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Eating well at casual summer events
The potato salad, deviled eggs, hot dogs, chips and dips you find at many picnics, ballgames and other casual summer events can challenge your ability to manage your diabetes.
Here's how to meet that challenge:
- Eat a little something before you go. This helps control your appetite when you get there.
- Drink a lot of water before and during the event. This helps keep you feeling full.
- Stay active. If the group you're with isn't doing anything, initiate a walk, a softball game, etc.
Foods to put on your plate
- fresh vegetables
- green salads (with only a little dressing)
- items with green beans, black beans or black-eyed peas
- lean meats like grilled chicken or fish
- whole grains like brown rice, couscous, whole wheat bread and pasta
- fresh-fruit desserts like watermelon or strawberries
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Foods to avoid
- cheesy, creamy sauces and chips
- anything fried
- pizza (It quickly raises blood sugar for many.)
- sugary sodas, teas or juices
- breaded foods (Or try to remove the layer of breading.)
- salads with lots of mayonnaise, sour cream or butter
- cookies, pies and other desserts with a lot of fat and cholesterol
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What about dessert?
If you choose to eat dessert as part of your carbohydrate allowance, make the portion small.
What about alcohol?
Generally, an occasional drink is not harmful if your blood sugar is well-controlled, if your care team agrees it's OK, and if you know how alcohol affects your diabetes.
Try to limit your alcohol intake to mealtimes. Generally, women should have no more than one alcoholic drink a day. Men should have no more than two.
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Dining out: Tips to make good food choices Keep your body – and diabetes – in balance with holistic eating Recipes
Source: American Diabetes Association, Complete Guide to Diabetes, Alexandria Virginia, 2002; C. Guber, B. Thorpe, Carol Guber's Type 2 Diabetes Life Plan, Broadway Books, New York, 2002; National Diabetes Education Program; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders
First published: 07/01/2003
Last updated: 07/23/2007
Reviewed by: Mary Frederick, RN, diabetes program manager, Allina Medical Clinic
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