Dealing with Restaurants and Associated Junk Foods

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Admiral Benbow

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
At risk of diabetes
So last night night my Mrs and I decided to go for a chicken steak and a local steak house near where we live. We havn't eaten at any restaurants other than sushi since January when I found out my fasting blood sugar was high.

However, this restaurant messed up my plan for healthy eating. The problem was, when you order a chicken steak at this restaurant it automatically comes with a basket of bread and refillable all you can eat French fries.

There were two buns, one for my Mrs and I, and I ate one of the rolls and had about half of the French fries which came in a small basket as I did not want my Mrs to eat all those carbs.

However, today I feel guilty as I have not had fries or bread in over 4 weeks and feel I messed up. Today I am eating an apple for breakfast, nuts and tomatoes for lunch, and them my weekly 48 hour fast begins again. The only thing I am happy about last night is that I only drank water and didn't go for the all you can drink fountain drinks.

So my question is, how do you guys deal with situations where associated 'junk' foods come with a meal in a restaurant, or your out for social gathers with friends or at work and are given bad foods? I have a work meeting this wed and they always give either a sugary drink or box of breads as snacks. How do you guys deal with these situations?
 
I don't know if you visited a food chain for your meal, but I'm not sure its one that would be on my regular rotation, but then bread and spuds have never been firm favourites for myself.

As for what others eat; that's up to them. My OH eats carbs and I certainly don't try to tell him what to eat for himself, as he is a grown man and can make those decisions for himself. I would add he has no metabolic challenges and maintains a slim frame without too much effort.

At work style gatherings, I simply pass on the cakes, pastries or whatever. I just make sure I don't go into those meetings feeling ravenous. If anyone asks points out the trays, plates or whatever and gestures they are there for everyone, I just say, "Not today, thanks".
 
I ask them to replace the fries with salad, and most places will do that.

Or just don’t eat the ‘carbs’.

I had a Turkish breakfast this weekend that came with two slices of bread - I just left the bread.

Generally, though, I avoid the ‘junk’ chains and chain pubs where everything is battered or in breadcrumbs.
 
However, this restaurant messed up my plan for healthy eating. The problem was, when you order a chicken steak at this restaurant it automatically comes with a basket of bread and refillable all you can eat French fries.

If you know in advance a restaurant will do that, you can be prepared. Tell them not to bring a bread basket or to only offer it to your wife and then remove it. Order yourself a side salad and or extra non-carby veg and either eat no fries or pre-plan how many you’re going to allow yourself, count them out onto your plate, then take no more. Again, get the bowl removed afterwards if you need to.
 
Inka said:
However, this restaurant messed up my plan for healthy eating. The problem was, when you order a chicken steak at this restaurant it automatically comes with a basket of bread and refillable all you can eat French fries.

If you know in advance a restaurant will do that, you can be prepared. Tell them not to bring a bread basket or to only offer it to your wife and then remove it. Order yourself a side salad and or extra non-carby veg and either eat no fries or pre-plan how many you’re going to allow yourself, count them out onto your plate, then take no more. Again, get the bowl removed afterwards if you need to.
Click to expand...
Yeah I knew ahead of time all meals come with bread and refillable fries. I had planned only to eat the bun, rationalizing that if it comes with meal, I should just eat it as I paid for it. When I saw the fries, I thought I could have half to help the Mrs. Interesting though, when I ate them, I could feel one side of me saying eat more, eat more (we used to get refills at the restaurant), and one side of me saying this is bad, this is bad. I feel bad for eating them, knowing what I've learned about blood sugar these past four weeks.
 
Admiral Benbow said:
However, today I feel guilty as I have not had fries or bread in over 4 weeks and feel I messed up. Today I am eating an apple for breakfast, nuts and tomatoes for lunch, and them my weekly 48 hour fast begins again. The only thing I am happy about last night is that I only drank water and didn't go for the all you can drink fountain drinks.
Click to expand...

Hope you were able to enjoy your meal out @Admiral Benbow

Sorry to hear about the feelings of guilt you have been experiencing since :(

Over the years I have tried to teach myself to avoid guilt, and accept the food choices that I made at the time, and try to see them in a wider context.

It isn't easy - but guilt isn't very productive if you just let it sit there festering and lowering your mood and motivation (I have messed up now... I failed... what's the point...). I felt I had two choices... I could channel the negative feelings I had after the event to provide motivation the next time I was offered that choice ("Actually thinking back, I really regretted choosing that last time, so on balance I'm better off just not choosing it this time"). Or... I could see the choice as part of a bigger whole ("Well actually I've been eating well and keeping things mostly in balance for a month or two now, so this one day isn't going to undo all that effort even if BG chaos results").

It's hard to live with diabetes without developing a slightly strained or dysfunctional relationship with food - but at the end of the day these are choices that you make in the moment. They don't define the choices you will make in the future, and you can't change the choices you made in the past by feeling guilty about them.

Hope you enjoy your next meal out when it comes, whichever choices you make at the time.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Hope you were able to enjoy your meal out @Admiral Benbow

Sorry to hear about the feelings of guilt you have been experiencing since :(

Over the years I have tried to teach myself to avoid guilt, and accept the food choices that I made at the time, and try to see them in a wider context.

It isn't easy - but guilt isn't very productive if you just let it sit there festering and lowering your mood and motivation (I have messed up now... I failed... what's the point...). I felt I had two choices... I could channel the negative feelings I had after the event to provide motivation the next time I was offered that choice ("Actually thinking back, I really regretted choosing that last time, so on balance I'm better off just not choosing it this time"). Or... I could see the choice as part of a bigger whole ("Well actually I've been eating well and keeping things mostly in balance for a month or two now, so this one day isn't going to undo all that effort even if BG chaos results").

It's hard to live with diabetes without developing a slightly strained or dysfunctional relationship with food - but at the end of the day these are choices that you make in the moment. They don't define the choices you will make in the future, and you can't change the choices you made in the past by feeling guilty about them.

Hope you enjoy your next meal out when it comes, whichever choices you make at the time.
Click to expand...
Yeah, psychologically I know a few bad things in one meal won't completely destroy what I've been working on the last month. I won't likely gain the 5kg I lost back, or get all puffy in the face again, but I have a plan to really do well on my next medical in June, and get my trigs and fasting glucose numbers down, so anything that takes me off that goal frustrates me. If my numbers are in the normal range then, I may loosen up some, and give a little latitude for things that are not entirely in my control. I'm a little paranoid that I cannot get those numbers down, even though I can get my waist, weight, and BMI down to normal ranges.
 
Same as 1, but don't make digestive emzines either. Brought on by pancreatitis i believe. Should also take creon as well, but i stopped, chronic hip pain side effect. So you get trotts, i take co codamol at night, sorts it out.
 
It’s not easy is it when most food in restaurants comes with a side order of chips, chips and more chips!! However, don’t beat yourself up for eating the chips, just have half of them maybe?

We picked a carvery recently for a Mother’s Day meal and it was fab for me. They happily substituted both types of potato for extra veg and I just didn’t have a pudding when everyone else was munching away on Eton mess and apple pie!

Recently at work, we walked out of one coffee shop because everything was bread but my team are very understanding of my current situation and we did eventually find somewhere to have lunch that was good for all of us. Normal work days, I take my own food so I’m not tempted by yet more chips 🙄
 
If you are in McDonalds you can de-select the bun from the Beefburger on the touch screen and just the pattie comes on a plastic 'plate' with a knife and fork.
 
Must admit never found it hard to substitute food in pubs restaurants, odd time in fish & chips restaurant will ask for salad instead of chips, then just pinch few chips off wife's plate.

Thing is don't see chips or bread as junk food so have very few issues in that respect, just don't have that mindset so do continue to enjoy such foods being type 1.
 
Admiral Benbow said:
So last night night my Mrs and I decided to go for a chicken steak and a local steak house near where we live. We havn't eaten at any restaurants other than sushi since January when I found out my fasting blood sugar was high.

However, this restaurant messed up my plan for healthy eating. The problem was, when you order a chicken steak at this restaurant it automatically comes with a basket of bread and refillable all you can eat French fries.

There were two buns, one for my Mrs and I, and I ate one of the rolls and had about half of the French fries which came in a small basket as I did not want my Mrs to eat all those carbs.

However, today I feel guilty as I have not had fries or bread in over 4 weeks and feel I messed up. Today I am eating an apple for breakfast, nuts and tomatoes for lunch, and them my weekly 48 hour fast begins again. The only thing I am happy about last night is that I only drank water and didn't go for the all you can drink fountain drinks.

So my question is, how do you guys deal with situations where associated 'junk' foods come with a meal in a restaurant, or your out for social gathers with friends or at work and are given bad foods? I have a work meeting this wed and they always give either a sugary drink or box of breads as snacks. How do you guys deal with these situations?
Click to expand...
You pay your money, you take your choice.
The best takeaway from my choice was,
you can always leave something on your plate.
I have no obligation to eat because it's there.
I eat until I am happy.
Then choose to stop.
Or I can choose to overeat, but tomorrow I can pay it back.
The only thing I look at is my shape.
And if it starts to change to somewhere I'm not happy with, it's in my power to change it.
 
"Which do I prefer, having potatoes or having toes?"
Toes wins every time.
 
Transistor said:
"Which do I prefer, having potatoes or having toes?"
Toes wins every time.
Click to expand...

I like both.
Less potatoes than toes though, maybe four or five boiled potatoes, or one jacket potato in one sitting will keep me happy.
25 to 30 grams of carbs, less than a quarter of the 130g on a low carb diet, and mixed in with proteins and fats from the rest of the meal, it slows down the digestion of them as well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top