While diabetes may affect the way we celebrate our holidays, those holidays should never be about diabetes. Holidays are about family, about G-d, about freedom, about love... not about chronic diseases and disease management.

That being said, I sometimes find the holidays give me greater insight into my diabetes, and ways to deal with it. While changes in diet (rarely good for my numbers!) are certainly a component of most of my religious and family holiday celebrations, when I am "properly introspective" -- that is to say, doing the sort of "soul searching" that one is supposed to do when approaching these holidays -- I find many ways to put myself "at peace" with this condition, and to turn it from a negative into a positive. I believe some Christians refer to this as "giving it up to G-d (or Jesus)"...

  (READ MORE)

As I type this, I am in a very humbled and still space. My mind is at ease and peace with all that is in my life right now, the only time there is. I’m sitting outside in the warm Florida night air. The sounds of the crickets by the water nearby is heavenly, their song a familiar and calming chorus. The air is pure and clean and healthy to breathe deep into my lungs. I sit here by a candle I have lit and I work from its light. Other beautiful sounds are mixed into the night’s choir like the distant rumbling of a jet-engine in the beautiful moon-light-filled sky. The random ticking of various animals and nature keeps me in this meditative state. It’s so beautiful. Life is precious and I am so thankful for each moment that I have here.
(READ MORE)

Rachel From Cupcakes Take the Cake on Flickr

It's Turkey Day. A day full of family, gratitude, and carbs. From the sweet potato casserole to the pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving Day is filled with carb-laden goodies that can wreak havoc on blood sugars.

This year will be my second Thanksgiving with the pump. I don't even remember handling last year's Thanksgiving challenges. However, I do remember Christmas very vividly.

  (READ MORE)

STBrink

In the beginning, there is orange and black foil.  That foil is joined by yellow and red, with the black fading away.  In what seems like an instant, the yellow and orange are things of the past and the red takes hold alongside glittering green and silver.  All of these beautifully colored foils, they signify the enemy.   They are the harbingers of what is, quite possibly, the most difficult time of year for me; the dreaded days between Halloween and Christmas. 

  (READ MORE)

I love eggnog. Just adore it, and the fact that it's only available 6 weeks a year only adds to its allure.

The full fat full sugar, richest, yummiest version has about 60 calories an ounce. That's without the rum or the bourbon.

Even the "light" version has 26 grams of carbs in 4 ounces, 25 of them from sugars. As usual the light refers to low fat, not low carb.

I've looked around for a healthier recipe. There are a lot out there. Let me eliminate about 60% of the recipes by saying I don't want soy milk in mine. I know, I know, soy milk is so yummy and healthy and yada, yada, yada, but I just don't like it.

I saw a couple recipes that use sugar free vanilla pudding in lieu of eggs and cream to thicken. I'm going to try that one. (READ MORE)

Hannah Chapman

Just a few days to go until Halloween; the first of the food holidays. The stores have been stocked with trick or treat candy since Labor Day. I have fallen for that trap before - buy treats for the kiddos in early October, then again the next week and again the next because the candy keeps getting eaten up. The past 2 years I got wiser and don't buy the Halloween candy until less than 5 days to go. (That's not as smart as it sounds since we have not had a single trick or treater since we moved into this house in the woods 4 years ago!) (READ MORE)