Christmas is less than a week away. How many sugar, gingerbread, and iced-with-stars-and-sprinkles cookies have you had so far? And the chocolate…oh my god, the chocolate!!
Don’t know about you, but my sugar habit has kicked in big time the past couple of weeks.
And that holiday dessert table is NOT helping!
Picture this: It’s the end of a long day…a day that maybe wasn’t your best in terms of eating well, managing your blood sugar, and setting yourself up to resist those sugary temptations.
As you walk into one more holiday party, there it is…the dreaded “sugar table,” staring you in the face. You’re starving, but you don’t have a healthy snack on you (even though you know you should); and the party host has decided that it’s an all sugar kinda night.
What do you do?
While I’m not suggesting that you make this a regular dinner habit, here are some tips and treats that are less likely to send you into sugar shock…until you can get a real dinner.
- Skip the cocktails and drink lots of water. Now is most definitely NOT the time to test your drinking prowess. (Really, when is a good time for that?) Have a seltzer with lemon if you need something “cocktail like.”
- Eat nuts. I always go straight for cookies with nuts. Or just plain nuts if your host happens to have those out in the sea of sugar. The way I see it, the nuts give you at least a little protein (I know…it’s a stretch), which might help your blood sugar stay more even than sugar alone. Don’t get hung up about the fat and calories in nuts. It’s all good, trust me…especially when you need something to get you through a couple of hours.
- Stay away from anything that’s pure sugar, like fudge, caramels, and marshmallows. There’s really nothing redeeming about them nutrition-wise.
- Skip the icing. Iced cookies sure look pretty, but that icing is…yep…pure sugar. Find the treats without the extra goo.
- Find the oatmeal. While they’re not necessarily less sugar-laden than other cookies, oatmeal cookies at least give your body a bit more to chew on than the gooey, fudgy, chocolaty things on the table next to them.
- Fruit means fiber. Grab a fruit-based dessert. Again, it’s a stretch to think you’re getting much fiber from fruit cooked into a pie or cookies (fiber breaks down when you cook it); but hey! – desperate times and all. If you’re lucky, there’s enough fiber left in the fruit to slow down digestion and reduce the blood sugar spike.
- Think dark. If dark chocolate is an option, choose that over the milk chocolate. You’d be amazed what health benefits come from a little square of 70% or above dark chocolate. (Learn more about the health benefits of dark chocolate in my video from last month.)
- Have some coconut. Eating some naturally healthful coconut is another way to give your body at least a little something good along with the sugar. If you spot a coconut macaroon – with real coconut in it, not just “coconut flavoring” – grab it.
Not exactly the ideal dinner, but choosing wisely when presented with a sea of less-than-wise choices will at least minimize the damage. Your best bet, of course, is to plan ahead and grab an apple or a snack bar on your way out the door so you don’t eat 10 cookies as soon as you arrive at the party. Some days are better than others. 🙂
xo,
