Diabetes doesn't always have to mean "diet." Actually, I stand corrected - Diabetes should never have to mean "diet," and I hate that John Q. Public thinks it does.
Life.... And life with diabetes is all about choices - both big and small.... And yummy~
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Type 1 Diabetes or not, I have a sweet tooth, and most likely I inherited from my mother.
I like vanilla icecream or a vanilla cupcake on occasion - OK, I love vanilla creamcheese and cocnut cupcakes like nobody's business - Same goes for carrot cake cupcakes.
Nutella and I have a special friendship - And every once in a while I go for the Reese's (again, I am my mother's daughter,) and the occasional KitKat.
And I meticulously test my blood sugar, before and after such delicious treats and bolus accordingly.
I don't make a habit of indulging daily - not because of my busted pancreas - but because of my waistline - And the fact that I don't want it to expand.
I know a larger waist line is not good for the heart - And that fact is always at the back of my head.
Plus, when I tell myself I can't eat something - That's all I want to eat.
So theoretically being able to eat everything I want to means I don't go batshit crazy when I do go for the sweet stuff, but I digress.
In the winter months my sweet cravings are worse.
Maybe it's because it's freezing out and it makes me want to nestle in doors until the sun shines again and the wind and snow stop.
But whatever the reason and regardless of the season - I like me some sweets every now and then.
So my latest indulgence is SwissMiss Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa- And not the artificially sweetened version either. I'm talking about the fully loaded, 16 grams of chocolaty goodness and sans HFCS version.
The way I see it, 16 grams of carbs in the form of a warm chocolaty mug of love with a couple of tablespoons of vanilla almond milk thrown in for good measure is not only easy to bolus for - It's easier on my waistline then a more highly carbed treat.
And at this point I'm sure some of you're wondering: But Kel, why not just go for the diet version?
Here's the thing: I've had type 1 diabetes for 35 years, and I grew up on Sweet N Low and then aspartame - And thanks to those badboys, there's a good chance I have more artificial fillers running through my veins then most of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
I don't do the artificial sweeteners much anymore - And haven't since my mid twenties - And my Endo is more than fine with that - He actually agrees with me.
I know the SwissMiss Cocoa is far from perfect, and my next step is to actually make my own cocoa mix to have on hand, a'la Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-cocoa-recipe/index.html ,
and I'll get around to doing that.... eventually.
Do you go for the fully loaded version of some things instead its artificially sweetened counterpart? And if so, why?
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6 comments:
Pretty much the only "diet" things I do are drinks and jello. Everything else, give me fully loaded. Much like you, I've gotten tired of artificial stuff (though I still haven't been able to part with my diet drinks). I don't eat sweets a lot, and because of my sweet tooth, I rarely keep stuff like that in my house. But on occasions (like yesterday's reese's pieces I had at lunch), I do have some. It's just too good to pass up.
Pretty much anything in the baking/pastry realm. Including my favorite, pie. I can do diet everything else, but if you're talking dessert, give me the real stuff.
For Elise, it's always the fully loaded version. We try to stay away from artificial anything here. She loves hot chocolate, and I find that using half the amount suits her taste buds just fine
I'm with Stephen - when it comes to desserts, I'll take the real stuff (though, in my case, real may include HFCS). The fake desserts taste lousy and aren't even bolus-worthy in the low-carb versions; not to mention they all contain "sugar alcohols" which make carb counting virtually impossible.
I do put a packet of the blue stuff in my coffee every day - often more than once - or 1 1/2 packs for Starbucks which needs a little extra because its so strong. Lately I've been wondering if that might not be such a good choice and if I should just use regular sugar and bolus for it - but that just seems so...WRONG. Something won't let me believe it's healthier that way. (How many carbs in a pack of sugar anyway?). I can't give up my Diet Coke though; that would be nearly impossible.
I find that if I don't set something as completely off-limits, I'll go more and more for it until I grossly overdo it every time I come into contact with it. This is why I prefer to keep a home without ANY white flour/white-flour products, vegetable shortening, chocolate bars, chips, snack foods, etc. (thus forcing me to eat real foods for snacks, etc.) Unfortunately, I'm outvoted and foods have been purchased behind my back for so long that I'm once again a guilty co-conspirator and -enabler.
That said, I've grown sensitive to the tastes of all the artificial sweeteners and pretty much hate all of them except saccharine (which I grew up with). My carbonated beverages are seltzer, seltzer with a twist of lemon, seltzer with a spritz of orange juice (if low)...
I bake with whole-grain flour, granulated sugar, real butter, and real eggs, though we tend to use skim milk rather than whole milk and I'll only buy cream if a recipe calls for it and I can't substitute evaporated milk...
Haha I love this sentence, "...there's a good chance I have more artificial fillers running through my veins then most of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."
I put artificial sweetener in my coffee, only drink diet pops, and I love the sugar free pudding cups, but everything else I'll go for the real stuff. If you're going to eat it, might as well enjoy it!
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