It depends on the time available for the meal planner to prepare and serve the meal
There are some companies that sell meal planning software. The Living Cookbook meal planning software is one of the highly recommended ones.
Amazon.com sells a variety of books about diabetic meal planning. Some of the top results are titled "Easy Meal Planning for Diabetics" and "Diabetic Meal Planning Made Easy: How to Put the Food Pyramid to Work for your Busy Lifestyle." http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_22?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=diabetic+meal+planning&sprefix=diabetic+meal+planning
Diabetes.webmd.com is one website that has helpful tips on diabetes meal planning. There are also many other websites that have recipes and meal planning ideas for diabetes.
There are many popular and effective diabetes meal planning options. Try finding some diabetes cookbooks and websites. WebMD also offers a good meal planning guide at http://diabetes.webmd.com/features/4-systems-for-diabetes-meal-planning
One can get meal planning ideas by asking friends, family, or co-workers. Many fitness trainers can provide meal advice as well. The Real Simple and All Recipes websites provide articles on meal planning. Recipes and meal tips can often be found on Pinterest.
Many websites offer meal planning tips for diabetics. For your convenience, I have provided a link to the following website: diabetes.webmd.com/guide/sample-meal-plan
It is important to remember when doing diabetic meal planning that sugars and oily or greasy foods can cause major problems for a diabetic. When planning a meal for a diabetic or cooking for yourself, try basing the meal around breads, grains, fruits and vegetables.
1) Allergies 2) Lifestyles (vegetarianism, etc.) 3) Cost 4) Health factor 5) Amount of people being served
I belive that the factors that influence meal planning includes the type of food, the type of people or crowd that will eat the food, the occassion and time of the service and the hndling of the food.
This is a good site to use for meal planning: http://www.everydayhealth.org. They have all kinds of information and support.
WebMD offers a pretty good meal planning guide for people with diabetes. Also, talk to your doctor to see what they recommend you do. http://diabetes.webmd.com/guide/sample-meal-plan