For a person with diabetes, October 31st all the way thru January 1st can be a tad challenging. Several holidays that revolve largely around food are all packed into just a span of about 63 days! Halloween. Hanukkah. Kwanzaa. Christmas. New Year’s day.
Whether you’re young or old, your friends, family, and coworkers are throwing parties and events for several of these holidays. Candy. Cakes. Sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts).?Cookies. Alcohol. Eggnog. Chocolates. Mashed potatoes. Latkes. Pies. Muffins. Breads. Challah bread. Challah bread pudding. Challah bread french toast! The list goes on and on!
In an ideal world, when we’re diagnosed with any type of diabetes our sweet-tooth and desire for anything remotely carbohydrate would disappear…but in reality, you can make a bit of room in your life to enjoy the holidays. Be sure to talk to your doctor about adjusting your medications as necessary if you plan to consume more carbohydrates during the holidays.
How do you balance your blood sugars when you’re surrounded by carbohydrates?
Sacrifice your carbohydrates earlier in the day! If you know you’re going to a holiday party in the evening, try to choose very low-carbohydrate options earlier in the day. If you’d rather save your carbohydrates for chocolate cake, then skip the bread, pasta or rice you might usually eat at dinner or lunch.Increase your exercise! Just because we’re eating?more doesn’t mean we have to exercise less!?Can you add 20 minutes to your current exercise routine? Or an extra day to however many days you currently exercise? It all adds up and can help balance out the extra calories. On that note, going for a walk after a big Thanksgiving meal can make a big difference on your post-Thanksgiving blood sugar! Get the whole family up and moving!Check your blood sugar more often!?Who said you could only check your blood sugars before a meal? When you’re with your family on Thanksgiving day, eating more carbohydrates than usual, check your blood sugar 1 hour after your meal to see if your blood sugar is on its way up. If you use insulin, you’ll know that you may need a bit more insulin to help prevent it from continuing to rise. If you don’t use insulin, then you might consider going for a walk and to help bring your number back down.?Small portions and little bites! If you’d really like to try several different types of desserts or carbohydrate options at a dinner event, try smaller servings. Cut the cake into a much smaller slice so you can also try half a piece of fudge. Just because they’re being served in giant sizes doesn’t mean we have to eat the whole darn thing.Just say, “No, thanks!”?Just because it’s being served to everyone else does?not?mean you have to eat it, too. Don’t be afraid to say, “No, thanks,” and turn down the holiday cookies someone brought into work. Or your grandmother’s favorite pie. If you don’t want it, especially for the sake of your diabetes management, then don’t eat it. If you decide to eat one of those cookies at work, then you know you can cut down on the carbohydrates at dinner so your whole day is still balanced. Either way, it’s your choice!In my own life with diabetes, I strive to keep balance in my day’s worth of nutrition by only eating the carbohydrates that mean the most to me. I could go the rest of my life without bread, pizza, or crackers. But a piece of fudge or ice cream, well, that’s more important to me. When choosing these options, in moderation, I take my insulin carefully, and check my blood sugar often to adjust as needed. And exercise. Exercise is key!
Enjoy the holidays without sacrificing the health of your diabetes!
The day my son was diagnosed with type 1 
Every person who is diagnosed with type 2 
So here’s the conundrum: carbohydrates cause our blood glucose to rise and yet we are constantly bombarded with the idea that we should eat more.?Whole grains are our friends! (Despite the fact that they can be evil).??We must eat a “balanced diet”, regardless of whether or not some of the components totally muck up our glucose control.??No freakin wonder people are confused!??What about the idea of getting our carbs from leafy, non-starchy vegetables???Why is it always thrown out there that we should eat grains and potatoes???I don’t get it.??It’s plain to me that we can’t eat just anything, even in moderation.??It’s time to put on our big girl panties and realize that we have to give up certain foods.??Deal with it.
For most people who meet you, and learn that you live with 
Kayla Eriksen, 11 years old