All inclusive buffet holiday type 1

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Claire72

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Type 1
hi we are new to this, our 11 year old was diagnosed this Tuesday. We are due to go on an all inclusive buffet holiday in august in Lanzarote and even though that's months away we are in position where we could cancel and lose our deposit. any tips on how to manage all inclusive buffet and still let her enjoy our holiday? Thank
 
All inclusive is probably the best choice for a diabetic as there will be loads of choices. Obviously I don’t know what your daughter likes to eat or if she is fussy, but most hotels in Spain will cater for British tastes, there will certainly be lots of things she will like. As it is early days at the moment you will be all shellshocked but by August you will ( almost) be old hands. Don’t cancel your holiday it is something positive to look forward to. Check out the parents forum, they will be more helpful than me. .Good luck. 🙂
 
As long as you can make a reasonable guesstimate of what she eats! If it's something unfamiliar then she/you are in the same position as the rest of us - take a guess at it. If it's wildly out you'll soon know so make a mental note (or write it down which would be better!) of whether it was a good guess or not!

On buffet meals in hotels, as eggyg says, there is usually plenty of different food on display to try things - or indeed play very safe (always meat and salad !) if she/you don't fancy a challenge !

Drinks may be the hardest thing though - I've certainly been places where there's been no 'diet' drinks on sale but in Europe they're available in the shops even if not in the hotel.

Don't forget that hot weather usually makes the body more efficient, so normally I use quite a lot less insulin than at home - also usually take more exercise than when not on holiday too, which again reduces my insulin needs.

Do make absolutely sure mum has hypo remedy immediately available at all times, along with the trusty meter!
 
I’d agree with those saying that you definitely should not cancel. I think it’s a valuable lesson that living with diabetes doesn’t mean that you can’t do things any more, and that diabetes doesn’t stop you from doing whatever you want, it might just mean they need a little more planning.

In terms of how to cope with food, I suppose it depends on how your clinic have suggested you manage the diabetes now.

If you have been told to take fixed doses and eat certain amounts of carb to match a you can still do that, though it may be a bit restrictive.

If you’ve been taught how to match the dose to the food you are eating you can still do that, but you’d need to bear in mind that significantly larger than ‘normal’ meals can behave more unpredictably, and you may have a bit of a challenge estimating the carbs.

There’s a book (or a smartphone app if you prefer) called ‘Carbs and Cals’ which has a ready-reckoner of lots of photographs of plated carb portions which can help you make a start visually guesstimating carbs on a plate by eye.

You will become a dab had at this sopn enough, but the book/app can help get you started.

Also as has been suggested, the warmer weather and possible extra activity (sightseeing/walks or in the pool) can also give you a few ‘freebie’ treats and ice creams that may not need a bolus for them. Just make sure you are checking BG fairly frequently and keep hypo-treatments handy 🙂

Enjoy the holiday!
 
As others have said on no account cancel. Holidays are to be enjoyed.
It is not as easy to manage levels when away but your team can help you.

For now work on just getting used to this new ‘normal’ life.
Talk to your Diabetes team and they will help you how best to manage when away.
If they work with you on carb counting and matching the insulin to this it is a lot easier for when you are away.

The buffet will help as between you you can make sensible choices.
It may help her if you make the same choices for food so she does not think that she is missing out on what you are having. The Carbs and Cals app (or book) is useful in such situations as the pictures help you work out the carbs for what is in front of you. Again great if you all do it rather than just singling out her plate of food.

We all need holidays and things wobble a bit when away from home, but by then you will be experts and there is absolutely no reason to cancel. Just do more testing than at home and then settle in to a good holiday.
 
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Hope I can help a little.. been to Lanzarote a few times now but all pre type one, what I did notice was that the breakfast buffets were pretty similar in the three hotels I have been in..but in a good way, lots of choice so I am confident you will find some very suitable combinations between you all!
I am sorry to say I was out there on cycling trips so I was a carb hoover..but there were choices and it seemed pretty consistent.
Depends on where you are located, but generally I gave a miss to the hotel dinners because the local restaurants were pretty good (around papagayo on the south of the island) again choices everywhere. Local cheese is very good, lots of good fish dishes. The restaurants seemed to be staffed by friendly people that enjoyed their work.. no doubt asking for some slight variations and off-menu dishes could be handled.
I think you'll enjoy it
 
Oh yes .. like she says! @trophywench .. (the menta choc is not the same as the Carte d'Or mint choc we get here..much nicer.) worth trying out the ice creams!
 
We go to France where they usually have café and pistache for me! Obviously they always have the fraise, so build your own 'Neapolitan' ! (they were the three flavours way back when I was a kiddie) Only trouble is - they don't do 'wafers' only cornets LOL

For years we've been buying Tescos OB Cornish vanilla ice cream to keep in the freezer when we just fancy a bit but my OH decided he'd prefer to buy some 'better' brand that he hoped would be an improvement - hence we bought I litre of Carte d'Or vanilla. We also bought strawberries so both had a bit of IC with them.

Yes it has a better flavour. Yes it is creamier. But - it's so sweet, TBH I wouldn't want more than the scant dessertspoonful of it I had.
 
Definitely get the book or app that shows example pictures and carb amounts and calories if you don't all ready have It https://www.carbsandcals.com/app/app It really is brilliant for providing you with a good idea of how much insulin is needed for the portion of carbs eaten. Don't forget to count the additional carbs in sauces and extras, you are on a massive learning curve and I wish you well. I hope you and your daughter get to enjoy your holiday without the diabetes diagnosis taking over. As long as she regularly tests and keeps an eye on her levels so they don't drop too low whilst away. The main thing is to get into a good routine for testing as soon as possible and keep this up. This is still my biggest challenge to date!
 
That explains it!
Just come back from "all inclusive" in Malta, lots of preparred salads unfortunately usually.mixed with potato, pasta or sweetcorn, very little fresh fruit, apples and oranges, everything else out of a tin, even the soup contained some form of carbs every night.
The main problem may be the over catering of chips, chips for breakfast ( I kid you not) chips at the poolside snack bar, chips at lunch and chips at dinner, although as my other half said if people didn't want them the hotel wouldn't cook them!
As Jenny also says no diet drinks or juice in the hote but lots of cakes sandwiches, puddings ice cream with sauce toppings and pasta, all the stuff you want but don't want if you get my drift so I fell off the wagon a few times.
However it seemed whatever I ate or drank my test results never went over 8.00.
It was unusualy hot and we did a great deal more walking than normal, neither of which I had considered and explains why I had some of my lowest readings in three months eating and drinking what I shouldn't.
 
I've just come back from all inclusive in Lanzarote, although I'm not type 1, the place we stay has a huge selection available for all meals. I used the carbs and cals app on my phone a few times whilst there, but found there was always something I could find to eat.
 
When we all in I put on 7lb in one week haha!

On a serious note my levels drop in warmer weather as my insulin works better, so you need to watch out for sneaky hypos. And one of my signs is feeling hot, so that goes in hot weather too, She needs to be aware of that.

Our hotel had both diet cola, lemonade and fanta so that was great, and fizzy water too which is more exciting than boring water.

Choice of food is normally not an issue.

Dont cancel for this reason.

Do you have all your letter for her meds and stuff for the airports?

x
 
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