The holiday season is upon us, and for a lot of our patients this can present an extra challenge to navigate the holiday dinner table while managing their diabetes. As Diabetes Educators, our job is to help provide support through this challenging time, regardless of your scope of practice- Registered Dietitian, Pharmacist, Registered Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, etc. Here are 4 simple strategies you can discuss with your patients to help them fully enjoy the holidays without negatively impacting their blood sugar:
- Practice Mindful Eating: Mindful Eating is a practice in which we pay close attention to how food makes us feel physically and encourages us to eat for physical hunger rather than emotional needs. Mindful Eating encourages one to focus on how good our food tastes and to try an eliminate distractions while eating. Research tells us that Mindful Eating practice helps us to control portions of food which can help control blood sugars and weight while also increasing enjoyment of eating! So when you pull up to your holiday table this year, be intentional about listening to your belly while also appreciating your taste buds!
- Bring the veggies: Many of our favorite yummy holidays foods also happen to be extremely rich and calorie and simple carbohydrate dense, which is why we often fall into a severe food coma after our holiday meal and post-prandial blood sugars are often higher than normal. A great way to prevent yourself from overeating is to fill half of your holiday plate with non-starchy vegetables- think green beans, salad, Brussels sprouts, carrots or maybe broccoli. While these yummy foods are nutritional powerhouses, they are very low in calories which helps you to balance out some of the juicier foods on your plate. Many of my patients often think Healthy=Boring... this is furthest from the truth! Add flavor enhancers such as fresh garlic to your green beans, balsamic vinegar to your roasted Brussels sprouts or avocado to your salad. Olive oil in moderation is always a great, flavorful additional as well!
- Develop some non-food family traditions this year: Often so much of the holiday is focused around food- from the grand meal to cookie decorations to holiday parties with an endless number of appetizers and treats! This year, consider inviting your family out for a Thanksgiving day football game or walk. Maybe start a tradition of Christmas eve game night. Find joy in non-food forms of family bonding to help prevent overindulgence this year.
- Keep moving: The ultimate goal is to get through this holiday season without slipping into that food coma from overeating and having sky-rocketing blood sugar numbers, however because of the overabundance of food in our culture, overeating is unfortunately quite commonplace. The good news is, according to new research, at least 2½ hours of aerobic exercise spread over 6 days can help prevent negative metabolic outcomes often associated with overeating, such as inflammation of fat tissue and glucose intolerance or insulin resistance. Another helpful fact is that even a 20 minute walk can have the power to lower blood sugars by up to 2 units of insulin. Perhaps checking blood sugars before exercise along with after exercise could be a very motivating tool to have in one’s toolbox. The moral of the story is, KEEP MOVING especially during the holiday season.
What is your favorite piece of advice to your patients during the holiday season?