0:00 Introduction

3:45 Healthy bars

5:45 Hotel buffet

8:45 Breakfast

9:50 Eating overseas

15:00 Fasting

17:40 Navigating menus

20:20 Saying I’m gluten-free

22:30 Expectations

26:10 Food pushers

31:00 Alcohol

34:50 Diabetes

37:50 Travel tips

42:50 Thinking ahead

45:50 Diet requests

49:50 Mindset

55:50 Rapid fire

Samantha Stuk (00:00.282)
.... That I can take with me on the road or use, you know, with breakfast or lunch, you know, if you can see yourself maybe eating a few meals in your hotel. So that's something that, you know, you can consider doing, which is really handy. For example, things that I like to store in a mini bar fridge could be some like vacuum sealed deli meats, Greek yogurt, olives, veggies like cherry tomatoes, baby cucumbers, fresh berries.

in the cupboards, maybe picking up a few little tins of tuna, some nuts, some seeded crackers, jerky. Even sometimes I bring with me individual sachets of protein powder to use as a protein shake. That's one of my favorites. When I was traveling recently to Adelaide, I bought a couple of those and I had that with some strawberries and some nuts as a breakfast. Again, all things that I could just

you know, whip up from my hotel room, strawberries in the mini-bar fridge, protein powders in my shaker, big bag of nuts in my hotel and off I went and so, so easy. So yeah, having maybe a list for yourself of the things that you can maybe even take with you when you're going away, like non-perishable things, you can pack a couple of protein powder sachets as well as things you can pick up close by to your hotel.

Income in I know from experience as well in terms of overseas and customs regulations and things like that. Anything packaged is usually fine in terms of the things that we've just talked about. I wouldn't be taking yogurt or any olives or things or obviously anything fresh, but definitely jerky crackers. Things like that. Yeah, definitely protein.

Thanks

Katie Hull (01:55.726)
Powder sachets is a good one. So yeah, and obviously good for on the road as well.

Mm, yeah. Yeah. Another thing which I really like to bring with me and this isn't a funny one is Tupperware containers. So for example, when I'm going on an aeroplane, I might take with me, especially when going overseas and it's a long period of time where, you know, you could be, you know, given aeroplane food, which not only, you know, might not meet low carb, but also just not taste very nice, is I take Tupperware containers and I might pack

like know a tuna salad or something for myself to have and then that Tupperware container can then serve me throughout my entire trip so if I want to pop some things in a container to take with me if I'm going on like a long hike or something or you know I have been known on the occasion to like you know slip a few boiled eggs from a breakfast buffet into my Tupperware container, take that with me you know like don't tell anyone.

Not the Annie one. Everyone does.

It's a little bit cheeky, but I think I'm in good company. so I just find, you know, taking Tupperware containers with me, you know, and then that means you can carry some of these things with you, you know, things that you've either, you know, know, or, you know, picked up from a little supermarket or something, and you can carry that around with you during the day and then on airplanes as well, even when you're overseas and you're wanting to.

Samantha Stuk (03:29.964)
You know, prepare for your flight on the way back. You've got your Tupperware there. You can pop a couple of things in there. And that's something that I find always, always get good use out of my Tupperwares when I travel.

You mentioned bars. What should people, what are the watch outs for so-called healthy bars?

Okay, yeah, yeah. So in terms of bars, look, you know, there's so many different bars out there. From a low carb perspective, you know, I'd be saying try and get a bar that's less than five grams of carb per serve if you're wanting a low carb specific bar. And then on top of or as close to five grams as you can. And then on top of that, look, in an ideal world, you would try and look at the ingredients list and see that it, you know, didn't have 100 ingredients on there.

that it might be just like a protein powder. Maybe most of them will have some sort of stevia or erythritol sweetener in there. And maybe you can find one that a little bit more whole foodie, maybe some nut or seed mix in there. I'm just trying to think off the top of my head of some bars I like. There's a bar that I like called 180 Nutrition.

There's a bar that I like called True Protein. But there's another one which I like called Slim Secret Bear. But yeah, I guess.

Katie Hull (05:02.954)
range, sorry, in our shop now. So we've got Chief, which is very clean and like you said, quite a short list of ingredients that you recognise most of what's in there.

Yes, she's learning.

Samantha Stuk (05:18.454)
Yes, that's exactly it. Yeah, if you're able to do that. Sometimes, depending on where you're shopping, if you're only able to get to a supermarket, just pick up a couple of products and do the best that you can in terms of what range is available. But yeah, things to look out for less than five gram of carb and trying to get ingredients lists that looks shorter and a little bit more whole foodie.

Yeah, yeah, cool, good tips. And you mentioned the hotel buffet. What are the big watch outs or the big go-tos on the buffet?

Yeah, yeah. So in terms of, you know, when you're choosing for a low carb, if you're able to, if it's a hot buffet and you've got access to things like eggs, of course, eggs is a big go to because they are, you know, not only are they low carb, but they're very high protein. That's going to help to keep you full. So eggs, however you can get them. Other things, of course, are cheeses.

and cheeses are going to be available also on a continental which is good too. Cheeses, things like if you've got access to like roasted tomatoes, maybe they've got some sauteed greens if you're lucky, maybe they've got some mushrooms, so all of your vegetables of course are great. They might have you know, if you look towards the cold food section, they might have some cold cuts, they might have some smoked salmon with some avocado. All of those things are really good to look for and a bit of a treat if you're lucky to get them. If it's just a continental breakfast, which, you know, a lot of places, especially in Europe as well, I find you get, you know, it's the very typical pastry and coffee style breakfast, which can be a little bit challenging.

Samantha Stuk (07:13.582)
So I guess you've got one of two options there. You can either say, well, you know, I'm in Europe and I'm going to just, you know, enjoy my pastry and then maybe try and keep low carb for the rest of the day. Or, you know, something that could be useful is an intermittent fasting style approach where you might sort of skip or delay your breakfast. Just have your coffee, your black coffee, and then, you know, focus on your lunch and your dinner. Which is a little bit easier typically to find low carb options. And then, you know, going back to my initial point, which is the storing some things in the hotel mini bar, the mini fridge and the pantry. So if there's nothing really that suits your low carb goals in the hotel buffet offering, then making sure that you stock up on some things that do suit you in your little mini bar fridge and pantry.

You know, go to the little supermarket, put that effort in, stock up on a couple of things and then it's there for you that you can use any time of the day. I also personally love having snacks because, you know, if you sort of get back to the hotel room and it's like 11 or 12 at night and, you know, you're about to go to bed but you're a little bit peckish and everything's closed. Normally at home you would be able to have something but, you know, anyway. So I always like having things in the hotel. Yeah, think too, it's also funny how you or people get into the mindset of I need a breakfast food. And so if they don't see any breakfast options, it's a bit of panic situations. But if you think I need some good protein, hopefully some color, there's nothing to stop you from having some jerky and some nuts and maybe a yogurt for breakfast or something. doesn't have to look like your usual breakfast.

Samantha Stuk (09:13.358)
Yeah, that's exactly right. You can pop together a couple of things, know, a mishmash of what works for you. Just to sort of keep you nourished and sustained and feeling, know, if you want to, if you've chosen that path where you, you you want to stick with your low carb goals while you're away, then yeah, you know, just follow in that path and focus on maybe ordering some beautiful, you know,

lunches and dinners out at a work hub in beautiful restaurants and get your pleasures there.


Yeah, yeah.

Katie Hull
Cool. So I guess we've sort of started touching on traveling overseas. That was going to be my next thing. So what and we've gone through a couple of the tips, but any watch outs for in terms of eating overseas in India?

Samantha Stuk
Absolutely. I mean, what comes to mind particularly is, you when eating low carb, we're going to be having things like, you know, animal products, for example, and we need to and then, you know, vegetables and we need to be mindful about food hygiene. So how are these meats, how are these vegetables washed and stored? Are they stored hygienically? Are they stored safely? So things like

Samantha Stuk (10:32.878)
meats that might be sitting out on the street in like a cart in the hot sun may be more of a risk in terms of carrying bacteria as opposed to ordering some meat that's been cooked or at a restaurant. So really just keep that in mind when you're making your food choices. Depending on where you are in the world, you might need to be more or less conscious of this.

And then the same goes for vegetables as well. So salads, if they're being washed in local water, is that water safe to drink? And, you know, in making those considerations, maybe it's safer to go for cooked vegetables rather than raw vegetables in certain places. know I've had a horrible experience where I've, you know, gotten food poisoning from a salad that I had from a cart. that was, yeah, that

that was less than ideal. I'm hoping to get you guys safe and avoiding those situations. So that's one big thing that I'd say to watch out for is food hygiene and being mindful because animal products and fresh vegetables can really be a breeding ground for that.

What about overseas in terms of, in your experience, sneaky cubs that maybe people aren't used to? mean, the thing that comes to mind is dressings and...

Absolutely condiment sources. Yeah, absolutely.

Katie Hull (12:07.086)
mean, what's the sort of, is there a few tips or rules to live by when ordering that is going to keep you low carb or just avoid sugar as much as possible when you can't see or you don't know exactly what's in it?

That's a really, really good point because you're right, most of us are pretty good at spotting and avoiding the obvious carbs like, you know, no rice with my meal, take away the bread or what have you. it is, you're right, it's the sources, the condiments that can pack a lot of sugar and can be a little bit harder to avoid and to navigate around. I guess ideally, if you consider the cooking methods and you know, for example, if you're offered a teriyaki chicken versus a barbecued chicken. So anything that really comes in in a sauce or a marinade, and you can see that that's how it's described on the menu, then, you know, that's a flag to say it's probably going to contain some sugar, some carbs. Whereas barbecuing is less likely to if you think about barbecuing. Look, you know, sometimes it comes in a marinade, but it's usually, you know, maybe it's got a spice rub or something on it. So looking at the cooking methods, tataki versus teriyaki, again, if I'm thinking like Japanese, if you're getting things that are steamed as well, steamed, it's not going to be in a sauce as much as a stir fry. So yeah, looking for how things are cooked and if it says a sauce on there.

Also, if you've got a bit of an awareness of the different kinds of sources and the sugar content in different kinds of sources. So for example, a teriyaki, which is quite a sweet sauce, is going to be higher in carbohydrate than a soy sauce. So if it says, you know, in a soy sauce, maybe that's less likely to be high carb. Other high sugar sources to watch for are sweet chilli, oyster sauces, hoisin sauces, a lot of the Asian condiments tend to be quite high. Yep, so and then of course you've got your barbecue sauce, your tomato sauce, I'm talking ketchup not like you know like a pasta tomato sauce but more of a ketchup. Yeah, so

Yeah. Sources on the side maybe or just be mindful.

The source on the side, yes, exactly. You can ask for the source on the side. I don't know why I didn't come up with that. Thanks, Katie. That's something that I should have said and I know it's been... and sometimes you can always.

Samantha Stuk (14:49.218)
Yeah, source of the side or no source. But yeah, being aware of what ones contain sugar as well and what maybe go away from when ordering.

Yeah, cool, cool. And I get you mentioned it earlier, but I really want to dive into fasting and how we should really be looking. Well, we can. People can look at this as a real tool to have in your, you know, in your armory when traveling about how useful it can be. And especially if you're going into the into your holiday or into the festive season already. Low carb fit, I guess. So you should be burning, you should be burning fat for your fuel. So you should sort of be in a position to be able to fast when you need to. But yeah, did you want to talk a little bit more about, I guess maybe a quick overview of how fasting works and what your body is actually doing when you're fasting?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So look, when you know you are fasting and you're giving your digestive system a little bit of a rest, firstly, you know, because no calories are coming in, your body is burning stored energy from fat. And it also gives the body a chance, you know, cells to regenerate and energy to be focused on repair and rebuilding in general within the body. So all sort of

know, positive processes where energy isn't otherwise diverted towards digestion. So I guess fasting can, like Katie said, be a really useful tool for keeping within your low carb threshold because particularly when people are fasting, the most common fasting windows will avoid breakfast and breakfast when you're traveling are the meals that are typically higher in carbohydrates.

Samantha Stuk (16:44.894)
you know, again, those sort of continental breakfast buffets. So if you are, you know, like Katie said, following a low carb, particularly keto, genic style diet where you are burning fats as your primary fuel and your appetite is suppressed because of this, then fasting may come a little bit easier for you. And

using intermittent fasting as a way to avoid the high carb breakfasts and therefore keep within your carb threshold, focus your meals on your lunches and dinner where it's easier to order low carb is a good strategy. And then it gives you, I guess, know, flexibility to maybe be a little bit more adventurous with your lunch and dinner main meals as well. Which is always nice.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I might. We've had a question from while we're talking about overseas, overseas travel from Sharon. So keen on Asia travel tips. It's very rice and noodle based. So navigating those kind of menus that are, yeah, that are rice and noodle based tips.

Yep, yep. yes, there's definitely a lot of carbohydrate rice noodle style of things when you are traveling around Asia. But you should be able to find as well some single protein dishes like beef tataki, whole fish, sashimi, seafood, particularly if you are traveling around Asia close to the water, there's beautiful seafood that you can get.

Samantha Stuk (18:32.942)
And little, you know, so you should be able to find hopefully those on the menu, maybe some sort of simple salads, even if it or like a stir fried morning glory or greens or something like this. So hopefully you should still, you know, the options might be a little bit more limited, but you should hopefully still be able to find something that suits your needs. Other things, for example, that you could do is ask for things to come without the serving of rice. Again, we spoke about sauces on the side to avoid carbohydrates too, because there are some sauces, particularly in Asian cuisine, that do have a bit of sugar added to them. So asking for no rice or sauce on the side. Even things like asking for soups without noodles. You might be able to get something like that. Something like Tom Yum is a personal favourite of mine and that comes, you know, beautiful soup with maybe some seafood or chicken and no noodles typically in that or asking for no noodles. Another thing actually, which was a tip that I used when I was traveling around South America is I learned how to say in Spanish all of those sort of typical requests and I learned how to say no bread or no rice or dressing on the side. Easy.

Samantha Stuk (19:54.702)
I learnt how to say all of that so that it made it really easy to communicate those needs. Otherwise there's always Google Translate. And then if you're not sure about something on a menu, maybe sort of, you know, Googling or looking up what it looks like. Like sometimes you might be out of Google and say, well, you know, what does this dish look like and see is it a noodle dish or a rice dish? And then you're like, okay, maybe not that much. Yeah.

Yeah

Katie Hull (20:19.808)
I find one thing I've learned is, and depending on where you are, sometimes just saying I'm gluten free helps. least it's sort of, you know, saying low carb is hard, but hard to understand for a lot of places, but at least gluten free, a lot of restaurants now will understand that. It gets around the noodles, doesn't quite get around the rice, but at least it's... Yeah, but maybe in an Italian situation, maybe like in a more of a European setting where it's more, yeah, like it's wheat dominant, you'd be like gluten free.

Yeah, yeah, or just allergic is usually a good one, isn't it? They hear allergy, they get it. But yeah, cool.

Yeah, you might even be able to say like they might even be able to understand if you want to disclose this that you've got diabetes. yeah, yeah. Because, know, obviously that's a global condition that people are aware of. So, you know, you might be able to say, I've got diabetes, I can't have rice or something. If feel like you need to say that, but hopefully there are other ways, you know, to get to navigate. welcome Nicole.

Nicole Moore (21:40.224)
Sorry. Tardiness. think we got the times mixed up. Apologies, everyone.

Katie Hull
That's all right.

That's totally fine. We're well into the tips, but I'm sure there are more that you can share. I guess for everyone that hasn't joined us before, this is Nicole. So Nicole is a registered dietitian, one of our key experts on the defeat diabetes team. And she's also the co-founder at Low Carb Keto Health, which is, I think, where she is now - 20 years of experience helping countless people finding success with low-carb. So welcome, Nicole. Thank you. Hi. We've kind of covered off with Sam a lot of traveling, but I guess from a sort of setting the scene coming into the festive season. And it's kind of one of those times that daunts people, especially if they've had a great run-up, they've been doing things.

You know, really well all year and following what they're supposed to. And suddenly they're faced with Christmas parties and New Year's Eve and traveling. But from your point of view, what would the expectations be? What should people, how should people start to think about these kinds of times of the year?

Nicole Moore (23:03.822)
Yeah, and hi Sam. As we, and Sam would be as well, get a lot of clients that are starting to come in and they're really trying to navigate the Christmas period and what the expectation is. And I've probably, being busy today talking to a lot of people about what they're gonna do through Christmas. And I think one of the key things is it's really important to not expect. To be able to always follow your low carb journey. think not aiming for perfection is probably one thing. We know on a low carb journey and defeat diabetes that it's really, as I say to people, the frequency of how much carbohydrate we are eating that is impacting our health and our insulin resistance, our glucose, our weight. So having moments where you may choose over the Christmas period to allow to have some carbohydrate.

I think is realistic. I think the key is to make sure you know you can reset and you can get back into your low carb sort of space without going, well, you know, I've had this now, I'll keep eating carbs and I'll finish the box of chocolates granny gave me and I'll start again next week or, you know, and two weeks goes by and they're eating a lot more carbohydrates. So I think it's just being realistic to try and allow yourself some moments of flexibility. And, but knowing that you want to get back into that zone and, you know, I mean, I guess it might be a 70 30 kind of split over Christmas where 70 % of the time we're able to, you know, be in control where there might be some moments where we can't. So I think, you know, don't aim for perfection. It isn't realistic. but aim to, you know, choose your moments where you don't have maybe the opportunity to stay in control and you might have to have some carbohydrate. But that you get back on track and keep trying to live the lifestyle as best that you can. And it is okay to have a little bit. It's just about not letting it grow in momentum. And I've always said before as well is sometimes when we eat carbohydrate, it does spite that glucose and insulin and can create more hanger or craving so to speak. And so...

Nicole Moore (25:24.226)
You know, to break that you need to reset by feeding up with a good protein breakfast and a good protein lunch and make sure you don't have all those leftover bits and trifles and stuff around and then you can reset and get back into it. So I think the expectation to set is to be realistic and not, you know, aim to be perfect over this period. But, you know, be sensible. And as I'm sure you guys have already been talking about planning and

and just look at what's coming up and how we can best navigate that. So that's what I've really speak to all of my clients about is, you you've got to be realistic over Christmas. But you also got to plan really well as well.

That's right. And I guess on that, from a social situations point of view, we're in so many different unknown situations over the Christmas break. And a term that I think is hilarious, but it's so true, dealing with food pushes. It might be the aunt at Christmas who's have some, have some, have some, try this. You know, no, I don't eat carbs. That's okay. Just have some rice. know, do you or tips to deal with food pushes and you know, those different kinds of social situations to you.

Nicole Moore (26:42.424)
Yeah, look, think people, get sort of different groups. You've got the food pushers that they don't want to eat that piece of truffle if you're not eating it. You know, particularly if they've got their own health issues to deal with. You've also got the food pushers because we give affection with food. You know, we offer food as affection and, you know, show our kindness with, you know, offering something. So.

I guess you have to manage those situations differently. A food pusher who doesn't want to eat on their own will keep offering that same thing over and over again. And I think people sort of tend to cave and just go, all too hard. I didn't want to create a scene. And I guess I sort of say to a lot of my clients is to try and accept always the food offer without necessarily eating the food. And how do we do that?

It's sometimes about accepting that offer and thanking them for the thought and delaying that by saying, look, I might have some later. I'm really, really full. I'm so stuffed and I really want to enjoy that. It looks amazing. And can I have it later? hopefully later never comes. If you're running out the door and the food push is behind you with the bag of leftovers, or you didn't take your piece of cake, well, the good thing is you go, excellent, I'll eat that when I get home.

I often will say, accept the offer without accepting the food and say, you'll have it later or, you know, I'll take it home. And then you're not really committing to having to consume that and sort of succumb to their offer. The other way, you know, you can do it as you can, you know, accept the invitation of the offer, but say, look, really not hungry, but what I would love. And you give them something else to distract them. I'd love a cup of tea. I'd love a glass of water.

You love whatever it is. then what you've got them is all flustering to find you that glass of soda water or with a slice of lime in it and distracting them away. And you've accepted again their offer without actually eating it. I've had a couple of interesting scenarios where, know, and I've said to clients, just accept the food and, you know, pop it on your plate and play around with your fork and mash it down a bit.

Nicole Moore (28:54.722)
I think when people have accepted it, they're not necessarily like staring at you, watching you eat it all the time. And so maybe you're sitting down in a group and you're playing around with it. And so it looks like you're eating it and you can pass it off later off the plate. And no one really is aware that you've accepted it. It's a bit the same with alcohol. So many times I've said, my clients, I just say, keep topping up your glass. You know, even if you've got a glass of wine and you take a sip, know, keep topping it up. And, you know, what people think is, man, you've been drinking all day and you've literally had one glass of wine, but you've just kept topping it up or you've always got something in your glass. So you've got the soda water in there. So as long as people see you kind of doing this and you're and you're not saying no, because there's something in your glass and no one's going to offer. It's the saying of no. As soon as you say no. Then people go, why? What's wrong? Can get you something else? Why aren't you drinking? Have another drink. It's Christmas. It won't hurt to have that cake. So all that sort of social pressure, people tend to cave. And I think if you're accepting offers, but eating it later, you're never saying no. You're just kind of trying to say later, or I'll take it home, or you've got something always in your glass. I think that there are the ways around it. Because otherwise you will always say yes. And you don't want to eat a carbohydrate because you didn't choose to eat it. You don't want to feel the pressure to say yes. You literally want to do it if you want to, but not because of guilt. So they're the sort of things I think I try to get people to use too. And that helps them not to feel guilty then because you've accepted their care, you've accepted their offer and you don't feel like you're you know, us just saying no straight out when they've gone to a lot of effort, you just redirect that affection a little bit.

Katie Hull (30:59.276)
Yeah. So you touched on alcohol. It's a big one, obviously, over this period. And we've had a question as well. what are the best and the worst options?

Yeah, and look, you know, that's when everyone loves me and I say, yeah, you can have some drinks. So they're like, wow, it's Christmas. What can I have? And, know, I always say, well, look, you know, the white spirits, you know, if you haven't a gin or having a vodka or whiskey, you know, the spirits, you know, obviously not tanked up with, you know, full strength cranberry juice and tonic water, et cetera, coke that, you know, going for something like a gin and soda or a vodka and soda.

having a little bit of diet tonic water if you like, even a low carb beer kind of works from a carbohydrate perspective. And so I think we can have some alcohol. Excuse me. It's more when we're starting to have those drinks that are adding lots of mixes to it. Even the pre-mixed drinks these days, you can get a lot of sort of no alcohol, not no alcohol, you can get no alcohol these days, a lot of no alcohol drinks are quite high in sugar. So I say just have water. But you can get the pre-mixed drinks that do no add a sugar options because a can of mixed hard solo or something like that, that's now got the alcohol in it, you're getting up to 12 teaspoons of sugar in a can. So you're drinking buckets of sugar.

Should we run?

Nicole Moore (32:37.1)
Going for spirits, going for a low carb beer, going for premixed cans or bottles without, with a no sugar or zero sugar tag are really the best options. You know, there are a lot of, you know, low carb cocktails that, you know, you'll be able to make up. You can get, you know, the diet cranberry juice, which is kind of coloured water with a sweetener in it, but, you know, it kind of looks and tastes like cranberry. Some little cocktails up with that and, you know, find some diet mixes and, you know, create, you know, use lime and slices of lemon and mint leaves. And, you know, you can also create a lot of low carb cocktails. So you don't have to be drinking lots and lots of sugar. And also, you know, keep hydrated, drink a glass of, you know, water or sparkling in between because even though alcohol in general, you can keep the carbs down, they still have a calorie attachment. So I've had a lot of clients, they're tracking everything and they're going, look, my carbs are amazing. I'm eating 20 grams a day and their sugars are still sort of not great and they're gaining weight. And I'm like, well, there's something not right here. And when you deep dive, whoops, I'm drinking sort of every day and so it's still a calorie and your body will use alcohol before it uses you and it will cause some inflammation and impact glucose still if it's in excess. So I think the you know it is about moderation and choosing wisely, keeping plenty of water in there but you know we can indulge and I think that's okay and we'll probably cover this a bit later but make sure you've got the right snacks around you because we know when we have a little drink, suddenly like, yes, it's holidays and suddenly the hands are in the potato chips. And so, you you've sort of defeated the purpose by having the low carb mojito or whatever because you're suddenly have eaten a bag of potato chips because you were just relaxed and happy. So, you know, make sure you're surrounding yourselves with the right low carb snacks and nibbles, which obviously you'll find lots of ideas on Defeat Diabetes recipe app as well.

Katie Hull (34:48.418)
That is a good segue into a question that we had from John who's asked if he was to indulge in one or two low carb beers over the holidays, do I still need to be mindful of not drinking on an empty stomach? Does this change at all for diabetes?

Yeah, and look, I don't know how you know what you would say, Sam, to your clients. Usually, I think with anyone with diabetes or not diabetes, I think everyone should be eating when they're drinking. think, again, making sure you've got those protein rich snacks around. Certainly when you're on medication and everyone's different, I always still encourage if you're drinking alcohol to be eating some protein with that.

And I think you should be monitoring your glucose levels as well to be mindful because alcohol does inhibit sugar production in our body. So people can get more of a lower dip, particularly if they're on sort of some medication and obviously insulin particularly as well. So if you're on medication for anything, you should absolutely with diabetes and medication be checking and keeping an eye on your sugars. I think everyone should be eating some protein with alcohol regardless.

And yeah, just being mindful of that because you you drop blood sugars anyway and then if you're having, you know, you're on medication, you're at a higher risk. So keep an eye on it and eat with your medication with alcohol. Sam, is that kind of the same, I guess?

Absolutely, that's exactly what I was going to say, although just a couple of like little additions to it. So I guess depending on how much you're drinking and what you're drinking, that can really influence the impact on your blood glucose levels. And this is really more so an issue for people who are on insulin, either insulin itself or something like a sulfonylurea, where there is a risk of hypoglycemia.

Samantha Stuk (36:44.226)
To just be aware of your own individual response to drinking alcohol and the impacts on your blood glucose levels. Yeah, like Nicole was saying as well, making sure that you are eating. If you are drinking lots of hard drinks like spirits, et cetera, you might need to also be mindful of adjusting your insulin with your meals having a little bit less insulin, otherwise, you know,

No one really wants to go and have a high point, have to treat it with all this sugar. So yeah, but going back to the question about alcohol on an empty stomach and the question was around low carb beers. Low carb beers are pretty low alcohol content. So you should be able to get away with not having to do too much sort of adjustment to any medication, even just something small to eat. Line your stomach, make sure you don't get too, too carried away. But yeah, low carb is pretty low risk.

Katie Hull
Ooh, all right. We've talked a fair bit about planning and traveling and things like that. But Nicole, from your point of view, Sam gave us some great snack ideas, low-cut snacks for taking. But I guess from a planning point of view and online menus, there's so many restaurants and cafes now that will put their menus online. What's your sort of tips around maybe if it's traveling domestically, we sort of spoke a lot about traveling internationally, but what's the sort of tips for staying on track when you're traveling within Australia, I guess?

Nicole Moore (38:32.29)
Yeah, look, and I guess, you and you probably have touched on, you know, flying and, you know, you know, from that perspective, whether it's, you know, in Australia or not is, you know, I always say, well, you can always take advantage of fasting when you're flying if you're, you know, if you're within Australia, because, you know, it's not that big a time of span that you're spending on a plane when I'm going to starve to death. And I think you can have your black coffee and do a bit of a fast is probably your easiest option because you ain't getting particularly as a morning flight, you ain't getting great stuff that's going to be low carb. And again, whether you're on the plane or whether you're traveling in the car to Melbourne or wherever it might be, maybe you take advantage of part of that journey being fasted. And then the idea really is to be mindful of if you're on that plane and you might need something or you're in the car traveling, take some non-perishable stuff with you that is easy to snack on as you're probably covered, know, some beef jerky or might be some pork crackling, you know, might be some keto crackers you've taken with some veggie mide and some nuts, et cetera. The other thing, I guess, from a, you know, in the car kind of traveling trip, as I always say to people, know, wherever your destination is, maybe you're also looking in advance in terms of, you know, what's there when you get there? Is there the coals or the woolies where you can go and then if yourself, you know, in this, in the little unit, are you able then to buy some of the things that you need so you can stock up and have it? And if you're, you know, if there's nothing around and there's a local little deli somewhere, you ain't going to probably get anything. So what do you have to put in your suitcase if you do want to have the ability to sort of live the majority of your holiday with low carb options? So I'm telling people to really take stuff. With them if they need, look at what's at the end point. If there's a coals at the end point or a woolies, you probably don't need to stock up and you'll be able to get your low carb wraps and bread and your tin tuners, you know, your nuts, et cetera. And if there isn't something there, you know, what are we filling our suitcase with to make sure that we've got, and you know, you can take things like low carb wraps that don't need refrigeration, a slice of bread and a loaf of bread, sorry, a low carb and you can take those non-peritons like tin tuners and nuts and beef jerky and just some things that will get you through, I guess, at that time. I'm also telling people to, I guess, be mindful of what is there on the way if you're stopping, because I always hear those stories, right, of, there was nothing on the road and everyone stopped at the local fish and chip shop or the local where they got the petrol and there was everything fried.

You know, so I always say, you know, what can we do if they've only got burgers and hot dogs and steak sandwiches on offer? And, you know, it's not perfect, but, you know, I say, well, go in there and ask for double everything, you know, double steak sandwich with double meat and double cheese and double everything. And they'll think, well, this person's, you know, going all out. Well, you're just going to eat the middle, right? So, you know, if you're, you know, if you're desperate and there's only hot dogs, well, I'm going to eat.

I'm going ask for three hot dogs or I'm going to get three and I'll just eat the sausage. mean, sometimes if there's nothing else and I don't want to compromise, I don't want to eat bread, I don't want to eat those things because particularly as we all know, if you've been low carb for a while, they don't feel very good, know, bellies and they don't do great things for sugar. you know, and I, you know, that's one of my big tips as well, you know, is when in doubt, eat from the inside out. you know,

If there's not much on offer, I'm eating the middle of everything. But you can look at those things in advance and you can start to sort of have a look and see, well, you know, what is on the way to my trip? We can do that now, you know, and see what's out there and be ready for that. Do I need to take stuff? Can I stop off at the local road shop and get my, you know, double steak sandwich and eat the middle? You know, can I take things in the Eski with me in the car? And maybe then you can take your dips and your crackers and cheese. So there's really so many ways around it and so many things we can take. It's just about thinking ahead. Don't turn up on your holiday destination where you've got your cabin and you haven't looked at, gosh, there's no shop around. And suddenly you go into the local gyms, deli, there's nothing there that you can use. And then people go, so I had to eat carbs all week, sugars are up again, and they've just got to try and reset. So they're the sorts of things. Take those non-peritonals on your way. Look at where you're at at the end and see if there's places that you can buy stuff. If you're staying in hotels, then there's always choices that you can make. I say if you can catch it, you can eat it. So look for the food that you can catch on the menu.

Steak you can catch, the bowl of spaghetti you cannot. So look for those protein driven options. They've all got, you know, things on the menu that you can find, but sometimes you need to be looking online if you can, because when you're in the moment, sometimes you make not great decisions because you didn't see outside the square a little bit. And, you know, you've just got to have a good look and also look what restaurants are around where you're staying because then you can drive the group that you're with or the family members to the right ones and not let everyone go, yeah, let's go to local pizza joint. All they had was pizza. You can drive what restaurants you can go to by looking and Googling. And if you're in your hotel, you can eat a big breakfast if it's included. You don't have to eat the pancakes. You can eat the eggs and the bacon. Make that last all day then. And then make sure you've checked all the restaurants. I'm always there. Where are we going?

Right, what are the restaurants? And I'll choose all of them. So I know it's got stuff that I want because otherwise you'll end up at a place and maybe there isn't anything. I was just in the Barossa on the weekend and as the good low carb keto healthers we did, we looked on the menu and we found the restaurant that really worked really well from a protein perspective. And it was delicious. We ate scallops for entree, we ate steak for main course and had a... a cost salad and it was easy and we'd already, all of us had looked at the menu. So that's the stuff you've got to do. And so you don't then have to sort of come back after Christmas, which, you know, I've heard a lot of in the past, I was all too hard. You know, there was no shops there. We went to the pizza restaurant because everyone wanted to go. We stopped off at the fish and chip shop and then they give up and then, you know, they spend three weeks over Christmas gaining three kilos and their sugar levels go up one or two millimole again. So they are the things that I'm talking to my clients about to get them through Christmas. We can live a low carb Christmas, but we don't have to be perfect.

Katie Hull
Yeah, yeah, I like that. That's a headline right there. I was, we've had a great question from Jennifer. So to summarize, she's off on a holiday tour to Canada next year. Should I make any diet requests to the airline or tour operator? So that's her question. mean, airline, the categories I know that I've seen, obviously there's no low carb option, but from both of you, yeah, what are the what's the best tip if you would like to order or maybe if you're going on one those really long haul flights and you do want to have a meal on the plane? What are the best options to pre book?

Nicole Moore
That's an interesting one. thanks. you know, I'm not sure if all airlines will have a diabetes specific offering. I mean, look at something that you could look into, but I mean, that would probably be the closest because like you said, there is no low carb. There could be like a heart smart. Some of them will have like a little heart thing next to it, like a little heart smart. But again, that's not necessarily a a low carb option. To be honest, like for me, like I was saying a little bit earlier, I bring my own. I don't rely on the airline. know, Nicole was saying as well, if it's a short flight, maybe considering it as a fasting opportunity, but otherwise bring your own. There are so many things that you can bring. Like I said, I love having Tupperware with me. I bring stuff in my Tupperware and then I clean it and then I have it with me for the rest of the journey. I have like a little cooler bag lunch box that I take with me always when I'm traveling. And I think that always works really well. Or some of these non-perishable things that you can have, like your protein powder sachets, your bars, your nuts, your jerky. And just plan around that. Better to be in control rather than put yourselves in the hands of the airline and hope for the best.

Realise that even if you've got everything planned, if you're in row 72, by the time they get to you, all that's left is the chicken and rice, here you go. Then, yeah. I mean, you can also, with whatever food you get presented with, if there are some low-carb options, like a bit of chicken, like a bit of egg or sausage, enjoy that component and you don't have to have the carbohydrate component of that.

So yeah, that's what I'd say. I'd say take control, be organized and prepared, bring your own things. And then, you know, if there are a few little things that you get that are suitable on the way, go with that. In terms of tour operations as well, if you're going on like, you know, sometimes it's like, you know, guided tours, like treks and this and that. I remember when I did the Inca Trek and everything's catered for you and it sort of camped style. You can't bring your food with you really. I maybe you can bring a few things in your backpack but it's a little bit more challenging especially if you're out for sort of know more like number of days if not weeks you know going on these things. So if you feel comfortable with disclosing with the tour guides that these are your dietary requirements then absolutely go for it. Disclose. And, you know, I'm sure from my experience, you know, speak when you are disclosing things, people really try to accommodate you. So you could disclose that otherwise, you know, sort of try and, you know, hope for the best and choose the low carb options there. And then again, again, like what Nicole was saying, sometimes we need to accept a realistic situation that might not be feasible to be 100 % perfect with your low carb when you are on a guided tour where everything is catered for. So you control what you can control, which is bringing whatever you can with you, trying to select the most appropriate things that are offered, having the conversation with the tour organizers if you feel that you can do that. And then the things that are outside of your control.

You know, then accepting that that is part of the reality of going on a holiday where things are catered for you to not feel any guilt for that. Don't starve yourself because of that. Enjoy your trip. Reset when you get.

Nicole Moore
Yeah, yeah, good advice. And I think the the only other question and it's probably a good one to sort of finish on it's more of a mindset question. I think from Lucille who's talking about traveling overseas in particular Europe, I find it hard to stick to low carb foods. You see all the beautiful foods on the menu, most are for carbs. I always feel a little bit jealous. All your friends are having beautiful dishes. It feels a little cruel.

I've got willpower, but sometimes I will have a beautiful dish. And then obviously she's fighting between what she knows she should have and what her brain's telling her she wants. Any ideas on how we can stop feeling this way? I know there's alternatives, but it's still hard.

Yeah, look, and I think that, you know, again, it's I say, your carbs. I mean, I think what we have to do is have the mindset of, you we know that the reality is this is how my body is and that they're, you know, the frequency of too much carbohydrate is still impactful for my health. But we can still have those moments. And I think if we allow us to choose our carbs, like what we don't want to do is feel, you know, if we're feeling angry and sad that we can't have the same thing as everyone else. Sometimes, you know, we might be, we might then end up eating carbs that we don't even really want just because we are frustrated. So I think what we have to do is really make the decision of, is this a moment that I really want to enjoy? I know I can't have every moment like everyone else, but I'm going to choose the ones that are really going to make a difference to, you know, if you're in France and you know that you're at this amazing restaurant and they do the best baguettes in the world.

You know, you might feel a little jealous in that moment and go, well, I'm not going to be in France. You know, this is my first and only time. So maybe I'm going to choose to have that moment. I'm not going to choose moments that are not worthwhile to me. And I think that you're on a holiday for a reason. And it is about the journey. And the journey is that we are making our whole lifestyle lower cut. Peace. But there are gonna be moments and make those moments worthwhile. Don't choose a carb through frustration because it might not be worthwhile. you you say to yourself, is this something that's worthwhile for me? And have it. You know, if your whole day you got up and you had your protein driven breakfast and you're having a protein driven dinner and you're indulging in that amazing baguette like everyone else and that's worthwhile to you, I think that that's okay.

You know, we're not on in France, although that would be nice, you know, for the whole year. We're ideally on holiday. This is what we're assuming. And we're we want to indulge in those. I think in those moments we are going to accept that our glucose control might not be as good. And maybe we're to put on a little bit of weight. And if that's the case, because you choose more moments to enjoy, because this is these are one off moments in your life.

you come back and you just get back into your normal everyday life. And as long as you're doing that, you're going to reset your glucose and you're going to reset your weight. So I think that's the reality of it. You know, I'm gonna have a moment and go, this is definitely worthwhile to me. And I think if we can have that mindset, then we can, you know, we can drop that sort of, because I think sometimes we'll think I can never have any of these things and everyone's having all this and I don't get any of it.

And I think that that's where people feel like they're suffering. And then it just feels like a really sad experience to be sitting there saying, can't have it. If you can actually change that and go, well, of course you can. You can have it. Make it worthwhile. Choose something that's absolutely worthwhile to you. You now have the freedom to say yes or no. And you're not on that holiday for your whole life. So do what you want in moderation.

And just because you have a baguette for lunch doesn't mean you then need to go into the evening and go have the baguette. I might as well have that tiramisu. I think I'm in a different country now. And you might as well go and have the Mars bar in the fridge at the hotel because you have the baguette. That's when the problem starts because we feel guilt and shame and really angry at ourselves that we did that. So we've just got to change the way we see it, choose mindfully, enjoy it. And then just get back into the swing of it. And if in a day you had that meal, it might be every day, suddenly in your holiday, you've had some carbohydrate, but make the other meals really good. And just reset when you get back and know that maybe you're not gonna have those fantastic blood glucose all the time that you were getting pre-holiday. And maybe you will get a little bit more weight, get back and you just reset and get it off again. That's how I really approach it.

I'm not going to go away on a holiday and give up something if it's truly going to be an experience for me. But I'm not going to just start eating Carv's breakfast, lunch and dinner because of that. So I think that that's how I like my clients to really approach that. And hopefully that can change the way you think about when you're out at a restaurant and then you decide what it is you really want.

Katie Hull
Good way to end, keep things balanced. There's a lot to be said about the Mediterranean style of life as well where they enjoy food and it's social and yeah, and it's a part of who they are, but it's not the whole of them for sure. Now I wanted to do, because I've got two people and I've always wanted to do some rapid fire. So I've got three rapid fire questions to ask each of you.

To finish off with your best low carb snack.

Samatha Stuk
So, my favourite is boiled eggs. I love an egg. Yeah. Love an egg. And then if I'm feeling like something crunchy, carrots and peanut butter.

Katie Hull (56:38.082)
Yeah, perfect. Nicole?

Nicole Moore
My god, it's cheese. It's cheese. And if I want something crunchy, it's cheese on a keto cracker and deli meat. So that's what you'll see me go home in the evening after work. And I will absolutely enjoy turkey, cheese and cheese.

Samantha Stuk (56:49.912)
Thanks

Katie Hull (57:00.276)
Lovely. Best airport tip. We've sort of mentioned some of these, but what's the best one for dealing with an airport?

Nicole Moore
Tupperware. Bring something in a Tupperware, that's mine.

Yeah. Look, mine is either I just love fasting in situations where I just don't have a lot of control. Black coffee, maybe with some cream. Otherwise, I'm doing sashimi and that's my absolute favourite, maybe with a seaweed salad. So they're probably the two things I would do.

Yep. And Christmas Day itself. Are you having the roast potatoes or not?

Samantha Stuk (57:43.278)
Well, look, think Nicole was sort of, you know, talking about this really well in the previous question in terms of choose your carbs. So if potatoes are the carbs that you want to choose on the Christmas spread, I mean, I'll just put it out there. I'd probably go for the baguette over the potato. yeah, choose your carbs if potato is your carb. And again, Christmas being a time of the year where maybe you do want to, I guess, be a little bit more relaxed in your approach knowing that you can reset the next day, then sure. And potatoes, mean, just in general, think people overestimate the amount of carbohydrate in potatoes. If you're going to choose something that feels a little bit indulgent, potatoes is probably going to do less damage than going for the rice.

Nicole Moore (58:39.662)
I'm definitely eating them on Christmas Day. On the trifle, I'm going to do a keto dessert from Defeat Diabetes and I'm going to have a low carb cocktail but I'm definitely having a dark fat potato.

I'm not doing.

Katie Hull (58:49.003)
No

Katie Hull (58:53.966)
Sounds perfect. Well, thank you both so much. I think we've, I haven't tallied up the tips, but there's definitely a whole stack of tips in there. Now, if anyone would like to book in to see either of these two fantastic dieticians, I'm just going to pop up the details down there. So all of the details are on the website, which is probably where, you're watching it on the website, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom, you will see booking details for both Sam and Nicole. But they have generously offered us 10 % off consultations and a couple of different programs. So all of the details are on our website. You might be lucky to get in with them before Christmas. I'm kind of thinking it might have to be in the new year, which is probably a good thing anyway.

Hopefully everyone's gained a lot of tips and tricks and starting to feel a little bit more confident about going into Christmas and traveling. Yeah, so thank you both very much.

Nicole Moore
Thank you.

Samantha Stuk
Thanks, everyone. Bye.