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Managing Diabetes Magazine - diabetes

Food Temptation
Plan ahead to resist successfully

It’s Christmas and Aunt Mary and Uncle Harold arrive with their own special eggnog and famous home-made Yule log...On your birthday the people in the office bring in a cake from an expensive bakery...Valentine’s Day and you’re surrounded by boxes of chocolates and cinnamon hearts. These and other similar scenarios are replayed every time people get together to share happy times. However, for someone with diabetes, they can be stressful.

When you live with diabetes day-to-day, occasionally you might be tempted to eat 'just a little extra,' postpone or forget your pills or insulin, or skip checking your blood glucose levels.

But special events such as birthdays and holidays are not meant to be diabetes vacation days. In fact, with the associated stress and tempting foods, it’s the time to take even better care of yourself. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of stress on glucose levels. In people with Type 1 diabetes, blood glucose levels may go either up or down. In people with Type 2 diabetes, mental stress can often raise blood glucose levels.

So, what’s a person to do? Can you avoid the emotional and culinary traps that special events and holiday celebrations bring? By thinking ahead and planning your response to possible events you likely can.

Here are some possible responses to the above situations:

• When Aunt Mary hands you an extra large slice of her Yule log you might say something like “That was nice of you to make that for all of us, but I’ve already worked out my meal plan for this evening.”
• If a co-worker asks, in front of all the others, “Don’t you have diabetes? Are you allowed to have cake?” Your response could be, “Yes, I check my blood sugar regularly enough to let me enjoy this treat.”
• Thank the giver graciously for the chocolates, work some into your meal plan and share the others.

What other situations might you wish to prepare for?

It’s up to you to look after your diabetes. Don’t let someone else convince you to forget about your own health. If you’re ready, the tensions of special occasions and families, coupled with the temptations of cookies, alcoholic drinks and massive dinners, won’t impact your diabetes routine, your willpower or your spirits.

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FAMILY HEALTH is written with the assistance of

FAMILY HEALTH is written with the assistance of

While effort is made to reflect accepted medical knowledge and practice, articles in Family Health Online should not be relied upon for the treatment or management of any specified medical problem or concern and Family Health accepts no liability for reliance on the articles. For proper diagnosis and care, you should always consult your family physician promptly. © Copyright 2019, Family Health Magazine, a special publication of the Edmonton Journal, a division of Postmedia Network Inc., 10006 - 101 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 0S1    [DI_MDc00]