Living with diabetes often means focusing on the food you can't eat. But what about the food you can eat?
People with diabetes shouldn't have to live life staring longingly at the desert tray trying to decide between a savory bite of cake and the risk of severe complications, according to authors Dr. Howard M. Shapiro and Franklin Becker.
Their new book, "Eat & Beat Diabetes With Picture Perfect Weight Loss," offers recipes and tips for enjoying food and keeping weight off.
Below are a few examples of healthy, diabetic-friendly substitutes for foods typically off-limits.
CLICK HERE for a recipe for a lemon-berry parfait from the book.
A typical on-the-go breakfast of coffee and a muffin is a diet no-no even for those not living with diabetes. A 5 ounce blueberry muffin and medium chai latte logs in at 840 calories, 17 grams of fat and 91 grams -- or about 23 teaspoons -- of sugar.
Swap that for two Van's waffles, 2 tablespoons of sugar-free syrup, ½ cup of bluberries and coffee with low-calorie sweetener and two tablespoons of milk, and you get a breakfast of just 205 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of sugar.
Two slices of pizza will run you 900 calories and offer no fiber. But cut it back to one slice and throw in an antipasto salad and a bowl of minestrone soup, and you get 12 grams of fiber and only 600 calories.
Steak may be a summer staple, but two, 4 ounce slices of beef brisket served over two cups of plain, white rice contains 1,040 calories and 34 grams of fat.
Substitute the steak for 6 ounces of grilled fish and pair it with a cup of sliced, grilled portobello mushrooms and a cup of beans, corn and peas, and the meal becomes a healthier 400 calories with just 7 grams of fat.
A traditional lemon square pastry is about 420 calories and 20 grams of fat, with 48 grams -- or about 12 teaspoons -- of sugar. To compare, a lemon-berry parfait included in the book packs just 105 calories, with zero grams of fat and sugar.
CLICK HERE for the recipe for the lemon-berry parfait.