BearX220

Since getting my Type 2 diagnosis a couple of months ago I've noticed how mainstream menus / diets are stacked against diabetics. When you're making a good-faith effort to minimize sugar, count carbs, and steer clear of the dreaded "white food group" (bread, rice, potatoes, etc.), it's amazing how radioactive the lineup at Applebee's suddenly looks. Or how stuff you thought was innocuous turns out to be potential bad news: most processed breakfast cereals, for instance.

I'm not taking a Talibanesque approach to diet management by any means, but now I have to think twice about road food I used to eat reflexively. Subway sandwiches? Not so much. Doubletree cookies? Have to pass. Headed out for Indian or Asian? Got to pick carefully. Airline meals? Hit and miss.

If you're in this situation, what do you do on the road to eat happily and diversely without driving yourself crazy?

Doc Savage

Salads with chicken breast, steak, or fish are good to avoid carbs. Each of these proteins is also good as a food source. You can avoid simple carbs by asking to substitute extra veggies for the carbs i.e., instead of rice or potatoes.

Subway will make salads instead of sandwiches, I believe, avoiding the bread component.

Breakfasts can be a pain, as it is not always easy to avoid carbs or greasy food. Egg beaters/egg whites are a good breakfast food, high in protein, no carbs, and relatively low in fat if cooked right.

You can get some more ideas from books like the South Beach Diet, which has low carb suggestions. Look up recommendations on more slowly digestible carbs like oatmeal, etc.

Flahusky

Its not as bad as it used to be. Many places offer 'Low carb' options.
As mentioned already, substitute veggies for starches, grilled for fried/breaded and there is always the option of ordering a burger and removing the bun your self. Burger King used to(still does?) offer their sandwich in a 'low carb' fashion with lettuce as the 'bun'. Subway will make any sandwich into a salad.
Breakfast is tough and its the most important meal especially for us diabetics.
It is hard for me to say no to a good 'southern style' breakfast, biscuits are my Kryptonite, southern sweet tea is my nemesis.
Oatmeal really isn't that bad, eggbeaters are great IF you have to watch your cholesterol other wise nothing wrong with a boiled egg or even a fried egg.
The low carb breads aren't to bad in a pinch, just plan accordingly.

VivoPerLei

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I've been diabetic for ten years and the single most effective thing in managing my numbers has been exercise - if I run briskly on a treadmill three or four times a week for 30 minutes or more it's astonishing the effect it has, more so than any medication I take or what I eat. When I don't exercise for awhile I have to take insulin to control my numbers - when I do exercise vigorously I can go days without any medication at all.

Back to your original question, you need to find out what your triggers are by measuring your blood two hours after your meals to guage the effects. For me, breakfast is by far the hardest meal of the day to get diabetic friendly. Virtually everything I would like to eat is bad - oatmeal/porridge, toast, cereal, pancakes obviously. Finally I've found that eggs and some sort of side meat (sausage, breakfast steaks, etc.) don't raise my blood sugar at all, so that's what I eat most days. Also, and very important, get yourself some sweetner that is maltodextrin free. I found that that additive in most artificial sweetner products will raise your blood sugar, even though you think you think you're taking a safe sugar substitute. Google it and you'll see a lot of information on the web.

When you're on the road it is obviously much more difficult to control your numbers for a lot of reasons - stress, more temptations like restaurants you would like to go to, fast food, lack of exercise. My advice is to eat seafood/ fish or sushi at least a couple nights a week, and on the other nights balance it with something you want in moderation. You will know by your readings what you can tolerate and what you can't.

Besh wishes on your road ahead. Also be careful about making sure you have something sweet around at all times. One time in a way off the beaten track place in Iceland I almost OD'ed. By a miracle of God I found somebody in a hallway in the middle of the night who just happened to have a piece of candy on them. I think I would have been done otherwise.

One other suggestion for you - track your readings very closely so that you can spot trends over time. You want to be ahead of the game and calling your doctor if you notice that your readings are going up over time instead of waiting for your A1c results to tell you the same thing. I have all of mine in an Excel spreadsheet going back 10 years. Makes it very easy to see when I need to have my medications adjusted or make a lifestyle change.

honghong322

Hi Bear, let me give you a little background information.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 back when I was 13 years old. I'm currently 27 and I'm a road warrior doing a lot of international travel to odd places. I'm in Israel as I type this right now and I have been here for about a month.

My tips to eating out is pretty simple, you can order ANYTHING, just watch out for the sauces and the simple carbs.. Sure, have that hamburger, but you don't need to eat the bun or the fries. I have eaten at numerous place, chains, etc and I will just check out what the menu has. Order that chicken, have that steak, but stay away from the pasta and that chicken salad? Ask for the salad dressing on the side.

Breakfast ideas might be veggie egg white omelette with mushrooms/peppers. Lunch might be something like a grilled chicken breast with some steamed broccoli. Dinner might be fish with lemon and a salad.

Let me tell you that it was VERY difficult and for me, especially when I was in middle school to be diagnosed with diabetes. I had to be on insulin for 2 years and now I am just on 1 metformin a day. I've lost a lot of weight and I have kept it off and I just eat right and do exercise. A lot of what you choose and eat is mental and how much self control you have.

Every single time I go grocery shopping or go out to eat or watch football with friends, I wish I could grab that bag of chips or eat into a pizza. But before you do that, assess what that could mean to your health in the long term, is it worth it? I ask myself that everyday and my doctor has been absolutely amazed at what I am able to accomplish and maintain that I've been invited to his classes and his lectures several times. I've spoken with his patients as he specializes in children with diabetes.

Check out www.dlife.com for a lot of articles, recipes, etc. You will have to find out how your body reacts to certain foods. Good luck and PM me if you have any questions or want to chat more.

Sunny 1

I empathize with you. My husband is Type I - diagnose in his late 20's. We just returned from London and eating can be a challenge. I know types I and 2 are different but the time change can throw him for a loop the first day. I always carry Skittles (or another sugary candy) as he tends to go low the first day. It's true, exercise does wonders for blood sugar control. We walked miles each day and he was near perfect with his blood sugars. Breakfast consisted of cornflakes or Special K with low fat milk. Lunch every day was a simple chicken sandwich with fries (we shared) and copious amounts of steak each evening. Again, exercise is key.

BearX220

Thank you all very much for your thoughtful replies and wise suggestions. I know a lot of people live quietly and successfully with Type 2.

When I'm home, managing food intake is no problem... evenings on the road, in airports, or in social situations, especially dinners in other peoples' homes, are another story. I've wandered airport food courts once or twice recently and not been able to find anything I can eat, so left hungry. I attended my client's midday Christmas party / lunch buffet last week and it was top-heavy with tempting but lethal starches, from stuffing to mac and cheese to cakes and cookies. I loaded up on lean roast turkey, creamed spinach and cranberry sauce, and probably should have thought twice about the sugar in the latter. Even so people seemed to think I was being impolite and didn't like the spread.

Like you, Sunny 1, I just came back from a week in the UK. Breakfast was actually no problem (eggs, sausage, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms)... lunch and dinner were harder. Chips, mash, curry and rice, etc. all hard to avoid. Salad culture has come a long way in the UK but it's still not like it is in the US.

After a couple of months of the new food regime I have, however, knocked my average blood glucose readings down into the 90-120 range (I was at 250 on diagnosis day), and lost twenty pounds, so my big first-inning learning is that I can control my fate and effort pays off. Wheat seems to be my particular Kryptonite -- pizza crust, pasta, etc. cause crazy BG spikes. (I don't miss sweet stuff much.) Moderate booze doesn't appear to bother me, but I want it a lot less these days for some reason, so mainly drink flavored sparkling water.

I agree that exercise plays a huge role. In my current gig I walk nearly two miles a day to/from the train as part of my commute, so it's kind of taking care of itself, but when this project ends I'll probably have to invest in a treadmill.

I don't want to make too much of the Type 2 management challenge. I've been reading Internet support forums for diabetics and there sure seems to be a lot of woe-is-me pity partying going on from people who've been eating poorly for years and now can't believe they have to cool it on the brownies and sundaes. But, as i said in the top post, you sure start to notice how much of the everyday American (and UK!) diet is problematic.