Meals out

Woodywoodpecker

Woodywoodpecker

Well-Known Member
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Type 1
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How does everyone manage eating out, especially when u have not been there before. With not knowing portion sizes, was wondering is it ok to just inject when meal comes, and eat straight away
 
When eating out I always inject when I see the food.
Even if I have been there before, I cannot be certain that the food will arrive in a timely manner.
If I am having multiple courses, I will inject separately for each course as I see it.
As you say, you do not know the portion size until it arrives ... or when it will arrive or whether it will have something you don't like. It is better to be conservative with dosing when out rather than risk a hypo. It's easier to add insulin later than take any away.

This may cause a spike but as I do not eat out that often, I am not going to lose sleep because of the occasional spike caused by living my life. Otherwise, I am letting diabetes control me.

Remember, the advice is to aim for more than 70% in target, not 100% or 90% or 80% - we can have some spikes and mistakes without causing blindness, loss of feet, etc.
 
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Thank you wznt sure if can inject and eat straight away, been put off eating out because off timings and portion sizes, was told to inject per course. Thanks pleased I have found this forum, don’t know what I would do without u all
 
Bruce Stephens said:
It's not ideal doing that (or we wouldn't ever bother with pre blousing), but it's the best we can do.
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I find that I eat more slowly when I go out for a meal as I’m relaxing and busy chatting or listening to others, so only bolusing with the meal in front of me doesn’t have as much effect as I’d expect.
 
I definitely wait until I have sight of the food, apart from one place where the server has T1 and guarantees to bring our meals 20 min after I have injected. She does it every time on the dot. Funnily enough I tend to go back there. Other places I inject once I have the food in front of me and as others have said do it for each course. I know I will spike but that is fine. I am likely to be walking home afterwards so that helps.

If I am eating cakes etc I will inject as I order, take the cake, but ask for a delay to bringing my coffee so that I can wait for 20 min.
 
Another advocate for injecting once it arrives - gives you a chance to look at portion sizes and stops you having a hypo if it takes ages to arrive - It's not ideal as you probably will get some spikes but unless you eat out every night it shouldn't be an issue
 
SB2015 said:
I definitely wait until I have sight of the food, apart from one place where the server has T1 and guarantees to bring our meals 20 min after I have injected.
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How do you know what to inject if you haven’t seen the food?
 
Lucyr said:
How do you know what to inject if you haven’t seen the food?
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I know the carbs on the meals on the menu, and I inject for 20g then top up once I see it. It works for me.
 
I am quite happy to prebolus when eating out. I can always correct later. I feel that CGM allows us to do this because we have more visibility of our levels than finger pricking provided. If the meal doesn't arrive within a reasonable time and my levels start dropping, I can have a jelly baby to slow it down or some bread or whatever is available.
If my levels are running a bit high before I leave home, I have also been known to jab a small correction before I set off for the restaurant so that I aim to get my BG down roughly to 5 or 6 for when I expect to eat. So if I am 8 or 9 before I set off and it is 20 mins to the restaurant and I roughly expect to start eating about 40mins to an hour after that, I will jab a couple of units before I leave the house. I always have enough carbs on me to cover whatever insulin I jab, so I don't feel this is a risk, even in extreme circumstances like if there was a fire in the restaurant kitchen and we all have to leave without eating.

For me, going high can be incredibly frustrating as my Fiasp becomes much less effective above 10 and I will be high for many hours, often needing to stack corrections or rage bolus, so by proactively keeping my levels in range as much as possible, it makes my diabetes much easier to manage and much less frustrating.
 
Just to mention @rebrascora , you have had diabetes for a few years and you have observed over time how your BG reacts when high and have confidence (and full handbag) to eat something if the restaurant has a fire.
However, for someone newly diagnosed without your experience (and portable snack shop) the advice is to not pre-bolus as everyone else has commented.

We are, of course, all different with the way we manage diabetes, our experience, favourite restaurant (which, hopefully, never burns down) and lifestyle so it is important to find out what works for ourselves by taking small steps.
 
We mainly eat in self service establishments like Brewers Fayre carvery or when away Prem Inn breakfast where again you help yourself so prebolus is no issue.

Even in other places where we've eaten before tend to do a prebolus as can guage how long food will take to arrive, so even if it's just a small dose upfront it gives insulin a headstart before food has time to digest.

This works for me but anyone new to diabetes or unsure about food timings are better to wait until food arrives before bolusing.
 
Well that’s my 1st lunch out in a while, was bit anxious as half hour wait going bit lower, just had 2 jelly babies. Injected when food come spiked a bit sitting at 10.1 now. Been naughty brought bit off chocolate fudge cake home for latter. Thanks for all ur tips and support
 
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