How can I manage my diabetes during the holidays?

Yeah, it’s a tough time of year: temptations abound, there’s unique social pressures, and our schedules are a mess. The best way to manage is one day at a time, and accept that it may not go according to plan.

Starting with the social stuff, it’s your right to defend your health, and it’s not impolite to do so. You can simply say, “I’m sorry. I’m diabetic, I can’t eat that. But thank you so much for offering, I really appreciate the thought.”

Someone who didn’t know about your diabetes may feel bad momentarily, but at least they won’t give you a fruit cake again next year. Never sabotage your own health simply to try to avoid hurting other people’s feelings, or out of some sort of miss-placed notion of what’s socially acceptable. Nor should you be in anyway embarrassed to have diabetes. It’s not like you have a sexually transmitted disease, after all.

Another  problem this time of year is that you’re exposed to things that tempt you, that might not normally be in your environment. One of your co-workers will bring in freshly baked brownies.

One option is to “taste” the goodies and stop there.

Me? I soooooooo can’t do that. One bite leads to two, which leads to three, and then my blood sugar shoots up and I’m high anyway so I might as well eat 14 brownies and…

Well, I guess it’s clear that I’m a better tour guide than role model. So if you, like me, have little self control, and no control over your environment, one coping option is to keep a supply of healthy snacks on hand. They break out the white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies, you break out the beef jerky. Chewing sugar free gum throughout the holidays also works for some of us D-folk too.

So normally you hit you treadmill at 5 a.m., but now your mother-in-law is camping out in your home gym/guest bedroom? Exercise patterns are messy this time of year, and the risk is, if you get out of the habit, will you ever get back in the habit?

I think a little pre-planning can go a long way. Move your treadmill to your bedroom for a week or two. Or do sit-ups on the bathroom floor instead. Just get creative, but keep moving.

The most important thing, however, when it comes to the holidays, is remember that it’s OK to be human. If you eat things you didn’t want to, if you fall off the sugar-free wagon, don’t beat yourself up about it. No guilt. Dust that powdered sugar off your hands and start over.

Don’t look back for even one second.