8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL DECEMBER 20, 2017
Living 50 Plus in Cottage Grove
Healthy Holidays
Managing diabetes during the holiday season
The holiday season is synonymous with many
things, including food. Family gatherings and
holiday offi ce parties wouldn’t be the same
without great food.
Food plays such a signifi cant role during the
holiday season that many people are worried
about overindulging. Some celebrants can
afford to overindulge, while others must resist
temptation. Diabetics fall into the latter category,
as the festive mood of the season does not mean
people with diabetes can throw dietary caution
to the wind. With the holiday season upon us,
diabetics can heed the following tips from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
to help them stay on a healthy track.
• Stick to your normal routine. While the holiday
season can be unpredictable, the CDC advises
diabetics stick to their normal routines as closely
as possible. Because holiday guests cannot
control food served to them at family gatherings
or parties, the CDC recommends diabetics offer
to bring a healthy, diabetic-friendly dish along to
any parties. In addition, don’t skip meals during
the day in anticipation of a large holiday meal.
Doing so makes it hard to control blood sugar
levels.
• Be extra careful with alcohol. Alcohol is served
or readily available at many holiday gatherings,
and many people overindulge because of the
festive mood of the season. Overindulging in
alcohol is dangerous for anyone, but diabetics
must be especially mindful of their alcohol
consumption. Alcohol can lower blood sugar and
interact with diabetes medicines. Diabetics who
want to enjoy a holiday libation should keep their
alcohol consumption to a minimum.
• Eat slowly. Eating slowly can benefi t anyone
during the holiday season. Eating at a leisurely
pace gives diners’ brains ample time to signal
that their bodies are full. By eating quickly, diners
may be eating more calories than they hoped to
eat, and that can lead to uncomfortable feelings
of fullness after a meal. Diabetics who can slow
down their eating are less likely to overindulge
in less healthy holiday foods that can affect their
blood sugar levels.
• Remain active. The holiday season can be
hectic, as adults often must juggle extraordinarily
busy social schedules with the responsibilities of
everyday life. Many people sacrifi ce time at the
gym to ease the burden of hectic holiday schedules,
but diabetics must resist that temptation. The
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases notes that routine physical
activity helps diabetics keep their blood glucose
levels in their target range. Physical activity also
helps the hormone insulin absorb glucose into all
of the body’s cells for energy. That extra energy
boost can help diabetics fend off holiday-related
fatigue.
Diabetics face a lot of temptation come the
holiday season. But with the right plan of action
in place, men and women with diabetes can enjoy
a healthy holiday season.
Strategies to avoid holiday weight gain
Staying fi t during the holiday season can be quite challeng-
ing, even for the most ardent fi tness enthusiasts and disci-
plined calorie-counters. Between Thanksgiving and New
Year’s Day, many people are offered a wide assortment of
foods, beverages and other indulgences — typically in mass
quantities.
According to researchers at Stanford University, although
the average person only gains around one pound during the
holiday season, quite frequently that pound sticks around,
and those extra pounds add up year after year. As a result, it
doesn’t take too many years of holiday bundt cakes to gain a
considerable amount of weight.
Holiday season weight gain is not unique to the United
States and Canada. Investigators at Tampere University of
Technology in Finland tracked weight gained in the United
States, Germany and Japan during those countries’ festive
times and found that each country’s participants gained
weight, particularly during the holiday season. Annual hol-
iday weight gain can contribute to weight-based problems
such as obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
The holiday season might not be the best time to start a diet,
but holiday eating does not have to derail healthy lifestyles.
The following are ways to avoid holiday weight gain and
still enjoy all of the parties, adventures and time spent with
friends and family.
• Focus on festivity instead of food. When hosting holiday
festivities, make the bulk of the celebration about an activity
rather than food. If guests are focused on fun, such as a sing-
a-long, dancing or tree-trimming, they may be less likely to
overeat.
• Don’t show up starving. Eat a light, healthy snack before
participating in any holiday revelry. Hunger pangs may
drive one straight to the buffet table.
• Survey your options prior to eating. Guests should scope
out the food choices and then make the smartest selections
possible. Avoid creamy sauces, greasy foods and those that
are heavy on cheese. Fill up on vegetables and then you
won’t feel bad about splurging on a dessert.
• Go sparingly on alcohol. People seldom realize how quick-
ly calories from beverages can add up. A 12-ounce glass of
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beer has about 150 calories, a fi ve ounce glass of red wine
has about 125 calories and a 1.5-ounce shot of gin, rum,
vodka, whiskey, or tequila has about 100 calories, according
to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol-
ism. Furthermore, alcohol lowers inhibitions, so you may
be more likely to overindulge in more spirits or extra food
when intoxicated.
• You can’t buy back calories with exercise. Putting in a
marathon exercise session the next day probably will not
undo the damage done from overeating the night before.
Maintain a consistent workout schedule all through the
holidays.
Holiday weight gain is not inevitable for those who take
control and exercise discipline.
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