November 24, 2015
5 Tips to Manage Your Diabetes During the Holidays
I tell my patients with diabetes that they can eat the same foods as
anyone else. However, they have to pay closer attention to how much they eat,
especially when it comes to carbohydrates. People with diabetes don’t have to
rely on artificial sweeteners, or to avoid desserts all together. It’s just
important to remember: Moderation is a major key to eating healthy, especially
around the holidays. That leads us to the first tip:
1. Bring your own healthy dish
When you go to a holiday
party, you may not find many healthy dishes there. So a great way to help you
stick to your meal plan is to bring one yourself. This way, you can fill your
plate with healthy choices. For some tasty holiday recipes, try my Christmas Salad and Orange Glazed Brussel Sprouts and
Sweet Potatoes. MinuteClinic
also offers DASH-friendly recipes each week. Check out the #FoodieFriday recipes.
There are many protein
rich holiday foods that taste great without being too indulgent. Try hummus
with vegetables, a deviled egg, salmon or chicken for snacks or as part of your
meal. Protein helps fill you up without having an effect on your blood sugar.
My grilled salmon chopped
Greek salad is a great way to fill
up with healthy protein.
It’s also important to watch your portion sizes, especially if you do choose to partake of less healthy
dishes. If you want to indulge, try to stick to one small portion of dessert.
This will help keep your blood sugar levels in target range.
3. Skip the sugary beverages
People with diabetes may
know that counting carbs is one diabetes meal planning strategy. So if you are
trying to cut down on carbs, avoid drinking sugary beverages. These have lots of carbohydrates, and still
don’t fill you up. Choose water or tea to quench your thirst, in order to save
your carbs for something tastier--like cheesy potatoes!
4. Watch your Diabetes ABCs
Keeping your A1C, Blood
Pressure and Cholesterol levels under control is always important, but becomes
more of a task around the holidays. MinuteClinic offers many important services
to help people manage their diabetes, including diabetes monitoring and diabetes screenings. Check out this clinic locator to find the closest
MinuteClinic.
According to the Centers
for Disease control, people with diabetes (as well as people with heart disease
and seniors) are at a higher risk for complications from the flu. So make sure you get your flu shot! MinuteClinic offers quick and convenient
flu shots. It’s where I have gone to get my flu shots the last two years!
You can also walk
through the aisles of CVS/pharmacy to find healthy holiday snacks such as nuts,
dried fruit, nutrition bars and more.
5. Get active early
The holidays are such a
busy time that it is often easy to skip your regular activity routine. One tip
is to try to get up earlier than usual to fit your exercise in. I personally love
hopping on the treadmill first thing in the morning, or lifting some weights in
order to feel my best. This way, I can feel better about enjoying all of the
yummy holiday foods.
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