Diabetic Living Editors - Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook: More than 400 Healthy, Delicious Recipes

• (listed below the recipe title) help you to manage portions.

• such as ice, salt, black pepper, and nonstick cooking spray usually are not listed in the ingredient list; they are italicized in the directions.

• are not included in the per-serving nutrition analysis.

• are listed after the recipe directions.

This seal assures you every recipe in this book has been tested in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen. This means each recipe is practical, reliable, and meets our high standards of taste appeal.

The more you understand about diabetes-smart eating habits, the easier youll find making those practices a seamless part of your life. From what to put into your shopping cart to how to count carbs and downsize servings, these concepts are the first steps to a healthier you.

Controlling how much you eat can be as big a challenge as deciding what to eat. Try these tips to tackle common portion pitfalls and still satisfy your grumbling stomach.

Keep serving dishes off the table. Dish up your plate from the kitchen counternot the dinner table. Studies show that if you place a big bowl of pasta on the table, men eat 20 percent more and women eat 10 percent more than when the bowl isnt nearby.

Pick smaller plates and spoons. Research shows that we eat 92 percent of whats on our plates. If you use a 9-inch plate instead of a 12-inch plate, youll serve yourself less food. And if you use a tablespoon instead of a serving spoon to dish up food, youll serve yourself less, too.

Think thin. Slim sandwich buns save you up to 15 grams of carbohydrate and 100 calories per serving compared with traditional buns. Whats more, thinner buns allow you to better enjoy the flavor of sandwich fillings. Also try thin bagels, very thinly sliced bread, thin-crust pizza, and extra-thin corn tortillas.

Pour a tall glass. Drinking liquids out of taller, thinner glasses makes us think we are drinking more than we actually are. Its an optical illusion; people tend to focus on the height instead of the width of the liquid in the glass.

Favor whole foods. Processing foods tends to concentrate the calories and carbs. Consider this: For 15 grams of carbohydrate, you could eat either 1 cups fresh strawberries or a mere 1 tablespoons all-fruit strawberry preserves. You can usually upsize rather than downsize with whole foods. Whole foods tend to be more filling, too.