Ultimate (hopefully) Christmas Thread - Tips, Tricks, "Hacks", Coping Mechanisms, Swaps, Recipes - Anything goes!

[TriciaWs]

Diet controlled, T2
I spent ages the first couple of years searching for suitable subs as I love mince pies, Christmas cake and pud, and stuffing. Plus slice of bread dipping in the hot juices from the roast.
A couple of small chunks of roasted kohlrabi are lower carb than potatoes, stuffing made with ground almonds is just about ok, but the main success has been with home made dried cranberries and dried rhubarb (cut into thin slices first). These make a great fruit cake or mince pie filling. Both done with ground almonds instead of flour.
My fridge has two tubs of these dried fruits ready for baking.

 

[TriciaWs]

Other tips for sweet treats
Low carb chocolate mousse is easy to make and my usual contribution to others events.
And I do make my own low carb marzipan, dipped in dark chocolate

 

[barbarapreston]

I've always increased my novarapid to cope with Christmas and enjoyed the forbidden fruits.This year is going to be different. I've now been disgnosed as coeliac. I have no symptoms at all ,so as I am already coping with diabetic diet and low potassium dirt ,I am going to ignore it completely.I have read that it can take years to diagnose.I think I was just unlucky that a blood test revealed it.
Last month I had a pacemaker fitted,out of the blue,.Two weeks later I'm back in with breathlessness and fluid around my heart, heart failure and pleural effusion.
I shall enjoy Christmas, diet or no diet.

Would you do the same ?

 

[Paul_]

I've always increased my novarapid to cope with Christmas and enjoyed the forbidden fruits.This year is going to be different. I've now been disgnosed as coeliac. I have no symptoms at all ,so as I am already coping with diabetic diet and low potassium dirt ,I am going to ignore it completely.I have read that it can take years to diagnose.I think I was just unlucky that a blood test revealed it.
Last month I had a pacemaker fitted,out of the blue,.Two weeks later I'm back in with breathlessness and fluid around my heart, heart failure and pleural effusion.
I shall enjoy Christmas, diet or no diet.

Would you do the same ?

I think the way I'd phrase it is that everyone needs times where they take the pressure off themselves and enjoy life, what's the point of it all otherwise?!

Where I've probably (definitely) gone wrong in the past is not putting any pressure on myself whatsoever when it comes to my health and not knowing when the party should come to a halt.

 

[ClaireHT]

So, it's basically been winter since the 1st August here in the UK, plus I was in a shop today and saw a Christmas seasonal aisle being constructed. There's a lot of serious talk around here - and rightly so - but we all deserve to enjoy the Christmas period whether you celebrate it or not.

As a diabetes newbie, I'm sure I'm not the only person thinking "how the hell am I going to get through Christmas with all the temptation everywhere, family gatherings, social pressures, impromptu drop-ins, receiving food gifts, and work pressures (yep, I'm talking to you Carole, and all your homebaked "goodies" you bring in that would make me blind if I even sniff them!)" Then there's the big day itself, Boxing Day and New Year.

This thread is for everyone - T1s, T2s, prediabetics, or anything in between or outside of that. It's for people who celebrate Christmas and how you cope, or for those that don't and how you cope with it all around you for months. It's for any forum members who are friends/family members of those with diabetes. It's for any diabetes management approach, whether that's medication, insulin, diet only - and it doesn't matter what diet you're on. It's even begrudgingly for avocado lovers, although be aware I will judge you for your crimes against humanity and food!

Do you stick rigidly to your diet regime? Do you let loose for a day? Do you ignore Christmas altogether, or commit to it? Those on medication/insulin, how do you deal with the unknown elements of the food at various occasions?

Between all the members here, there must be hundreds of ideas, tips, recipes and routines people have to make things easier, so I'm hoping we can all benefit in some way.

Hi, i have type 1 diabetes, as does my son. We have always had the rule that we enjoy Christmas Eve,Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but don’t let Christmas extend for two weeks either side. This helps with sugar control and also weight gain over the festive period. I make mini mince pies with no lids that are 15g carbs each, so almost doable without insulin. I produce a written menu for each day with the carb counts of each thing on, so we can either choose what to have/ not have, or easily calculate our insulin requirements if we have a blow out ( which we do). We don’t go heavy on the carbs but have multiple small courses with lots of flavour. I make some dark chocolate truffles to have with coffee after our meal, but once they are gone, they are gone. I don’t buy crisps. My son has a dark chocolate fondant pudding instead of Christmas pudding. I never get as far as pudding! We love Christmas in our house, but keeping it to just a few days makes those days extra special.Always a family run or walk on Boxing Day morning , which helps with insulin sensitivity.

 

[Paul_]

We love Christmas in our house, but keeping it to just a few days makes those days extra special.

Love this perspective, I'm stealing it!

 

[MrsA2]

These 2 Australian doctors advocate low carb and do loads of resources and vids on how to manage Christmas and other social events.

This is my go to blog of theirs, a very good summary

What should I eat at Christmas?

"What should I eat at Christmas?" We get this question all the time. Most people are expecting us to give them a food list or a meal plan, but here’s the thing - there is no one plan that suits everyone. You get to decide what works for you, as what works for you may not work for someone else.

www.rlmedicine.com

 

[MrsA2]

My favorite presents to receive as a low carber are:
Huge multi box of Cheesies
Some low carb cake goodies that will freeze as I won't pay for them myself though the year, deliciouslyguiltfree or ketonuts are good
A libre or 2!!

 

[filly]

I always struggle to stay up late.....
Tonight have to stay up until after midnight to place my Christmas shop.
Do I go to bed in half an hour, put the alarm on and hope it wakes me or just stick it out ..........
And hope I don't nod off just as the time approaches

 

[lovinglife]

I always struggle to stay up late.....
Tonight have to stay up until after midnight to place my Christmas shop.
Do I go to bed in half an hour, put the alarm on and hope it wakes me or just stick it out ..........
And hope I don't nod off just as the time approaches

Wow Christmas shopping already! I take it that’s online shopping who that with? I don’t know what I need next week never mind Christmas, mind you I don’t actually buy much different at Christmas other than Christmas lunch which I get from local butchers and veg guy etc. though I have had some pigs in blankets this week

I have booked Christmas slots in the past then by the time it comes around for delivery I don’t need any of it and end up cancelling lol

 

[Paul_]

I always struggle to stay up late.....
Tonight have to stay up until after midnight to place my Christmas shop.
Do I go to bed in half an hour, put the alarm on and hope it wakes me or just stick it out ..........
And hope I don't nod off just as the time approaches

I'd do a bit of both - set an alarm, but try to stay up. Best of both worlds.

 

[filly]

Wow Christmas shopping already! I take it that’s online shopping who that with? I don’t know what I need next week never mind Christmas, mind you I don’t actually buy much different at Christmas other than Christmas lunch which I get from local butchers and veg guy etc. though I have had some pigs in blankets this week

I have booked Christmas slots in the past then by the time it comes around for delivery I don’t need any of it and end up cancelling lol

I pretty much put my normal in the trolly. You can then change it anytime before Christmas. I am only able to shop at one provider, at least it all turns up.

 

[Paul_]

I pretty much put my normal in the trolly. You can then change it anytime before Christmas. I am only able to shop at one provider, at least it all turns up.

I run the gauntlet of trying to book a Tesco slot for Christmas. Every year they build it up into this massive thing, every year their website crashes. So, in the event I do manage to get through the online queue and get a slot, I bang two bottles of spirits in the basket to meet minimum spend, then checkout as fast as humanly possible before the website burns to the ground!

 

[filly]

I run the gauntlet of trying to book a Tesco slot for Christmas. Every year they build it up into this massive thing, every year their website crashes. So, in the event I do manage to get through the online queue and get a slot, I bang two bottles of spirits in the basket to meet minimum spend, then checkout as fast as humanly possible before the website burns to the ground!

I already have my shop in the trolly. Should do it all in a few clicks.

 

[filly]

Did my Christmas shop in double quick time. Just a warning..... there appears to be no double cream! Also they don't know if it will be in for Christmas........ :-(

 

[Outlier]

Not quite the same, but could you buy tinned?

 

[Ushthetaff]

I’ve not had a “traditional “ christmads dinner for years far to much faff for me I’m not a lover of turkey , me and the partner have had a big fry up at about 12 o’clock for the last 8 years, then it s jammies on and watch some cheesie Xmas movie with in built naps ,
yes I do have a black Santa hat with bah humbug on it lol ,

 

[Antje77]

yes I do have a black Santa hat with bah humbug on it lol

You understand we need a picture of you lounging in your jammies with the hat on, right?

 

[HSSS]

My first diabetic (knowingly diabetic, that is) Christmas I thought I'd be OK to have some Christmas pudding. The rest of the meal was almost zero carb. This was before I'd got hold of a glucose meter. I'd been on 20g carb a day for about a month.

I did have some pudding, and it was really good, with brandy butter and thick cream. After about half an hour, the sugar hit me and I had to go to bed, I felt so ill. That continued for most of Boxing Day - nausea and headache mainly.

A lesson learnt.

Last year I made a keto mug cake type dessert but with all the Christmas spices, nuts and courgette. Yes you read that right. With the right spices etc it acts like a very good fake apple. I went to the effort of real custard (cream, eggs, vanilla and a little erythritol) with a slug of brandy mixed in. And a dollop of double cream. Not quite the same as traditional Xmas pud but it worked for me. On the side as backups were death by chocolate keto cake and keto cheesecake with a sliver of cranberry sauce left over from dinner. I refuse to say if they were used as well

eta ; as a result of catching up with the thread I’m going to add some rhubarb this year too. Who needs dried fried

 

[HSSS]

It's in my Copy Me That account, so you can find it there if you haven an account,

omg can other people see our accounts in that app? I have it and use it a lot and knew you could choose to share but that’s scary if others can access it