Skip The Thanksgiving Roller Coaster Ride With Me!
I don't want anybody missing out on what they truly love to eat on Thanksgiving. I also don't want anyone completely pigging out and doing the roller coaster ride with their blood sugar.
In this video, I share tips that I have come up with over the years that tend to work pretty well for big meals like Thanksgiving Dinner.
Video Transcription:
This is Elizabeth Hanawalt, coming to you from my backyard, and I thought today that we could talk about some tips for controlling blood sugar on Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a day for family. It's for thinking of everything we have.
I don't want anybody missing out on what they truly love to eat or completely pigging out and doing the roller coaster ride with the blood sugar.
So, these are just a couple of tips that I have come up with over the years that tend to work pretty well.
One is to think ahead about the carbohydrate sides that are traditional to your family. I mean the ones you may not get any other time of the year. Think about one that you do not want to leave the house without getting some of. That could be stuffing, that could be sweet potato, that could be pumpkin pie.
To me, eating mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving is no big deal because you can get mashed potatoes anytime of the year. So, just keep that in mind before you go to the meal.
Second thing is to know that things like turkey, green beans, and salad are not going to affect blood sugar that much. However, the green bean casserole will be because of the soup that is in it and whatever else your family puts in it in addition to the green beans.
Here's another thing- is that if you are bent on controlling calories and doing well on thanksgiving. Think of the plate method.
The plate method is a way of looking at a dinner plate. In other words, make a line right through the middle of the plate, and half of the plate can be non-starchy vegetables, salad, and whatever is not going to do much to the blood sugar.
Then the other half is split between turkey, and the starch, and whatever side you got. So that's the plate method.
Other things you can do for blood sugar control, especially if you're on insulin:
Don’t start off on the carb stuff because the blood sugar will start rising before the insulin has had time to break down. You want those two to kind of coincide. So, the easy way to do that is to not start off with the carbs first.
Another thing to do is to limit alcohol ,of course, during this day because it's just empty calories and a lot of times it tends to make you inhibited, so you eat more.
The other thing about Thanksgiving that kind of does us in, is that we don't move around. Especially if you’re a family that is a football watching family, like mine is. Use the commercials to your advantage to get up and walk around. Go outside, because you know those commercials can take a little while. If not at the commercials, walk around the room during the game several times each half.
It sounds petty and it sounds insignificant but in the end, blood sugar will show it, as opposed to you sitting on the couch the whole three hours of the game.
So, just a few tips to help you! I hope that can make blood sugars be okay for the day and not the roller coaster ride.
So Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you are safe.
Ready to find out more?
As a Diabetes Educator and Nutritionist I help my patients cope with managing their diabetes - whether it's diet, nutrition, supplements, blood sugar, or pump therapy.
Please reach out and contact me if you need support, I truly understand. I live it every day.
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