"It's the most wonderful time of the year...", as the song goes, and the season is made even better by all those decadent treats people are baking!
Holiday cookies and cakes are popping up all over the place, in gifts from neighbors, at coffee shops, and in our own kitchens. Of course this presents a problem for diabetics and people trying to watch their weight.
However, most of the time we are skilled enough to avoid the diet traps that may spike our blood sugars, or we at least manage to compensate with extra insulin, and things turn out fine.
The one situation that seems to derail me every year is parties at school. You know, the day before winter break when everyone brings in brownies and cookies to English class (or algebra or whatever) and just pigs out while taking a break from learning. I know that my chemistry class is already doing one of these parties for next Friday, and even though I like them, I secretly hope that none of my other teachers have the same idea. I don't think I could handle that many sweets in one day!
In fact, I'm not even sure how I will handle the party in chemistry. That is my second period class, about two hours after breakfast. But then I have lunch 4th period, less than two hours later.
If I break my normal healthy eating routine and have some sweets in 2nd period on Friday, my blood sugar won't be as low as usual before lunch, even with insulin. Then I will have to take extra insulin for lunch or my sugars could be high the rest of the day.
The high fat content in brownies and cookies will keep my bg above normal for hours. Then how can I go to track after school if I have been feeling lousy all day from my blood sugar spike?
This is a minor dilemna, but many of us will have to deal with it in the coming weeks. At school, we are already stressed out and at the same time inhibited by the presence of peers. It can be tough to use good judgement and stick to your plan of "just one brownie" when all your classmates are drinking soda, unwrapping candies and savoring 5 different types of cookies.
Also, people don't usually bring diet soda, so the only option for beverages is the water fountain down the hall :(
The idea here is that we have to accept that our needs are different from our friends', and just because they can self-induce a sugar rush doesn't mean we should. I often think that I "should" be able to enjoy myself just like everyone else and be carefree and not worry about what I eat. That approach always backfires.
I have to worry about what I eat. I have diabetes. And I want to control it. Those other teens without diabetes will never need to have the same self-control! (Ha! Take that, teenswithoutdiabetes!)
Don't be fooled and try to do something that is not part of your way of life - remember your commitment to taking care of your body and indulge wisely, not carelessly like some teenager without diabetes.
