There was cause for celebration. Nicole had accomplished her goal and it was her sister’s birthday. Nicole’s sister flew from Ohio to Oregon in order to celebrate with her, and they decided to celebrate with hiking and cupcakes.

It may seem like an unlikely combination for someone who recently hit her weight loss goal and has type 1 diabetes; but being healthy doesn’t mean you have to leave behind every sweet treat that you have ever loved. It just means that you have to be aware of and moderate the things you eat.

Baking cupcakes is actually a favorite hobby of both Nicole and her personal trainer Kelley Henry. In fact, Nicole likes to daydream about one day having her own cupcake business.

“I would call it Sweet Alchemy, and it would offer diabetic friendly cupcakes (too) of course,” said Nicole. “But who knows, I’ll probably change the name before it actually happens (laughs).”

Nicole and her sister had catching up and sightseeing to do, so Kelley offered to bake the birthday cupcakes for Nicole’s sister.

“I made fluffernutters—peanut butter cupcake with a marshmallow fluff center and peanut butter cream cheese frosting—and Lindt chocolate cupcakes for her sister’s birthday,” said Kelley. “Lindt cupcakes are white cupcake with a Lindt chocolate truffle melted in the middle and white-chocolate cream cheese frosting.”

While hiking around Mount Hood is more than enough physical activity to burn off the guilty calories of consuming a delicious cupcake or two, it is the concern of a spike in her blood sugar that Nicole has to be cautious about. Nicole doesn’t eat anything without careful planning; with something sugary and carb loaded like cupcakes she is even more vigilant. In this circumstance Nicole had to give herself a shot of insulin in order to regulate her blood sugar. It is not something she does often, but she considered this to be a special occasion.

As for their hike, it was nothing less than spectacular. The views were incredible and it was a clear day, which made the floating cupcakes in the sky easily visible…Okay, so there weren’t any floating cupcakes, but the picture (above) can give you an idea of how beautiful the scenery around Mount Hood, Oregon is.

“Nicole and her sister went hiking at Mount Hood, so I suggested a tourist route that I’ve done,” said Kelley. “It involves driving up to Timberline and coming down through the Hood River.”

After a full day of hiking, and stomach full of cupcakes, Nicole and her sister sat back and enjoyed the sunset.  The rugged trail with so many beautiful things to see is a lot like Nicole’s life; sometimes all you have to do is share something sweet to make it that much better.