• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Christmas and Christmas Day and food

Voodoorising

Well-Known Member
Messages
144
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi guys

That time is rapidly approaching and I hope you all have a good one. I have a question as it's going to be my first Christmas knowing I am diabetic. So Xmas eve I have a big Chinese banquet with my two boys, g/f and mum and her partner as I don't see my kids Xmas day. Christmas Day the usual dinner and all the trimmings.

So my question do you decide sod it it's one or two days out 365 and just enjoy it and eat what you like but cut back on roasties and sweets etc or do you stick to your diets or what ever you do to help control it.

Hope you all have a great Christmas.
 
Last edited:
I too am looking at the first christmas knowing I am T2. I have not been near a chinese since diagnosis. For me I intend to adapt what everyone else is eating to suit my malfunctioning body
 
Hi @Voodoorising
Last year was my first Christmas after diagnosis. I just tried to be sensible with eating choices as far as possible though I'm sure I ate a lot more than normal.
I've not tried Chinese since diagnosis but as it's a very special meal for you my suggestion would be enjoy it, maybe trying to be a bit careful with choices but I'm sure you will be able to recover afterwards. When I've been to friends for a meal I've often used that to see how normal I can now eat and sometimes it's surprised me.
 
If I ate the menu you describe, I would feel ill and spend most of the day semi-conscious and miserable, with scary blood glucose levels.
- doesn't mean that you will have the same reaction, of course.

However, personal experience has taught me that I will be happier, healthier and feel human, all day, if I stick to low carb.

I still intend to trough mightily, just not on carbs.
This kind of thing:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/low-carb-xmassy-deliciousness.112876/
 
Well I am going to bury my glucose meter in the garden for the Christmas period.

But seriously I will eat my normal Christmas fare but hopefully keep to sensible limits where the carbs are concerned always used to have eyes bigger than my belly and load my plate up with far more than I could eat now I don't do that any more.

Christmas is but once a year so intend to enjoy it.
 
I intend to enjoy myself with lots of the new food things I've learnt to like in the past year! Also planning on experimenting with some new recipes and freezing stuff ready for next term if there are some miserable days weather-wise when I don't want too walk much.

If my meter tells me OK, I will risk some of the carbs which have the least detrimental effect.. having said that, a couple of roast potatoes are being planned as I've not had any in months.

Fortunately, as Christmas is a working day for me (church organist), I am not bound to fit in with other people's eating expectations and the friend I will be eating with has her own reasons for not wanting a carb fest either.

If I were with other people, I'd probably relax and go with whatever is on offer, but just be careful about how much I eat.
 
Last edited:
Well i personally think "screw it" all year round anyway, but then I can just inject more or less insulin. Enjoy yourself mate, it's just one day a year..
 
This will be my 3rd Christmas as a diet only T2. For Christmas dinner I have eaten the same as everyone else but with only 2 pieces of roast potatoes. We also have several different veggies including peas. My treats were a small Yorkshire pudding and extra gravy. OK a lot of extra gravy. We haven't had Christmas pud or cake for years as only my mum ate it, and she is no longer with us. I've had strawberries and cream for my dessert. The others have had Yorkshire puddings with butter and sugar on. I also stole a couple of Celebration chocs and a couple of After 8s. Of course, copious amounts of wine. My meter was locked away until bedtime, when surprisingly I was absolutely normal for me, as was my fasting the next morning, so any damage done didn't last. Probably the wine helped. I also didn't feel rough.

Everyone is different in how their bodies react, so really the choice is all yours. Whatever you decide, enjoy your family time.
 
I will be eating my usual low carb fare but drink lots of wine and beer. I don't miss potatoes and yorkshires etc. any more so will load up on cauli cheese and such like. The first year or so of very meticulous eating is now paying dividends. The alcohol will keep my sugars under control if I over indulge.
 
I will be having roasted lamb chops, roasted brussel sprouts and asparagus and a nice fresh salad. I feel the same as @Brunneria , I would be ill if I had any sort of carb fest. That's not enjoying my holiday. I will also be having a few drinks. All that being said, my meter never cuts me a break so I'll just be sticking with my normal foods. There are other ways to enjoy the holidays for me other than food.
That being said, it's just the two of us and I'm cooking so it makes it very easy. Not sure how I would handle a big family buffet. They cause me anxiety.
 
I will eat a Christmas dinner and even though I am personally well controlled I shall still only have a small amount (one or two halves) of roast potatoes and as the rest will be meat and veg theres no problem, I may even have a small portion of Christmas pudding if I feel like it but again I am generally well controlled and that will be my personal decision.

As for Chinese food that can be difficult as they do cook with a lot of sugar, MGS (salt) and very sweet sauces but Im sure you will be able to pick and chose what to and what not to eat and as a one off its not going to kill you, as long as its a once in a while treat I see no problems, that said, when I was newly diagnosed I was very strict with my diet, even over the first xmas period so you have to make up your own mind as to what to eat and whether you consider risking a sleepy end to the day is worth pushing things.


Coincidentally I walked into the leg of a chair one evening last week and broke a toe, no I hadnt had a drink!). And after a 3 1/2 hour wait in the urgent care centre we had lost the enthusiasm to cook a meal when we got home at around 9:30pm so we had a Chinese takeaway consisting of Singapore special noodles, chicken in black bean sauce and some sweet & sour chicken, I ate a small amount of each dish but didnt bother testing as it was a once off and if I did go a bit high, so what, Im still here a week later albeit with a very bruised and sore toe and foot...
 
Thanks all for the replies it's nice to see other people's thoughts and attitudes to how to deal with our condition. I am not going to go mad mad probably 2 roasties and loads of veg and have a pudding some red wine and pinch 2 or 3 hero's and maybe a naughty mince pie later in the evening.

As for the Chinese I will use my Judgment and only have a small bit of rice and have the less sauce laden dishes.

Plus my g/f will keep a close eye on me and not let me stray to much
 
just order yourself a quarter crispy duck and ignore the sauce and pancakes
 
First Christmas at T2. I've decided I will be more relaxed - to a point. It takes my body around 4 days to recover from a carbfest so I actually decided I don't want to go through that again ... but I still want to relax.

So scouted low carb chipolates - bacon rolls a plenty too. 1 roastie - low carb cauli cheese. Sprouts with lardon. Heck, this is a feast.

Then a small slice of pudding with brandy sauce - followed by an amazing cheese course with Peters Yard biscuits of course.

Maybe some low carb brandy truffles then - great recipes on Diet Doctor.

It'll be a feast still, and hopefully won't take me log to recover.

Happy Christmas!
 
As am well controlled and I enjoy a Chinese take away we have one about once or twice a month what we do is order two portions of sweet and sour chicken balls and some mushroom rice and share it out between four of us yes my blood sugar goes up a bit but is normally back down in a couple of hours.
 
walnut_face said:
I too am looking at the first christmas knowing I am T2. I have not been near a chinese since diagnosis. For me I intend to adapt what everyone else is eating to suit my malfunctioning body
Click to expand...
My first Christmas as a diabetic too ... but as my daughter doesn't like Roast potatoes (well ANY potatoes in fact), bread sauce, stuffing etc,
then this time I will have what she always has .... lots of turkey slices, lots and lots of fresh veggies nd no gravy
She doesn't ever have mince pies, xmas cake, or xmas pudd either. I think my daughter will make it easy for me, and of course there's always the raspberries and cream for afters
 
My grand son hates gravy also he also can't abide baked beans so that's my plan of beans on toast with gravy for Christmas dinner down the tube.
 
also my first Christmas being diabetic....I´ll eat a little of everything I like except the very sweetened cherry-sauce... and then I´ll quit making the potatoes in caramelized sugar.... have changed the meny from duck till lamp , and the sweetened cale and caramelized potatoes into a Greek menu with 3 kinds of Salads and feta and lots of different kinds of olives...including waldorf salat... one of my favorites besides walnut-icecream.... this one evening I´ll enjoy all the forbidden fruits almost... and at the traditional cold table next day too ... lots of blackbread with herring and curry-egg salat .... I do drop all the sugary sweets though and only drink red wine and snaps( and water ), no beers and sugary drinks ...
 

I spent 2 weeks on holiday in China in August and ate guess what - Chinese! Every day. I just avoided the sweet sauces and didn't overdo the rice and was fine. I will be cooking Christmas dinner for 14 this year so won't be cooking different for me, like a lot of others on here, cutting down on potatoes etc but extra turkey. No pud, find it too sweet anyway, will have cheese or maybe strawberries and cream (or both). All will be washed down with plenty of red wine. Merry Christmas ana a Happy and healthy New Year to one and all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…