julie had passed away and I was depressed, eating a lot of convenience food and cooking comfort food. One of my favourite meals was corned beef with cauliflower and potatoes with a white mustard sauce. I’d make my own hamburgers, and I was eating lots of bread, toast and cakes with custard and ice cream.
I needed surgery, but my anaesthetist said to me, ‘the anaesthetics are not going to touch you. I need you to be under 100 kilos.’ So, I went to my GP and said, ‘I need a dietitian to help me lose weight.’
And that was how I ended up at Diabetes WA.
With my health issues, I don’t always have the energy for cooking complicated meals.
My approach was to combine dietitian-approved meal replacement shakes with healthy food. I order the shakes online and they have recipes on their website and good special offers in December, for example, when no one is worrying about losing weight.
This has really simplified my meal planning because I always know what I’m having in advance. So today, for example, I’ll have a shake plus half a cup of strawberries for breakfast. Then for lunch I’ll have two slices of low-fat cheese, steamed vegetables and a shake. And tonight I’ll have a chicken and asparagus stir fry. I make two batches of stir-fry at a time, so I only need to cook it once.
I no longer eat high-carb foods or rice, and I fast in the mornings. I have a shake at 10am, followed by a shake at 2pm with a salad, and then a light dinner and some supper later on.
My blood glucose levels sit between 4.5 and 5.5 during the day. Overnight I can go 6.4, but very seldom do I hit a 7. In fact, my fasting until 10am works well because I miss the dawn phenomenon where your BGLs rise.
So far, I’ve lost 37 kilos. It’s a big lifestyle change and it takes time, but I found that once I started losing weight I had more energy. Seeing a psychologist also made me clearer in my thinking. He got me gardening again, and as the weight came off, spring cleaning became fun.
Then I got a rescue dog, Jake, a kelpie, in August last year. Now I’ve got to walk every day, because if I don’t the dog gets cranky, and I get cranky. After that the weight loss doubled. I’ve just had to buy new walking shoes as my old ones fell apart.
Healthy cooking and meal planning can be very hard for people. I’m an Airforce-trained chef, so I know how to cook food for 2000 people on base, but a lot of people don’t know how to organise a shopping list, how to meal plan, or how to substitute if you’re following a recipe and don’t have one particular ingredient. No one is showing people how to do it.
Plus, it’s hard when people are busy with work and their families – for example if Dad’s a tradie and working all day, he will need carbs, but that’s not the best diet for the other family members.
I’m still a huge work in progress and I have my guilty pleasures – you have to have a treat sometimes. But I would love to get people more inspired about food by hearing my story.”
Chris’ tips for healthier food
Organisation is everything. Write a meal plan and shopping list and stick to the list at the supermarket. If you don’t buy unhealthy foods, you can’t eat them.
Eat in season to save money. We’ve got a top end and a bottom end in Australia so there’s always seasonal fresh food.
Cook for two days to save energy. I make salads and chop up veggies for stir-fries, then cook the meat fresh. I like cos lettuce, onion, mushrooms, grated carrot, tomatoes. I add a little bit of mayonnaise which provides enough flavour to eat all the veggies. Protein is also important to fill you up.
Keep scales in your kitchen so there’s no guessing when it comes to portion sizes.
If you have kids, get them to join in with the cooking. Teach them to slice and dice and have everyone eating together around the table.
Keep some healthy snacks on hand – a handful of nuts, houmous, some carrot sticks and hard-boiled eggs. Or for something sweet, a small apple or banana with some Greek yogurt.
Add herbs and spices for flavour. Mint grows well in the garden, I also grow parsley, and always have curry powder, crushed chilli, ground oregano, bay leaves, lemon pepper, paprika, sage, cinnamon, turmeric and ground cloves.
I always have diet jelly in the fridge so I have something to eat if I get a sweet craving. I have it with Greek yogurt instead of ice cream.
Plan ahead for going out but relax a little. If I’m going to see the Fremantle Dockers I take a little salad with me, a few nuts and some dried apricots, and then I have a meat pie.
Got a question about food? Our dietitians are here for you
If you need help meeting your nutritional needs, a dietitian is the most suitable person to support you. You can book a clinic appointment with one of our dietitians at Diabetes WA or call our free Helpline on 1300 001 880.
This story is from our summer issue of Diabetes Matters – download your free copy here
