IMPORTANT TIPS FOR PLANNING MEALS FOR GDM POSITIVE MOTHER A mother should follow discipline regarding meal timings. Eating heavy at one meal or skipping any meal or fasting for long hours should be avoided. She should include all food groups in her daily diet i.e cereal, pulses, milk and milk products, fruits, vegetable, and fats. For non-vegetarian mothers, eggs, low fat meat like well-cooked fish or chicken can be included. Meal plan should be divided in to 3 major meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and 2-3 mid-day snacks. Breakfast A pregnant woman should start her day with a healthy breakfast. She should never skip her breakfast. Breakfast should consist of 1-2 carbohydrate servings (like chapati / dalia /sandwich/ poha / idli etc ) as mentioned in exchange list along with one serving from protein rich foods (like milk/curd/paneer/egg etc.) Lunch/dinner In lunch and dinner the thali/plate can be divided in two halves Fill the first ½ with vegetables like bottle gourd, ridge gourd, lettuce, broccoli, spinach, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, mushrooms etc. as vegetable provide fiber which helps in controlling post prandial sugar level. The remaining half should be divided into two equal ¼th parts. The ¼ portion of the plate can be filled with protein rich food like dal, soy nuggets, tofu, eggs, paneer, chicken, fish etc The remaining ¼ can be filled with chapati , brown rice, millets, cereals etc. Mother should have at least 1 serving of low fat, sugar-free yoghurt, curd or milk . Carbohydrate serving in lunch and dinner should be between 2 to 3. Taking heavy meals should be avoided.