Feast day

[MarcR]

I'm wondering what people think about have a day when you can eat whatever you want, perhaps once a week, or once a month. Is it a good idea?

 

[Billy Bob]

Personal choice really I have the odd cheat day but still try not to be over indulgent

 

[silver minion]

I am wary of the occasional treat day becoming a habit. I overindulged some days in December and January with various festive celebrations. My HbA1C reflected this rising from 61 to 73. Previously I was on a steady downwards trend.
Maybe I will have an occasional treat outside my carb allowance when my HbA1c is under 50. I don't think I would go back to my pre- diagnosis eating habits. Far too much snacking and high carb.

 

[Martin.A]

I'm wondering what people think about have a day when you can eat whatever you want, perhaps once a week, or once a month. Is it a good idea?

I don't have days where I eat whatever I want as that risks starting to undo all the hard work I've put in getting my T2 back in its box and keeping it there, but I do take a day off counting carbs if we're eating out in the evening, on birthdays for example. Having said that, there are some things that would still be off limits, such as pizza.

 

[gail2]

I dont have days when i pig out. i do ocassonaly have the odd treat. i find that if i have "treat eat what i want days" days it sends my bg on the manic side

 

[Sharron1]

I'm wondering what people think about have a day when you can eat whatever you want, perhaps once a week, or once a month. Is it a good idea?

Once a week or once a month, is way too much for my liking.

I tend to allow myself four of those days a year when carb counting is relaxed; Easter, Xmas, birthday and to my shame after annual blood test... but then I worry that something went wrong with the test and I will need to do another one!

 

[Wendal]

I'm wondering what people think about have a day when you can eat whatever you want, perhaps once a week, or once a month. Is it a good idea?

Hi Marc.As you can see from the varying responses I think it is very much a personal decision to make.
To me it is all about what you think works best for yourself so whether you have the discipline to follow a treat once a day,week,month etc and have no qualms about enjoying it.
I consider it is good to have something to look forward to if you are denying yourself the rest of the time.
So maybe start off with a small treat once a day and then you can build it up to a bigger treat once a week or month to ensure you can maintain control.Certainly if I was worried about burnout due to a strict regime I would recommend a relaxation as often as necessary.
As I am on insulin I can manage my treats by altering my medication but often prefer to do by exercise and always know I can get good control again if I have a period of relaxation of my diet ( for eg if on a holiday and I want to follow a similar diet to my wife).

 

[Pam123]

To be honest I am so used to what I can eat without any issues, I don't feel the need to have treats, but if I fancy something for example a cream cake, and my time in range is ok, I will go ahead, I am lucky that chocolate has no effect on my BS so I do have some most days.

 

[beating_my_betes]

I'm wondering what people think about have a day when you can eat whatever you want, perhaps once a week, or once a month. Is it a good idea?

Depends on the person, I guess. I don't think this is a good question for a place like this, however.

 

[harbottle]

I'm wondering what people think about have a day when you can eat whatever you want, perhaps once a week, or once a month. Is it a good idea?

No.

 

[MarcR]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm not sure about it myself, perhaps eating anything is too much, but having a treat or two once in a while.

 

[beating_my_betes]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm not sure about it myself, perhaps eating anything is too much, but having a treat or two once in a while.

If you think that having regular, but sporadic, cheats will lead to you completely falling off the wagon then perhaps best to avoid at the moment. If you're able to stick to only as and when you decide than I don't see why not.

 

[harbottle]

My response a bit naff, sorry. I was out and on my phone.

I actually occasionally 'eat normally', but don't go mad. It means I might have a meal out and eat the carbs. Generally if its a meal of fish, veg, potatoes and I'll eat the potatoes or if it's a curry I'll have some Naan, not a whole one, popadoms and Bhajis. In a Chinese or That I might have some rice or noodles. On holiday on Portugal I was walking a lot and ate normally - pastel de nata from the shop where they originated, and meals of fish, veg and potatoes where I left nothing and a large cinnamon roll! I've been to Pizza Express and had a lasagne a few times. A plate of noodles in Wagamama (80g of carbs) is the highest, but a short walk afterward sent it down to the 3s. In my experience of this, BG goes up to around 8 and sometimes sit there for a bit before falling. Depends on the meal composition. It's very inconsistent, but the range my BG seems to stay in is quite narrow even when I do occasionally up the carbs.

I'm generally cautious and usually only indulge if I know I'm going to be getting a lot of exercise afterwards. I go to the pub every two weeks with some mates and drink beer and eat crisps - I've been doing this for years, and only did so when I wore a Libre sensor and saw that levels returned to normal afterwards.

I might occasionally have a burger, but no fries.

Today I had a full English and at the beans, a large hash brown and one slice of white bread (Which was disgusting.) I think I saw readings in the low 7s, which is fine. Might hang around there for a bit and then fall back. If it's around 8 at two hours that's fine a well, it means the composition of the meal is slowing down digestion or there's enough insulin hanging around to stop hyperglycaemia.

(I only do this because I've taken enough readings to know what the result will be.)

 

[Sharron1]

My response a bit naff, sorry. I was out and on my phone.

I actually occasionally 'eat normally', but don't go mad. It means I might have a meal out and eat the carbs. Generally if its a meal of fish, veg, potatoes and I'll eat the potatoes or if it's a curry I'll have some Naan, not a whole one, popadoms and Bhajis. In a Chinese or That I might have some rice or noodles. On holiday on Portugal I was walking a lot and ate normally - pastel de nata from the shop where they originated, and meals of fish, veg and potatoes where I left nothing and a large cinnamon roll! I've been to Pizza Express and had a lasagne a few times. A plate of noodles in Wagamama (80g of carbs) is the highest, but a short walk afterward sent it down to the 3s. In my experience of this, BG goes up to around 8 and sometimes sit there for a bit before falling. Depends on the meal composition. It's very inconsistent, but the range my BG seems to stay in is quite narrow even when I do occasionally up the carbs.

I'm generally cautious and usually only indulge if I know I'm going to be getting a lot of exercise afterwards. I go to the pub every two weeks with some mates and drink beer and eat crisps - I've been doing this for years, and only did so when I wore a Libre sensor and saw that levels returned to normal afterwards.

I might occasionally have a burger, but no fries.

Today I had a full English and at the beans, a large hash brown and one slice of white bread (Which was disgusting.) I think I saw readings in the low 7s, which is fine. Might hang around there for a bit and then fall back. If it's around 8 at two hours that's fine a well, it means the composition of the meal is slowing down digestion or there's enough insulin hanging around to stop hyperglycaemia.

(I only do this because I've taken enough readings to know what the result will be.)

Sounds reasonable and doable to me.