A Diabetic Christmas – 5 Tips For Surviving The Holiday Season
Surviving Christmas can be a real challenge for anyone with diabetes.
It’s a time when there are fabulous foods available, almost all of them full of sugar, fat or carbohydrates.
If you give in to temptation and eat too much of the wrong types of food you could find yourself suffering from bad sugar levels and feeling unwell. The long term implications of regular high sugar levels are not something you probably wish to dwell on either
Here’s our five tips for getting through the Christmas holiday season without a real headache on your hands:-
Be A Good Guest
If you’re visiting family & friends, remember to keep your host informed when you are their guest. Although you may not wish to trouble them, it may be harder on them if they discover part way through your visit that a little extra planning could have enable them to prepare meals which were more suitable for you.
So, don’t be embarrassed, simply mention that you have diabetes and be prepared to answer them with a few foods that are not off the menu for you. You could even offer to bring something, such as a dessert, to contribute towards the meal.
Watch Your Diet
For many traditional meals, you can simply decrease the amount of carbohydrates you eat, whilst increasing the portion size of meat and vegetables.
Don’t be embarrassed to ask for a glass of water if you’re eating out, or a diet drink. Try and minimise alcohol, though this is definitely party time, as alcohol can make your levels harder to control.
Ask For Help
Most people are happy to help – whether it’s preparing a few extra vegetables, or letting you know where the bathroom is to enable you to inject in private.
So don’t be afraid to ask people if you need help in any way.
Monitor Regularly
If you’re eating different foods over the Christmas & New Year period, whether it’s at friends homes , a party or restaurant, it’s harder to make sure that you match carbs and insulin correctly.
Monitoring your blood sugar levels more regularly during the holiday season can help you pick up any high levels, before they start to affect your health or make you feel ill.
Plan Ahead
There are some great cookbooks or online recipes available, so a little planning can enable you to buy the right groceries, have the recipes to hand and cook something suitably healthy.
If you’re entertaining guests to dinner, you may wish to plan to freeze as much ahead of time as you can, this allows for any baking or cooking disasters, but also enables you to stay calm and relatively stress free .
Remember, the festive season doesn’t need to be your annual health nightmare, a little thought, planning, together with the help of friends and family can help you get through relatively unscathed.
