hannahrbuckley1
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Here are some life hacks that have made me able to take back control of my type 1 diabetes as a student! hba1c went from 89 to 52 whilst still enjoying student life 🙂
-Drinking vodka and diet mixers when out. (personally very dry white wine doesn't give me a problem and I really enjoy it, so I stick to that if i'm drinking at a student flat or at a restaurant. obviously I make sure to snack if drinking more than a few glasses to avoid a hypo)
-tofu is cheap and basically zero carb, and you can cook it easily without worrying about food poisoning like from chicken and it keeps a lot longer in the fridge than meat can. I eat a good few packs a week, super quick and easy to stir fry with a small amount of rice if you need some carbs
-unsweetened soya milk is a godsend, it's zero carb! so you can drink alllll the coffee you want without having to calculate the carbs in milk
-no added sugar peanut butter is available online in massive tubs, very low carb and tasty with a spoon when hungover. also, you can buy nuts/seeds for snacking from wholesalers on amazon, you can get a bunch of low carb snacks for cheap!
-no added sugar baked beans. if you don't like the taste, just put a little bit of granulated sweetener in the pan when you're warming them up, they taste great.
-low sugar heinz ketchup tastes almost the exact same as normal ketchup.
-hobnob biscuits are very cheap and work really well as a slow release carb if you know you're having a really busy day
-avoid dominoes pizza like the plague. I'm so sorry, but they use SO MUCH sugar in their dough and sauces, it's not worth it.
-pesto has much less sugar in it than jars of pasta sauce which tend to be full of added sugar. plus, it tastes better and can also be used as a salad dressing when your mum tells you to eat some greens
-similarly, homemade cheese sauce is very low carb and really easy to make, you can add it to greens like cauliflower or broccoli, meat like chicken or just pasta
-the brand 'skinny syrup' does sugar free coffee syrups that are really tasty! gingerbread and salted caramel are personal favs.
-nando's do a really tasty broccoli side dish that you can get with their meals if you want to cut back on carbs but are out having a meal. I use this trick when I want a burger but don't want to eat a ton of carbs by having chips as well as the bread. plus it makes you eat veg.
And this is not really health related but still worth doing: if you mention diabetes to your supervisor or disability services department, they can help you out in exams. I get extra time in exams in case I have a hypo, permission to use the bathroom anytime (damn my tiny diabetic bladder), I get extensions on assignments and I get permission to take food/insulin into the exam hall.
-Drinking vodka and diet mixers when out. (personally very dry white wine doesn't give me a problem and I really enjoy it, so I stick to that if i'm drinking at a student flat or at a restaurant. obviously I make sure to snack if drinking more than a few glasses to avoid a hypo)
-tofu is cheap and basically zero carb, and you can cook it easily without worrying about food poisoning like from chicken and it keeps a lot longer in the fridge than meat can. I eat a good few packs a week, super quick and easy to stir fry with a small amount of rice if you need some carbs
-unsweetened soya milk is a godsend, it's zero carb! so you can drink alllll the coffee you want without having to calculate the carbs in milk
-no added sugar peanut butter is available online in massive tubs, very low carb and tasty with a spoon when hungover. also, you can buy nuts/seeds for snacking from wholesalers on amazon, you can get a bunch of low carb snacks for cheap!
-no added sugar baked beans. if you don't like the taste, just put a little bit of granulated sweetener in the pan when you're warming them up, they taste great.
-low sugar heinz ketchup tastes almost the exact same as normal ketchup.
-hobnob biscuits are very cheap and work really well as a slow release carb if you know you're having a really busy day
-avoid dominoes pizza like the plague. I'm so sorry, but they use SO MUCH sugar in their dough and sauces, it's not worth it.
-pesto has much less sugar in it than jars of pasta sauce which tend to be full of added sugar. plus, it tastes better and can also be used as a salad dressing when your mum tells you to eat some greens
-similarly, homemade cheese sauce is very low carb and really easy to make, you can add it to greens like cauliflower or broccoli, meat like chicken or just pasta
-the brand 'skinny syrup' does sugar free coffee syrups that are really tasty! gingerbread and salted caramel are personal favs.
-nando's do a really tasty broccoli side dish that you can get with their meals if you want to cut back on carbs but are out having a meal. I use this trick when I want a burger but don't want to eat a ton of carbs by having chips as well as the bread. plus it makes you eat veg.
And this is not really health related but still worth doing: if you mention diabetes to your supervisor or disability services department, they can help you out in exams. I get extra time in exams in case I have a hypo, permission to use the bathroom anytime (damn my tiny diabetic bladder), I get extensions on assignments and I get permission to take food/insulin into the exam hall.
