My " coffee"

If you have been reading my Dutch beatourne.waarbenjij.nu  website  or if you are one of my (Facebook) friends, you will have a good feeling that I enjoy having a cup of coffee.  In  this blog,  I like to explain why.   I did write this blog while I was in my diabetes 2 stage of life. I was trying to loose weight and of course I managed the blood sugar levels as good as possible. 

               

                                                         

When I was diagnosed with diabetes and knew that I had to lose a lot of weight, I knew one thing, I did not want to give up "my coffee".  I love coffee, but not only the taste, it is more.  For me, having a coffee is always a special moment of the day.  A time to relax, either at home, in a nice cafe or somewhere on a nice outdoor spot. And to be honest, it is also about what  comes with the coffee, a  nice slice,  an enormous muffin,  great home baking,  or when we were in Holland for example, a "tompouce" ( vanilla/custard slice ).  

Drinking  coffee  influences two things.  Firstly it adds calories to the daily  total and secondly it will bring the blood sugar levels ( BGL,s ) up.  With a coffee I  mean,  a nice cup of coffee like a latte or cappuccio and a sweet treat.  I first investigated what coffee is doing to the blood sugars and although there are opposite theories about the effects of drinking coffee, in general, it is OK to have a coffee, as long it is in moderation.   Than there is the lactose in the milk, this has also an effect on the BGL,s.  The thing that would spike the BGL's the most is of course the sweet treat, because, as you understand, for instance  a caramel slice is full of sugar.

Coffee makes me smile
 

Calorie wise a regular milk latte or cappuccino adds quite some calories to the daily total, but a trim/skim version or an homemade filter coffee with frothed milk is not to bad.  Luckily there are thousands of low calorie, low sugar or sugar free baking recipes to be found.  Naturally when you try to lose weight or don't want to gain weight, a black coffee without anything or maybe just a dry biscuit is the best way,  but we also want to enjoy life, don't we!! 

In my weight lose journey, enjoying life is/was certainly one of the main important things.  Because I am an emotional eater as well, so feeling down would mean automatically that I would eat more. So my coffee  became a reward, a feel good moment, a looking forward moment, well I can actually say, it became "my moment of the day" 

Coffee in China

A latte or cappuccino with a healthy treat has become the substitute for all the bars of chocolate, bags of crisps, packs of biscuits and all the other large amounts of food I ate before I was diagnosed with diabetes.  

In 2014 and 2017 my husband and I made a trip of half a year around the world.  If you travel you are tempted to go for a big breakfast, some fancy lunch and/or a nice restaurant meal.   For me this would have big consequences.  I really had to take care that I would not gain to much weight during the trips and of course I had to manage my BGL's.  So breakfast was in general just as at "home", a oats porridge and lunch was a sandwich.  We traveled with a campervan, so at night I  did the cooking.  But as it was a holiday, I made it my  goal to find the best spot for our daily coffee.  While preparing the trip I not only looked for the "most sees"  but  also what the locals thought was the best "coffee in town".

Making coffees, I love this too

Furthermore I am also a certified barista.  In 2012 I did a 5 day course and I learned I to make coffees professionally.  So I know how a coffee should be made.   

I hope this gives you a feeling of why coffee is so important to me.