Another holiday is over, instead of being a joyous occasion for many diabetics, especially newly diagnosed ones, it’s full of fear, frustration, and depression. It’s like climbing a mountain. You work so hard to reach the top and then (seemingly) fall down again.
It really doesn’t have to be that way! I’ve learned from talking with hundreds of people that attitude often determines the outcome.
If you think such thoughts as “I can never have my favorite foods again”, “I won’t be able to resist temptation”, “It’s not worth going because I can’t enjoy myself”…………..you are sure to feel depressed and discouraged.
If instead you focus on what you CAN have (turkey, ham, beef, sea food,lots of great veggies, scheduled treats) as well as time with family and friends the feelings tend to be more upbeat.
Two other important things to remember:
You don’t need to be “perfect”, everyone has treats now and then. This isn’t made to be a life of drudgery and pain folks, lighten up! 
Everyone has times when they eat stuff higher in carbs that they wouldn’t normally eat. I do it for one meal a week and have done so for 11 years. A lot of purists cringe when I tell people this, as though I’m leading people into a life of debauchery and sin. I answer that I’m giving them a way to stick with the plan for a lifetime. The important thing is to have your “planned treat” and then get right back with the program, that’s the key. Don’t let one treat turn into another and another.
In time your taste will change. Mine has. These days there are many things I used to love and crave that I can no longer stand. There’s no will power involved here, I simply don’t want them. For instance after greatly reducing the amount of sugary things I eat some things now seems soooo sweet that they seem sickening to me. I used to love chips, now they taste like a greasy mess. It’s really surprising how much your tastes do change after you’ve been eating this new way for a while.
Second, there are LOTS of really great low-carb recipes and substitutions that taste delicious! It’s a whole new world out there folks. A friend and I posted a slew of delicious Thanksgiving/Christmas recipes on the ADA boards this year. All low-carb including desserts. Here’s a link to the post: click on the title
Angie is our resident low-carb chef. If you don’t cook, learn to. It’s much healthier for you than eating processed food and you can have much more variety.
There are also “tips” to use when going to eat somewhere else where you might not know the menu.
We also have special birthday rules!
This was written on another board (I don’t know which one) some time ago by a woman named Jennifer. It’s now our birthday rule:
unOfficial Birthday Cake Rules
Birthday cakes fall under special dietary regulations:
Modern research has determined that “Birthday Cake”, ie: A highly
decorated sweet flour/fat/sugar based dessert, generally festooned with
YOUR name, has NO CALORIES, NO CARBS, AND NO FAT.
Shocking? Sure.
But it appears, the joy felt once a year when we eat a piece of this
comestible surrounded by our loved ones immediately dissipates all
CALORIES, CARBS AND FAT!
There are a few important caveats:
1. It must be YOUR birthday.
2. You must only have ONE birthday a year.
3. Cake must be consumed AFTER appropriate musical accompaniment (“Happy Birthday” or “For He/She’s a Jolly Good Fellow/Person” or the like).
4. Candles, while low carb, low-calorie and low-fat must NOT be
consumed… especially when lit.
5. BEWARE! Foods consumed before and after cake maintain their original carb, fat and calorie count.
This has been brought to you as a public service announcement.
Jennifer
Yes, the “Ice Cream AND Cake” variable was addressed in the study.
Should “Ice Cream AND Cake” be consumed, as separate items, each will
release HALF of its calories, carbs and fats. So an option would be to
only eat the HALF that is now CCF-FREE. Determining which half is now
CCF-FREE is easy… it’s the half closest to you.
As for an “Ice Cream Cake” ie: Baskin Robbins/Haggan Daz/Carvel… normal sized slices fall under the original CCF-FREE study and can be consumed with pleasure.
Enjoy your day!
Lizzy
© EMO 4/12
Knowledge is Power
When I was diagnosed, close to 11 years ago, I was told “you are diabetic”, given a prescription for some medication, and told to wait for a nurse to come in and give me an insulin shot. When I picked up the prescription I was given a 10-page booklet telling me “All About How to Mange Diabetes”, and sent on my way. That was the extent of my “education”. 
I love this…I hope the same rules apply for cake at a baby shower (or 2 or 3, as I may be having in the very near future)
It’s only supposed to be once a year for your birthday Missy!
Hey Lizzie, still here. Looking for solutions to my dawn phenomenon, think I found what I needed here in your blog (of course!). Again thanks for being here. Is this your full time job? Surely not, but you spend a lot of time writing, responding. My brother, Type 2 for about 17 yrs, just had a bypass surgery this week. He thinks its a miracle, suddenly his GL has dropped significantly, and he is off all his meds. Well of course it drops when you are on a liquid only diet for 2 weeks. HE thinks he has had a miracle cure. I am very guarded about his success– seems to me if he chugged a bottle of sugar water his GL would spike despite his “cure” but he cant chug now because he will puke if he does. This seems to be a really sick way to combat this illness. What is wrong with doctors to encourage a person to cut out their stomach and intestine and call it a “cure’? Seems wrong to me. Thoughts?
Hi Michelle,
A recent report was just published stating that GBS is only effective for diabetes when a person still has enough working beta cells( the cells that produce insulin.) This makes sense. The fact is that by the time most people are diagnosed with diabetes they have usually lost 50% or more of these cells. Hopefully this will change because people are now being diagnosed earlier than previously, but still after 17 years I really have to wonder about your brother’s chances.
The longest term studies of this procedure are only 2 years also, so I certainly wouldn’t consider that long term. I wish him luck, but I’m afraid this really won’t be the “cure” he’s looking for long term. It’s also a very drastic way to go IMO. and the surgery itself has complications and limitations that last a lifetime, so it wouldn’t be what I consider a cure.
Lizzy