What to eat at christmas?

[greg75]

Hi everyone,

I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and am really struggling when it comes to snacking,can anyone recommend anything that I can eat plenty of whilst the family are scoffing chocolates over Christmas?

I do recall that Holland and Barrett used to do carob bars and that there also used to be places that sold a carob alternative to the just brazils. Any advice would be gladly welcomed.

 

[Kaylz]

I only snacked when I needed to put weight on, I ate boiled eggs, nuts, cheese, on occasion dark chocolate minimum 85% cocoa but now I've gained weight I don't see any reason to snack, I eat 3 meals a day and that suits me fine, I only eat outside meal times now if I'm hypo or too low to go bed which unless your on hypo causing medication you wouldn't really need to worry about

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi greg75,
I too suggest that in general you should only eat when hungry and also eat sufficient at each meal to tide you over to the next one without snacking.
However for special occasions like birthdays, celebrations and the 'festive season' it seems like everybody else is snacking - so it is hard to resist the temptation.
Things you can eat as a small snack (but don't overdo it) are: lower carb nuts (preferably not cashew or pistachio nuts), pork scratchings, unsweetened jerky/biltong, hard cheese. You can even have a few squares of Lindt 90% chocolate (or other lower carb variety) though this is only useful if you like dark chocolate and can limit yourself once you start eating it!

 

[greg75]

Thanks Kaylz, I only have one meal a day and then snack the rest as I work nights.so I just have one main meal a day. Thanks though as you've given me a few ideas.

 

[greg75]

Thanks Ian, as I've just mentioned to Kaylz , I only have one main meal a day and snack the rest due to me working nights.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Christmas can be a tricky time, and generally available options which just seem to have become part and parcel of many people’s expectations of ‘what happens at Christmas’ can be hard to avoid, hard to resist and if you are not careful you can end up eating several meals’-worth of carbs/calories without really realising it.

My go-to snack option is generally nuts as I can have a handful or two without noticing any impact on my BG levels. Chunks of cold meats and cheese are often available at this time of year too. As an insulin user I have much more freedom to add other things in (if I really fancy something) but experience suggests to me that the frustration I get with the BG fallout from overdoing it and/or dose stacking my insulin often far exceeds any enjoyment I might have got from the snacks.

So my advice would be to eat intentionally, not mindlessly over the festive period. Choose what you want to eat and when. And enjoy it!

But there’s really no need to eat all the time, and if constant snacking pushed your BG up you’d probably just end up drowsy and grumpy anyway.

Enjoy your Christmas!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

T2 members who still like to enjoy chocolate seem to find that a square or two of 85% dark chocolate gives much more of a ‘hit’ without all the carbs and BG upheaval of regular chocolate.

you could break a bar into little chips in a bowl and melt one or two on your tongue to spread the enjoyment over a longer time?

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Spend £10 on a pop corn maker and buy some popping corn. It's so light you would have to eat one heck of a lot for it to impact on your blood sugars.

 

[Docb]

Oh dear, it would seem that my contribution to this thread has been reported!! My apologies to whomsoever found it inappropriate. It was intended only to prompt some discussion about the subject of eating for the sake of it and in no way was intended to criticise anybody or cause offence.

 

[grovesy]

It must have been removed as I cant see.

 

[Flower]

Not snacking as such but low sugar hot chocolate drinks such as Options/ Highlights made with boiling water make a really sweet tasting chocolate drink and will keep you busy for a while whilst not pushing your blood sugar too high.

 

[rebrascora]

Pigs in blankets make a good low carb festive snack, especially if you can get the ones stuffed with cheese or chunks of a good quality cheese, perhaps accompanied by pickled onions. Olives are a great low carb snack if you like them and like someone else, pork scratchings are my guilty pleasure. If you are looking for a sweet treat then make yourself some peanut chocolate balls by rolling peanut butter into balls and then coating well in grated high cocoa (70%+) chocolate or just get a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and a couple of squares of dark chocolate and have half a square with a spoon of peanut butter. Do go steady though, you don't want to be consuming more than a few spoonfuls of peanut butter at a go.

Really surprised that someone suggested popcorn as I believe that to be very high carb, albeit they are individually very light, but when do you ever just eat one or two of them so it is easy for the weight of carbs to tot up as you scoff them and for me if they were not sweet I wouldn't be interested anyway, so that would increase the carb content.

 

[Dave W]

Mrs W makes lovely open topped mince pies and reduces the sugar content by mixing the mincemeat 50:50 with cooked apple.
I like to add a drop a brandy to the pies, for when the brandy evaporates it evaporates the carbs too. Well, that's my theory. 🙄🙄

 

[rebrascora]

Mrs W makes lovely open topped mince pies and reduces the sugar content by mixing the mincemeat 50:50 with cooked apple.
I like to add a drop a brandy to the pies, for when the brandy evaporates it evaporates the carbs too. Well, that's my theory. 🙄🙄

The problem with mince pies is that the fruit already contains a very large amount of natural sugar. They are gorgeous though so don't let me put you off. They are my other guilty pleasure and the one exception to my low carb diet at this time of year.

As far as I know, brandy and other spirits contain very little carbs, but they do contain calories which may be where you are confused. Beer/lager and sweet wine/sherry/port are higher in carbs so those need to be restricted but spirits with or without a low calorie mixer are fine for us diabetics, as is a nice glass of red wine or a dry white. In fact the alcohol can even lower the BG because it distracts the liver from producing it's continuous trickle of glucose whilst it deals with the alcohol. Obviously moderation is key.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

A 60g bag of microwaveable Salted Butterkist is 32g carbohydrate, so you're right - it's a little over 50% carb. Might not be the same with other brands but I suspect not.

Martin

If you stick 60gms of pop corn in a 2pint jug it fills it to the top, now if anyone is that much of a pig in eating that amount then they deserve the resulting bellyache. 🙂

Really surprised that someone suggested popcorn as I believe that to be very high carb, albeit they are individually very light, but when do you ever just eat one or two of them so it is easy for the weight of carbs to tot up as you scoff them and for me if they were not sweet I wouldn't be interested anyway, so that would increase the carb content.

Pop corn is so light there is quite a bulk in very little weight as to sweetening it use some home mix using artificial sweetener like Splenda melt some butter add a flavour and sweeten if you must.

 

[rebrascora]

If you stick 60gms of pop corn in a 2pint jug it fills it to the top, now if anyone is that much of a pig in eating that amount then they deserve the resulting bellyache. 🙂

Pop corn is so light there is quite a bulk in very little weight as to sweetening it use some home mix using artificial sweetener like Splenda melt some butter add a flavour and sweeten if you must.

I used to be a pig like that as it would equate to a jumbo carton at the cinema. Never had a belly ache with it but my BG would be orbital these days!

 

[Dave W]

The problem with mince pies is that the fruit already contains a very large amount of natural sugar. They are gorgeous though so don't let me put you off. They are my other guilty pleasure and the one exception to my low carb diet at this time of year.

As far as I know, brandy and other spirits contain very little carbs, but they do contain calories which may be where you are confused. Beer/lager and sweet wine/sherry/port are higher in carbs so those need to be restricted but spirits with or without a low calorie mixer are fine for us diabetics, as is a nice glass of red wine or a dry white. In fact the alcohol can even lower the BG because it distracts the liver from producing it's continuous trickle of glucose whilst it deals with the alcohol. Obviously moderation is key.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. My post was rather intended as tongue in cheek. I am reasonably well clued up on carbs etc. Here's an extended version


Some useful info for my diabetic friends or anyone wishing to avoid festive season weight gain.

A Mr Kippling mince pie (other brands are available ) contains 37.9 grams of carbohydrate, which as far as your body is concerned is sugar.
Now, for anyone with any form of diabetes 37.9 grams of carbs will elevate blood glucose between 8 to 12 mmol/L, which really is not a very good thing at all. And for anyone who doesn’t have diabetes, all those carbs (sugars) will end up in muscle tissue and/or as fatty deposits in and around the organs of the body and as subcutaneous fat.

But DON’T WORRY! I’m currently working on developing MY THEORY OF THE EVAPORATION OF CARBOHYDRATES.

The addition of a volatile liquid, in my present research – brandy, should result in the evaporation of carbs while the brandy is evaporating. I see no reason why this shouldn’t be the case and it does enhance the taste of the pies.
I shall be expanding my research over the festive period to include Christmas pudding, icecreams and other high carb foods and my results will be published early in 2020.

 

[Eddy Edson]

My advice is to ostentatiously and smugly decline snacking and to loudly criticise yr family members whenever you see them doing it.

This will repay them for whatever they have done to annoy you in the past year and will also foster christmas togetherness as they unite in resenting you.

Kidding! Go for nuts. When you cut back on sugar everything else starts tasting brilliant

 

[Grannylorraine]

I find I have no need to snack on Christmas day, as either I am too busy in the kitchen or asleep from eating too much. But in all honesty it is hard when you are first diagnosed to watch other people snack on chocolate, biscuits etc, I had a complete meltdown watching my husband eat ice cream just after I was diagnosed, most of the time I am ok when he eats biscuits, chocolate etc, but I still have my moments. All I can say is try and eat as much at Christmas dinner so you don't need to snack. I did once try the no snacking in the house rule, similar to friends that smoke, if you want to do it go outside in the garden please, but hubby declined that rule.

You could try requesting that they don't snack in front of you, but that is not always practical. Apart from that all I can say is try your best not to give in, but if you do, don't beat yourself up about it, just get back on the wagon as soon as you can. I fell off the wagon yesterday and I am really feeling it today, not just in terms of blood sugar levels, but my mood is always affected and makes me feel tearful when I eat sweet things now.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

If you are okay with high fat foods then I find making my own chocolate fudge is a good substitute for bought chocolates and it doesn't spike my sugars at all.
I make it with double cream, 100% cocoa powder (you only need a very little for flavour - about half a teaspoon) and sweetener to taste (these days I don't need much because having reduced sugar/carbs in my diet I am very sensitive to sweet tastes) and I sometimes add a drop or two of salted caramel flavouring (I buy mine in Tesco).
Just mix it all together and shape into bite size pieces and then refrigerate it. Or you can refrigerate and cut into squares. I like it better than bought chocolates and so I don't get jealous of anyone 🙂 If you want something more like hard chocolate then melt some coconut oil and mix that in before you refrigerate it and it will set into a more glossy chocolate-bar like consistency.