Recommendations for Managing Diabetes During the Holidays

For all of us, maintaining a healthy lifestyle during the Holidays can be a challenge. For diabetics, special occasions, events and holidays can be a minefield of hazards that can undermine the hard work they do all year to manage their disease. Here are some simple tips to help diabetics (and all of us) enjoy the Holidays without sabotaging our health:

Enjoy the activity with family and friends.

• Make new traditions not centered around foods.
• Participate in a holiday hike or holiday gift making.
• Encourage family and friends not to give food as gifts.
• Try to encourage healthy event, special occasion or holiday food at work and events.

Choose events you want to participate in.

You are not required to attend all the events. Choose the ones important to you.

Choose foods you want to eat.

• Sugar free foods not always the best. Many are very high in carbohydrates and calories.
• Eat your regular foods, count carbohydrates, and watch portions.
• Calories from the event, special occasion or holiday meal can be trimmed with portion control, with fat servings on the side or modest recipe changes.

Remember special events (retirement party, graduation), special occasions (weddings, birthdays), and holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s) are one day or one meal of a month, not every day or every meal of the year.