strategies for eating out

[pondita]

Hello all. I've been eating out a lot lately (I'm OOT, visiting family), and am struggling to keep my BS in a good range with meals; it too often skyrockets. What are your strategies when you eat out? How do you time your insulin, not knowing when the meal will actually be served? How do you handle hidden carbs ? I've been giving a second dose of insulin, but then I sometimes have a low. I feel like I'm chasing my tail, because that causes the IOB issue, etc. Thoughts? Thank you in advance!

 

[Lucyr]

I do any correction needed in advance and then take the insulin for the food when the food arrives, and if possible leave eating the carb element until last.

 

[helli]

When eating out, I dose the minmum I expect to need when I order and top up with further injections when I see and taste the food. This may mean 3 or 4 injections if I am eating multiple courses.
I then keep a close eye on the my levels and treat if going high or low.

Alternatively, i chose low carb options

 

[nonethewiser]

Just down to experience, handy when you eat out at same places & know menu well & how long it takes for food to arrive, not so if in new place.

I just give half dose upfront before food is served, if delayed just eat couple of glucotabs to keep bg up, then just take rest of insulin when meal is served or after finishing food.

Never worry about going high later as can always correct it, really it's just technique that you can't teach or explain very well, like lot with type 1 management.

 

[Inka]

I bolus when the food is in front of me. I then eat slowly, and leave anything super-carby till near the end of my eating if possible. I don’t correct unless I’m sure I need to because with injecting so close to the meal, the spike will look higher but will come down.

Alcohol helps too!

If i’m having a number of courses, I bolus for each course just before I eat it.

 

[rebrascora]

I bolus a small amount plus and correction when I order or even sometimes when I leave the house if I am eating very locally and I know food will be served promptly. I am quite slow to respond to insulin, even with Fiasp so I don't worry too much about going low. Then I top up when the meal arrives with a few more units and just keep an eye on my Libre and top up more if I need to. I rarely carb count now because I have figured out a way to respond to my Libre that works well for me. It has kind of become intuitive. If my levels drop a bit before or during the meal I will just use a very small hypo treatment to keep me out of the red until the meal arrives and then eat the carbs first. If my levels are high when the food arrives I inject a bit more, eat slowly and keep the carb rich foods till last. I don't eat out very often though so it isn't regular problem.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I always have a discussion with the staff, explaining that I need to take insulin and I need their help in portion sizes for carby things as well as agreeing timings. When I'm booking the restaurant I start the dialogue and then reinforce the need for their help on the day. Usually they are concerned about not knowing the carb content; and I explain that I either know or can look that up - but need them to pre-agree a weight and their best guess at timing. Then light heartedly challenge them to honour that pre-agreed timing!

So far, this strategy has generally worked well enough. I tend to err on the cautious side and expect to be a little high.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I always have a discussion with the staff, explaining that I need to take insulin and I need their help in portion sizes for carby things as well as agreeing timings. When I'm booking the restaurant I start the dialogue and then reinforce the need for their help on the day. Usually they are concerned about not knowing the carb content; and I explain that I either know or can look that up - but need them to pre-agree a weight and their best guess at timing. Then light heartedly challenge them to honour that pre-agreed timing!

So far, this strategy has generally worked well enough. I tend to err on the cautious side and expect to be a little high.

How interesting. I've never even considered doing that! On occasion I think I've asked when the food might be arriving (if it seems especially late), but only rarely.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

How interesting. I've never even considered doing that! On occasion I think I've asked when the food might be arriving (if it seems especially late), but only rarely.

Virtually all eating establishments are aware these days of "special dietary needs". Many don't seem to understand diabetes needs, so I provide a brief explanation.

Most restaurant chefs know their portion sizes for everything on the plate, usually by weight - but sometimes only by volume measure. It's a fundamental of their profit margins. Often, they can find the carb % content on the packaging for their produce, eg an unusual sauce or a brought in item, when not home made.

By starting the dialogue early, it "disarms" the fear they have of getting sucked in to a dietary problem in the middle of a busy service time. More than once I've had a waitress say it might be difficult 'cos the chef is busy and I've said I phoned ahead and the chef will know about me - they return and confirm that the chef is aware. Problem diminishes.

 

[nonethewiser]

I always have a discussion with the staff, explaining that I need to take insulin and I need their help in portion sizes for carby things as well as agreeing timings. When I'm booking the restaurant I start the dialogue and then reinforce the need for their help on the day. Usually they are concerned about not knowing the carb content; and I explain that I either know or can look that up - but need them to pre-agree a weight and their best guess at timing. Then light heartedly challenge them to honour that pre-agreed timing!

So far, this strategy has generally worked well enough. I tend to err on the cautious side and expect to be a little high.

Sounds like right palava for staff, not sure I could do that if honest, not knocking your strategy mind if it works it works.

 

[Lucyr]

Sounds like right palava for staff, not sure I could do that if honest, not knocking your strategy mind if it works it works.

I agree, I’d much rather just guess the carbs than put the staff to all that trouble. Surely you’ve got a rough idea of carbs in foods from counting them at home

 

[Proud to be erratic]

So @none the wiser and @Lucyr, at first it was a bit of a palaver, but that was principally because I wasn't making myself clear. I've fairly quickly learned that by keeping my question focussed and not getting bogged down in lengthy explanations, restaurant and café staff are happy to know and chefs sometimes come to ask me about my requirements as part of their further professional knowledge. Most chefs know a lot about the food they are preparing.

Only once, in a tiny down-market pub, the owner/manager made it obvious that this was too difficult and I should choose something else. I courteously persisted; this was at 5pm and we were booking for an evening meal; there was no-one else in the restaurant or bar. We got there, I knew what the portion size would be. But as we left she made an inappropriate remark and I removed my gratuity!

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter had reserved a table at a restaurant we frequently use and didn't mention my dietary requirement when booking. They were busy when we arrived and the waitress (new) was flustered and initially reluctant to help. I deliberately didn't press her, but asked to speak with the owner (who I'd met and chatted with several times), when free, no hurry. The owner was on a day off; his wife (co-owner) came to our table I explained I needed to take insulin and wanted to establish a portion size of potatoes and agree timings. She immediately relaxed and all was resolved. Later she asked if everything was OK, I joked and said hang on I'll check - scanned, showed her a reading in the 6s and said "it seems so, I'll come again" . We laughed, then she said her father had been T1 for years, didn't seem to make any alteration to his personal care, certainly didn't have a sensor and despite her father's T1, she hadn't previously had the problem explained. So not only was it not really a palaver, a restaurant owner now understands the insulin predicament, as well as being much better placed to have a discussion with her Dad. Everyone won.

 

[pondita]

I do any correction needed in advance and then take the insulin for the food when the food arrives, and if possible leave eating the carb element until last.

I tried this with a meal today, and much better results. Ate a nice big salad as a starter, saving the rice meal for later. So far, so good. 🙂

 

[pondita]

When eating out, I dose the minmum I expect to need when I order and top up with further injections when I see and taste the food. This may mean 3 or 4 injections if I am eating multiple courses.
I then keep a close eye on the my levels and treat if going high or low.

Alternatively, i chose low carb options

I'm glad to see that having 3 or 4 injections is an option. Being a fairly new T1, I'm still learning how the insulin reacts with me. I've often taken 2 injections when eating out, but that's only been after my BS goes up pretty much. I think taking a smaller dose than what I have been taking for the 2, 3, 4 injection is something I'll try.