The holidays are right around the corner and also it is Diabetes Awareness Month this November. The holidays coming means there will be more than plenty of food to eat. If you have diabetes it may be a little troubling having to navigate yourself around all the food. Fortunately, you can still enjoy the holidays with proper diabetes management!
Make sure to eat normally
You may consider skipping meals or restricting how much you eat because of holiday foods. This is not a good idea since it is not healthy to skip meals or restrict food intake too much. Skipping meals or restricting food intake may also cause you to overeat later on. This makes it important to plan what you will eat.
Plan what you will eat
It is important to plan what you will eat. You will be surrounded by a lot of unhealthy holiday foods and will probably eat some. It is important to know how much of what foods you will have before eating. An example would be to say you will only have one or two slices of pumpkin pie and no seconds. It is also necessary to eat foods with the right nutritional value for you and practice portion control.
Pick veggies and practice portion control
Even though it is the holidays, it should not be a free-for-all with what you eat. Picking veggies and other healthy items will help you with managing your diabetes during the holidays along with proper portion control. As stated before, if you properly plan what you will eat you can practice portion control and be able to indulge a little without having to worry. Making sure to stay active is also a key factor in your diabetes management during the holidays.
Continue being active
It may be difficult to find time to be active during the holidays but it will help with managing your diabetes. You do not have to do anything crazy like go on long runs or hit the gym, you can enjoy a light stroll with your family members. Adding in a little bit of activity even for just a 30 minutes, will help you manage your diabetes and keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range.
Make sure to check blood sugar
Make sure to not overindulge or forget to check your blood sugar levels during the holidays. As previously mentioned, not skipping meals or restricting food intake too much will prevent blood sugar levels from dropping too low. Planning what you eat as well as adding in some exercise will help with keeping blood sugars at healthy levels. Even with all this, you may just want to relax during the holidays which is okay.
Practice good Diabetes Management and dont be too hard on yourself
Its the holidays and you will be spending time with your family and friends. It is okay if you want to relax and not be too hard on yourself if you do end up eating too much or not exercising enough.