THANKS for GIVING me a high blood sugar

The average North American consumes approximately 4000- 5000 calories on Thanksgiving. When I look at the below dinner plate it makes me ill. Come on, do we need this much food in our stomachs at one sitting?... how about seconds, anyone? :)

Please share your suggestions (recipes and whatnot) on making Thanksgiving day a slightly bit more Diabetic friendly holiday?

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Permalink Reply by John Smith on November 9, 2009 at 11:24am

Stick to eating the protein stuff like turkey...try to get all desserts made with sucralose...and dual wave, baby, dual-wave :-).

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth S. on November 9, 2009 at 12:58pm

Sigh.......Thanksgiving IS in a few weeks, isn't it. I've learned, to seriously take a look at what foods I actually REALLY like. It is so easy just to throw every dish on your plate because it 'all is so good!" Once I get to my seat and start eating I realize that I put a lot on my plate that I didn't really care for. Now I try (and I repeat, try...) to pick the dishes that really are my favorites, the ones that I only get when Grandma/Aunt/whoever makes once a year. There's no need for me to eat a bunch of mashed potatoes when I can eat them anytime, or have those cookies that I actually don't care for when Great Aunt Carol's pudding next to it on the table. So, I try to just eat my really favorite favorite foods. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I try.....

-Elizabeth

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Permalink Reply by NyJonesy26/Ken on November 9, 2009 at 1:08pm

I have yet to experience a Diabetic thanksgiving. This year will be my first, so anything could happen.

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Permalink Reply by Kathyann on November 9, 2009 at 6:26pm

It's my first Thanksgiving also. I'm not sure how I will do.

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Permalink Reply by Marie B on November 9, 2009 at 1:09pm

here's a little discussion we had about Thanksgiving last year.

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Permalink Reply by Danny on November 9, 2009 at 1:19pm

Thanks Marie! There is a lot of excellent information in your linked discussion.... but the title is not as catchy as this years discussion ;)

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Permalink Reply by Leo2 on November 9, 2009 at 1:11pm

157 grams anyone?
And it doesn't include the pies, wine, and sleeping afterward!
I'll eat the turkey and beans. About 1 tablespoon of the dressing. And a bite of my husband's pie. We will have tests all around, one hour after eating!

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Permalink Reply by Catherine on November 9, 2009 at 1:15pm

What works for me is to do the cooking because I cook what I like: Turkey with homemade bread stuffing, cranberry-raspberry sauce in the can, green beans, real potatoes made with stock instead of milk and butter, gravy made with stock and a small amount of milk and whole wheat flour for thickening, and lime gelatin with pineapple for dessert. The next thing to do is to eat in moderation, moderation, moderation....plus combo bolus!

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Permalink Reply by Dori S on November 9, 2009 at 1:54pm

I have already been looking at my recipes to "tweak" them if needed as hubby and I are in the middle of losing weight as well as me being a diabetic. I have managed to come in at around 1400 calories for dinner and dessert. I will not be making stuffing as I decided I would rather have rolls (I only make them at the holidays) and the girls don't eat it. I will not put any sauce on the vegetables just steam them ( I usually make cider green beans and tart cranberry glazed carrots). I will modify my potatoes to be lower cal and fat, and I will only make enough for dinner. I will only make apple and pumpkin pies ( I usually would make a chocolate pie and cheesecake as well). All desserts and cranberry sauce will be made with a sweetner. If I walk before dinner and after dinner it should help with my numbers as I am a T2 on oral meds, even if I have that second piece of pie (which is figured into the total for dinner).

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Permalink Reply by Cara on November 9, 2009 at 2:37pm

I'm very choosy about what I eat on Thanksgiving. I'm the crazy one with the measuring cups getting the actual serving size (or as close to it) as I can. Seconds? Never. No processed food and I try to eat more veggies and fruit. Its not easy! And the old dual wave bolus is my friend!

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Gobin on November 9, 2009 at 3:16pm

Treat it like any other normal diabetic day ;-)

I understand where you're coming from Danny (although Thanksgiving is not a festival here in the UK -- Christmas/New Year are the big blow outs, then Easter but to a far lesser degree). As far as I'm concerned I enjoy all the traditional fare of a British Christmas, but it's not as if I spend the whole twelve days of Christmas grazing and boozing all the time. I don't go much on cakes and pastries -- it's not as if I have cravings for them -- and I never snack between meals, but at Christmas time I won't forego the traditional Christmas pudding as the dessert item after the turkey and a slice of Genoa cake with the evening meal. Shop bought cakes and puddings come with all the nutritional information and so I can weigh things on my electronic scales and inject accordingly. Since Christmas comes but once a year I'm happy to enjoy the special food that's on offer. In reality it's not that different from eating out in restaurants (in many ways restaurants are worse because there are no electronic scales and there's no way of knowing exactly what's gone into a dish, unless you happen to be an experienced chef), which is something a lot of people, including diabetics, do quite naturally. So if you're particularly worried about these annual festivals, you might do well to think twice about ever eating out at a restaurant, café, snack bar or burger joint as well.