I could really use some advice with this, as I was just diagnosed T1 in October. How do you all handle having all the holiday sweets around? I’ve always been a snacker, so when I spend the holidays with my family, there’s always cookies and fudge and candy around full time, and I just wander back to the cookies and eat one or two every hour or so. But I know I can’t do that this year. It’s not a hunger thing, obviously, it’s a sweet tooth thing. Does anyone have any tips for resisting grandma’s cookies? It’s torture 
I feel your pain, always been a snacker and hard to say no to most things. I have never had a good strategy - I would take a big shot snack and then take more shots later to correct. Now with the Pod I can adjust my basal rates and extend a bolus and be pretty on target. Holidays are tough because most center around Food and Sweets.
Other people will come up for strategies for you to eat a modified amount of the treats. My perspective is different because I stopped eating sugar entirely 16 years ago. For me it is addictive, and it is much easier for me to stop completely than eat it now and then. But I can still remember when I first stopped and some of the things that worked for me were: Divert my attention to other things, such as talking with people, enjoying the season and the company. Make sure I eat a delicious and satisfying meal and remind myself I am not hungry and don’t need more food. Have one or more person at the gathering know I am trying to avoid the treats so I can use them as support when I feel shaky. If people are all sitting down and enjoying dessert find something else to do at the time; I had a wonderful friend that would make me a cappuchino and a cheese tray so I could enjoy that while others ate their cake. Or just get up and walk away from the table until all the "oohhing and ahhing is done. Since it sounds like snacking on the goodies is an ongoing thing, perhaps not staying as long as you usually would might be necessary.
Imho it also helps to “reframe” your thinking from “goodies I am being deprived of” to “things I choose not to eat to improve my health” and to look at other healthier food choices as also tasty and satisfying. It takes awhile, but now I say that for me cakes, cookies, etc may as well be styrofoam because they don’t interest me at all. When I have mistakenly gotten a drink with sugar in it, one sip was nauseatingly sweet to me.
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I agree with Zoe, the problem is that sugar is addicting It’s really best to not start. As a T2 I have found giving up sugar, grains, and potatoes is essential to avoiding huge spikes. As a T1 your perspective may be different although you will find T1’s here that do the same thing because they find it helps them avoid highs and lows.
You can find lots of low carb recipes for baked goods using flaxmeal, almond flour and artificial sweeteners. If you have an alternative treat it may make it easier to resist, and they won’t cause a spike.
The Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution Group on this site has had some interesting discussions concerning holiday strategies as well as lots of good recipes that won’t spike you.
Its a hard one. Some would say extra insulin,some (might not say it) just go high. I would probably adjust my insulin and smaller meals plus exercise. Moderation is the key. Other things might help a bit exercise extra water intake, as who ever is cooing if its family to make a small batch just for you made with splenda .We are still human and can still enjoy the sweet things in life if we choose to. Just have to watch our intake. You still might have to take a correction shot and avoid somethings. I have found for myself sweets that are mixed with nuts do not spike me near as bad as others but still have to watch my intake.
As a pumper, when I decide to snack at a party, I set a square wave bolus for 2 more hours than I will be at the party (sometimes hard to estimate). The amount of the bolus is going to depend on your insulin sensitivity – I use 1 unit per hour, and it does me pretty well.
If you are on shots, it’s a lot harder, and I don’t know what to tell you in that case.
I know full well that these are not healthy foods – but I plan to “pig out” from time to time – it keeps me from feeling deprived, and I don’t do it very often. Snacking in moderation helps too – you don’t have to stuff yourself.
I hope you find a solution to your problem – I know how hard it is to say no!
Your problem this year may be be the sugar police. Please remember that they all love you and they are just trying to make sure you stay as healthy as possible.
I take only a small pinch or bite of a cookie instead of eating the whole cookie and I test, test, test. I have to do that because my glucose levels will skyrocket. I also try to eat protein about the same time that I start snacking so that my glucose levels do not skyrocket and the fall to the ground. I am also not a sweets person. I prefer my salty carbs.
Personally, I eat one or 2 things and take enough insulin to cover. Last Christmas was the first xmas dealing with my bf's side of the family. I made reduced sugar, fat free desserts and no one noticed the difference! It allowed me to eat a bit more sweets... selfish? a little :)
I have given up sugar almost completly, unless I have a salad dressing or marinated chicken that I find out later had sugar in them.
But I use a lot of Splenda and other sweetners.
I keep wondering if the artificial sweetners help keep my addition to sugar.
Can they? Even if they don't have any sugar, can the artificial sweetners keep you wanting sweets?
For me, Isaac, when I was first trying to give up sugar that is exactly what the artificial sweetners did, is to make me crave "the real thing". I don't think artifical sugars have an affect on the physical addiction, but they certainly can if you are psychologically addicted.
I understand that the taste of the artificial sweeteners has improved since then and maybe now that I've been off sugar so long it wouldn't affect me that way. But at this point, I'm used to eating things without sweetness, and really have no desire for either.
Thank you Zoe,
I really also suspect that the artificial sweetners somehow keep me craving sugar. Even when I don't have any real sugar.
Normal meal, but still less carbs than others will eat. She will have turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies and roll with the main meal. I split dessert and serve it two or three hours after dinner to avoid a really huge carb load. For Thanksgiving usually pumpkin or apple pie, with the back crust cut off, 60 grams worth with whipped cream. Pumpkin usually it's okay; apple pie is always a problem. Holidays come once a year; I say enjoy them. Every day eating, we offer salty snacks such as potato chips, cheese its and ice cream or chocolate which does not impact blood sugars much. This has resulted, over the past five years, in eliminating her sweet tooth. She rarely asks for sweets. Low carb desserts, if she did start to crave sweets, I would be going low carb for things such as cakes, cookies, pies. Next holiday, i am determined to bake a low carb cheesecake and see how that goes.
Great advice, thanks guys. I don't think it's reasonable for me to expect myself to resist all the sweets unfortunately! Maybe I'll be at that point next year. I definitely have a sweet/salty combo tooth (like the peanut butter balls that grandma makes, they are so addictive!). I think my game plan might be to eat the non-sweets as grazing food, then give myself half an hour at the end when I can have a cookie or two or ten. And bolus accordingly. I just wish I had my insulin pump already!
And good call on the sweets police. That's definitely my mom already. At thanksgiving she told me I couldn't eat the pumpkin pie that I had just put on my plate...but I told her "wrong, mom, I HAVE to eat the pie, I just took the insulin to eat it and I can't take it back!" And then I got the old eye roll from her.
The salty snacks still have a lot of carbs in them -- potato chips are almost all carb. Why the emphasis on avoiding sweets, when it's really carbs that are the problem? A reasonable amount of sweets is no more damaging than a reasonable amount of potato chips -- they both require insulin, at least in MY experience!
I always think about how sick I am going to feel if I go too high or low from incorrectly estimating the carbs. Not the greatest positive strategy, but it works for me.
When I had a pump I'd up my basal rate so that I could snack all day. Now I am on shots and basically just give more insulin when I want to snack. Sometimes I use discipline and sometimes (I love snacking through the holidays too) I just give like 10 shots a day. I don't recommend doing this often...but...it's what I have done in the past for one or two days of the year. This year, I have my twin babies to take care of and will be using plain ol'e discipline :) Good luck to you
I agree that your biggest problem will be the "sugar police" = ). I am a TOTAL snacker, sweet tooth and all. I thank God for my genes, because I could never be a dieter, and I have the utmost respect for those of you that are able to stay away from carbs, snacking, etc. I realize that if I had any self control, maybe I could keep my A1c in the 5.0 range. But, I am happy staying in the low 6's = )>
Eating the protein and veggie snacks is one way to go - and I high five you for going there! But if you can't - the only sweets I have given up are the straight sugar ones. (the bowl of peanuts mixed with candy corn, oh...now, candy corn is my fav. for low blood sugar) I did shots for 10 years of holiday parties, and never had a problem. The trickiest part is the carb counting. Guesstimating how many carbs you are eating, and taking a quick shot. You are your pancreas now. Last year, your pancreas gave out extra insulin when you grabbed those cookies, this year, its your turn. = ) Remember to test your bs every couple hours to stay on top of the grazing.
Salty snacks do have carbs it is true, but a small sized bag of chips is 15 grams, whereas a 2 inch slice of cake may be 36 with frosting. Ice cream bars are around 20 grams usually. From use of a cgms, we have found that for some reason ice cream does not spike her over 140, potato chips because of the fat don't spike high either, but cake or cookies cause a high rise. By not offering cookies and cakes and not habitually keeping them in the house, she seems to have lost her taste for them over the years. But, yes, if they are in the house and she wants them, I won't deny the food.