We’ve just come through the Christmas holidays, and what goes better with Christmas than great food? That’s right — Christmas and the New Year is a very sensitive time of the year for a diabetic, since the sweets and foods associated with the holidays can be a major temptation
It was common during the first years after I was diagnosed to face a table full of Christmas desserts. As a child it was a real torture having to leave the table without tasting a single dessert or eating it and having to face my parents and grandparents’ disapproving looks. Now, this scenario has changed, but mostly because of my own perception towards the disease and the impact my food habits can have towards my health.
I still eat some Christmas cookies because “it’s christmas,” but due to my insulin scheme I always try to:
- Count the glucose units of each portion I eat
- Inject the corresponding insulin units
- Measure glycemia levels, before and 1 hour 30 minutes after that food intake
- Avoid spending the days sitting on the couch – I’m not a fan of spending an entire day sitting, but sitting and eating is too much. Therefore, I always try to walk a bit in between meals.
Keeping these simple habits helped me to control my glucose values a bit better. Sometime later I started looking for online tips and recipes. These are a couple of the recent BBC websites I found with very helpful tips:
New Year, New Life Living With Diabetes
“New Year, New Life” is a very common saying for this time of the year. A moment that many people try to re-think life decisions, eating habits, and lifestyle. Smokers may start trying to quit smoking, and exercising suddenly becomes a must-have in everyone’s lives.
For diabetics, this is the time when we usually take notice of our bodies and start noticing some wounds on our feet that did not use to be there, or that we start paying attention to how our health seems to be a bit worse. In other words, this is a moment that we start addressing new symptoms that maybe we have been ignoring for the last months.
To me, this is actually the first time I have listened to my body and noticed that I have to pay more attention to it. I just noticed some small wounds that started to appear on my feet, which suggest that it’s time for me to start taking better care of my physical needs.
In case you just looked at yourself in the mirror and noticed something new in yourself, try not to be upset or too worried. Just schedule your next appointment with your diabetes doctor, nurses, and ophthalmologist. Schedule the appointments and go — with no fear. After that, share with me what your doctors had to say.
My appointments are scheduled for the 16th of January — for sure I will share with you their feedback!
Happy New Year!
