It’s the holiday season again; and you know what that means; parties, parties and more parties. From work to home you will face obstacles that interfere with your weight loss and blood glucose goals. Focusing on weight loss during the holiday season can be tough and disappointing. That is why during the holidays it is recommended to focus on maintaining your weight, neither gaining nor losing.
This strategy tends to work best for people, and then if you do lose weight it is an added benefit. Controlling your glucose levels on a normal day is difficult enough, controlling them through the holidays seems next to impossible. However remember these three important words; food, medication and exercise. These are the three things that affect your blood glucose.
When you have a scheduled party, think of your day as any normal day. You still want to take your medication, you still want to attempt to walk for at least 30 minutes, ideally more to make up for the extra calories you will be consuming, and you still want to consume more fruits and vegetables. Aim for smaller starch portions and combining your meals with protein. Eat normal meals throughout the day, do not starve yourself all day because you are going to a party, this will make you over-indulge even more! Check your glucose before the party and two hours after you start eating if possible. Remember if you are on meal time insulin; make sure you bring it with you! If you take long acting insulin like levemir or lantus at a certain time at night, you may want to bring that with you also so that you can take it at your usual time.
Tips to cut the calories:
- Avoid caloric beverages like soda, juice, punch, and eggnog. Save your calories for the food and try to stick mostly to water.
- Observe all the food, before you make your selection, think of the plate method. Lots of vegetables (at least half the plate) and starch and meat on the other half of the plate.
- Remember desserts count as a starch, so if you know you want dessert, it might be wise to decrease some of the starches on your plate.
- Avoid cheesy dips, fried appetizers look for a broth based soup, side salad or vegetable option.
- Avoid added additional butter or gravy to items.
For some, being in a social situation with food can be very overwhelming and stressful. However, you still want to enjoy yourself. Yes, you will consume more calories than a normal day but remember tomorrow is a new day and you will be able to get back into your routine. So try to follow the tips provided to the best of your ability, but most of all stay safe and have a wonderful holiday!
