Food is one of the greatest pleasures in life, particularly when it is shared with others, and it plays a major role in most holiday celebrations. When you have diabetes, it’s important to maintain your good health while enjoying the festive holidays by keeping your blood sugars under control. The easiest way to do this is to plan ahead. The more you know about where you are going, what time you are going and what is being served, the better you can plan for good diabetes care. The most realistic nutrition goal to be set during the holidays is to maintain your current weight and blood sugar control. Here are some tips to help get you started:

Make your holiday recipes healthier by reducing their fat and sugar content.

Sugar is important in baked foods for browning, volume, tenderness and moistness.

• Replace only part of the sugar with sugar substitutes in baked goods likes cakes, cookies, muffins and quick breads.
  
• Replace all of the sugar with sugar substitutes when sugar is primarily used for the sweet taste. The following foods can usually be sweetened with only sugar substitutes: fruit fillings for pies and cobblers, custards, puddings, beverages, frozen desserts, sauces and marinades.

Fat is important in baked goods for flavor, moisture, tenderness and structure.

• Use low-fat yogurt or low-fat sour cream in place of regular sour cream in cookies and muffins.
  
• Replace the margarine or oil in baked foods with prune puree or applesauce in the following proportions: Use prune puree at half the amount of butter or oil in a recipe (1/2 cup prune puree for 1 cup oil); replace up to half of the butter or oil in a recipe with applesauce (1/2 cup applesauce plus 1/2 cup oil for 1 cup oil)
  
• Replace 1 egg with 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute in baked foods.
  
• Substitute low-fat or nonfat ingredients in foods such as banana cream pie, chocolate pudding or chicken salad.
  
• Reduce the amount of nuts by half in any type of recipe.

Additional holiday nutrition menu boosters:

• Baste your turkey with fat-free chicken broth, instead of butter or drippings. Use a gravy separator to skim the remaining fat when making gravy.
  
• Mash white potatoes with low sodium, fat-free chicken broth, instead of milk, butter and salt. And mash sweet potatoes with a little orange juice, instead of butter.
  
• To give stuffing a fiber boost, use whole wheat bread instead of white, or try a stuffing made with wild rice, brown rice or bulgur wheat. You can add extra fiber to the stuffing by tossing in a handful of raisins, dried apricots or chopped nuts.

Join in the celebrations by choosing foods that will keep your blood sugars under control.

Plan for parties. Eat a small snack before the party to take the edge off your hunger and make you less likely to overfill your plate or return to the buffet table for seconds. Once you have eaten, focus your energy on socializing with the other guests. Just be sure to move your socializing away from the buffet table where the sight or smell of food might tempt you to eat more.

Bring a healthy dish to holiday get-togethers. That way you can ensure there will be something tasty and nutritious for you to enjoy.

Bring balance to your taste. Remember that important word – balance. Fresh fruits and veggies are high in fiber, are packed with nutrients and will help you feel full with relatively few calories. Serve fresh veggies and low-fat dips before a meal and offer fresh fruit as part of dessert.

Remember quality, not quantity! Check out all the offerings at the table first. Start filling your plate with veggies, protein (turkey, chicken, and other meats) and then fill in with samplings of the carbohydrates (stuffing, potatoes or pasta). Also, fill your plate with half-size portions and savor every bite. Remind yourself to eat until you’re satisfied, not stuffed!

Calories consumed while tasting food that you are cooking, clearing the table and socializing still count. A handful of nuts here, a few cubes of cheese there and a bite or two of candy in between can quickly add up to almost 500 calories. In fact you might end up eating as much carbohydrate and calories as you would if you sat down and ate an entire meal.

Keep carbohydrate consistent. If you are going to have a holiday treat, substitute it for another carbohydrate in the meal; don’t just add it to your regular foods.

Skip the second helpings. Remember that portion control is the key to preventing weight gain and also helps to prevent high blood sugars.

Alcoholic beverages count toward calories. Keep alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. One drink is equivalent to 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1 1/2 ounces of hard liquor.

Feast on physical activity. It may be an exceptionally busy time of the year but physical activity can actually provide some stress relief and help you manage your weight. You can start a tradition of physical activity as part of your family holiday gatherings. Everyone can go for a walk after dinner!