The first and foremost thing is to eat smaller meals/snacks more frequently instead of 3 big meals a day. Second thing is to have a balanced meal, with just enough carbs and a lot of protein. Very often it so happens that one meal is big on carbs and the other meal might be protein loaded. General rule of thumb is two portion’s carb to one portion protein. Also, eating heavy breakfast and tapering down through the day keeps us healthy and active. As we are most active during the day and naturally burn calories.

This family member is diabetic and had to undergo surgery. It was all the more important to have a strict control over diet to speed up the healing process.

The day was split mostly into chunks of 3 hours. For a typical day spanning from 8:00 AM to 9:00PM, it would look something like this.
6:30 AM - Tea
8:00 AM - Breakfast
11:00 AM - Milk and Snack
2:00 PM- Lunch
5:00 PM- Snack / Tea
6:00 PM - Milk
9:00 PM - Dinner

Listing some sample meal items followed in our household:

Breakfast:
One of..
1. Daliya with moong dal : Two portions daliya with one portion moong dal.
2. Besan Cheela :  One besan cheela with a small bowl of corn flakes OR sweet daliya.
3. Two egg whites : 2 egg whites with a small bowl of corn flakes OR sweet daliya.
4. A bowl of sprouted moong dal[ add lemon, salt and onions for taste] with corn flakes/sweet daliya[or any carb breakfast].
5. Whole wheat or whole grain bread with two egg whites. No white bread.

Mid morning snacks
Mid morning snacks are usually fruits or cucumber with a small glass of milk. Go for low fat milk. Banana is a big NO as it has too much sugar. The best fruits are papaya or guava, as they are very low in sugar. Half an apple every third or fourth day.

Lunch
2 Rotis.
A small portion of salad. [Vary between cucumbers, tomatoes, onions ].
A big serving of dal variety. Dal, chole, raajma, mixed dal, gravy made of soya chunks, egg curry.
A big serving of vegetable to compensate for reduced quantity of carbs[roti's]. Karela, lowki, taroi are some of the low calorie vegetables. No potatoes please.
Once in a white, substitute half a roti with 2 or 3 tablespoons of rice. Can also substitute regular rice with brown rice and increase the quantity as brown rice is low in carbs and sugar. And has a lot of fiber, which is good.

Evening snack:
One of..
- A bowl of salad made of cucumbers, tomatoes with a pinch of salt and lemon.
- Two dal papads microwave roasted OR fire roasted. No oil fry please.
A glass of milk with the snack OR tea with the snack and a glass of milk a little later.

Dinner:
Two roti’s with a protein rich sabzi. Some variations in sabzi like egg curry, raajma, chole, nutrela protein chunks.
Adai once in a while.

Discliamer: I am no doctor, but have supervised based on instructions from my brother in law, who is a doctor. This post is solely based on that experience and some additional research. If anyone would like to add anything to this list, please do let me know. Would be very much appreciated.

Picture Courtesy: http://www.wineinyourdiet.com/

Good reads:
Diet dos and don’ts for diabetics - Part I
Diet dos and don’ts for diabetics - Part II