I love Snickers, always have, probably always will.
After my diagnosis with diabetes, no one told me: “Don’t eat Snickers”, but it kind of seemed implied. When the doctors, Diabetes educators, and books talked about carb counting, they always talked about whole wheat bread, fruit, and other healthy options. So I figured that my love for Snickers would need to be suppressed FOREVER…
… but I secretly wondered, what would happen to me if I DID eat a Snickers bar???
Everything was so new too me, I even thought that maybe if I ate a Snickers, I would just die. So I didn’t
eat them.
Then I heard about a JDRF support group in my area. It was mostly families with younger children, but I was just so excited about meeting other real live people who live with Diabetes!! I was asked to bring a snack to share. So I searched for a LOW CARB treat to bring. I decided on pudding drops (sugarfree pudding, made slightly thicker than usual, put on wax paper in the freezer). Carb count about 1g per drop.
I show up to the meeting and put my pudding drops on the table next to the apple pie, cake, ice cream, … and I wonder what all those things were doing there. Perhaps it was for the non-D parents??? But I noticed that the parents had written out the carb counts carefully next to each food.
So I watched. The kids went up to the table, picked out WHATEVER they wanted and bolused accordingly. I was shocked.
I had to ask. Was I allowed to eat this stuff?
The parents admitted that it was the exception rather than the rule, but sure if I counted carbs accurately and bolused properly I could even eat desserts!! BUT I should test and make sure my blood sugar did not spike too high afterwards.
So a Snickers bar wouldn’t kill me. I didn’t need to be afraid.
After almost a year with no Snickers, I bought one the next day, bolused and savored every bite. Wow, it tasted good.
Then I did the same the next day, and the day after that, and… I didn’t die.
That was the beginning of my “eat whatever I want and bolus and correct” phase. This was NOT the best form of Diabetes control. I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT. But it was a step in the journey and part of getting to where I am now. During this phase, my saving grace was that I checked my blood sugar often and corrected the inevitable highs.
This phase gave less than perfect A1c’s and also caused huge swings in my blood sugar. It wasn’t until I gave it up recently that I realized how tiring that lifestyle was physically. Therefore I’m sure that it wasn’t good for me.
The upside is that I learned how to carb count well and that serves me well now when I want to integrate treats into my diet in MODERATION (i.e. Fun Size Snickers).
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