Sometimes I wish I weren't so much of a foodie. I wish I was more like a friend who says, " I don't really care where we eat, food is just food, I go out to socialize with friends."
Me, I care about the food. I also feel really sorry for myself when a group is going to a really good restaurant that doesn't have a damn thing I can eat! My family consists of my nephew, wife and child, my niece and my brother and his wife. They are all foodies, but my nephew and his wife like very different things than I do. So my brother is coming to town and my nephew e-mailed me the plan of where we are going. It's a trendy sounding Italian place and my nephew who knows I'm a vegetarian says, " They have pizza, so that will work for you, right?" NO! It will NOT work for me, I'm a diabetic!! The only other vegetarian items on the menu are a mozzarella appetizer and a couple vegie dishes that are obviously side dishes. I can make a meal, get enough to eat, but will it be satisfying? Nope.
On top of that, due to my great niece who is 2 we are going out to eat at 5:30, when I normally eat at 7. Yep, I'm feeling sorry for myself and feeling misunderstood. But I guess the world doesn't revolve around me and my needs. The only good news is my brother will be paying!
Too funny, he just e-mailed me back in response to my comment about pizza saying " they always have vegie lasagna". Non-diabetics just don’t get it, do they.
I just read my post and I am so WHINING! Sorry! But I have to whine to you guys so I can smile over dinner!
I love food to, I love fast food. But i know it’s bad for me and it doesn’t help that my spouse is hungry marine! I’m going to try and start thinking by my old motto again “eat to live,don’t live to eat” also found it useful to just trying to find new favoritesc(healthy f aves). Believe I willchave my cake and eat it to, just only sometimes
Whining is o.k. I ate 8 jelly bellies and BG shot up to 212. Why can’t I be like a nondiabetic and have a handful of candy once in awhile? And pizza. That stuff spikes hours later which is not fun.
Thanks for understanding, all. I actually am going to be eating out earlier than usual, Emmy. I wish this place had salads, but it doesn’t look like they do. I will probably order an appetizer and a vegie dish that is meant as a side dish. This is a very good restaurant if a bit on the trendy side for me, and their idea of having a token vegetarian dish is pizza and pasta which is pretty common. I think feeling like my needs don’t matter is very old " family stuff" for me and I have to let it go and realize that non-diabetics just don’t understand. My nephew thought he was really being helpful to his vegetarian aunt when he said " they have pizza and vegie lasagna!".
I thought I worked through these issues years ago but diabetes has a way of bringing back a lot of emotions, doesn’t it?
I hear ya. but the good news is red wine helps lower blood sugars. but what about eggplant parm? I miss good bread and pasta.but there is still a lot of great food out there. had dinner saturday at a great tapas place. SO. DAMN. GOOD.
no need to be sorry, i think everyone can relate. I’m not a vegetarian so food choice for me is a little more flexible (at most places you can get something chicken). but i totally relate the meal time issue. i am all about routine and when you make me change it, it can throw everything out of whack. when i have time to plan its a little less painful, but spur of the moment changes really throw me for a loop, then i also feel bad because i think i am being inconvenient to everyone around me if i say anything.
Yes, that is it exactly bubbaluv. I go back and forth from saying nothing and being pissy, to saying too much and making people uncomfortable. The menu for this restaurant changes daily and is online so I think I’ll bring it up on Saturday and plan exactly what I can eat, accept the fact that it probably won’t be exciting but I will be fed, then put on my social smile and enjoy the visit.
It’s also about control for me; tapas sounds great, Joe, and would have lots of things for me to eat (one Christmas I had a tapas party and made like a dozen different little yummy dishes!), but I have no control over where we are going.
Know you feel. A friend’s son recently graduated from college. They had a celebration for him at a Chinese restaurant. They’re friends with the owner so it wasn’t the usual fare. A Chinese feast was planned. Just hearing the menu about shot my blood sugar up!
I begged off, made my apologies & sent a gift. Not something you can do with family get-togethers, but there wasn’t anything I could eat & I couldn’t sit there not eating either. They’re good friends & understood. I was very cranky & feeling sorry for myself that I couldn’t be there. I got over it quickly by telling myself–what’s one meal, no biggie.
Thanks for the understanding, Gerri. Reminds me of the time my nephew and his wife had a Chinese banquet for their rehearsal dinner which was a couple hours of one dish at a time, and by 9PM they still hadn’t been brought anything vegetarian out so I went to my nephew and told him he was about to starve his aunt to death! And that was before I was diabetic! So now they have the vegie thing down and refer me to the pizza!
Yeah there have been times I’ve eaten before or after (I’m also on a later time schedule than most of my friends and family) so figured I’d just sit and chat without eating, but that made everyone (including me) feel awkward as well. I actually do better with Asian foods than Italian, but what I do best with is when I make it myself!! I live in restaurant heaven so there are still some places I can eat but with a family of control freaks, foodies and toddlers I’m outnumbered! LOL. It’s amazing isn’t it how food influences feelings?
The veggie pizza thing–lol! Going to take more training for them to move on to the diabetic diet. My family stares in disbelief at what I eat now because I was vegetarian for decades before the gift of diabetes was bestowed. My brother-in-law took a photo of me eating fish. Talk about embarrassing & unwanted attention.
Hard to be outnumbered like that.
I can relate to being out with people & not eating. Very awkward.
When I got diagnosed (or rather re-diagnosed) I told myself that if I had to give up being a vegetarian to remain healthy with diabetes, I would do that. But I’ve been able to come up with enough possibilities to feed myself, keep myself happy and eat moderate/low carb. I think if I were still working and didn’t have all the time I have now to put into it I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it. There are times I’m at a loss to explain exactly what it is I eat…lol. But it does seem to work for me.
As long as you know where you are going, call ahead and explain to the mgr or cook, that you are 1. a vegetarian and 2. a diabetic. Ask them what on their menu they would suggest OR what can they do for you since you are bringinga party of 7 and the bill will be substantial. This happens at the restaurant my husband works at all the time. There are more and more people who are eating with a different menu in their mind than what is on the menu. He works for a franchise, which makes it harder to fix things differently, but they do.
My second comment would be are you going for the food or the company. I am a foodie too, but I’ve had to pair down my thoughts about eating out slightly, I know that there are things on any (ANY) menu that I can have if I ask for a little change, and am willing to pay a little more for it. But I also know that I’ll eat again in four hours, and be able to have something I want.
What you might want to do, is have your meal a little later, and do only order the salad…explaining that this is what you can have and why. Obviously THEY don’t get it. Feel sorry if you want or need to, we all do at times, but eating out shouldn’t be such an ordeal. From a chef’s wife.
Thanks for the suggestions, Cathy. My guess is your husband is an exception as a chef who would have a clue what to suggest on the menu for a diabetic!!
If they had a nice salad (not just a side salad) that would actually be fine for me for dinner! There wasn’t one listed on the menu I looked at but maybe there will be the day I go!
For me, you asked the key question. I’m used to going out to eat for the food as much as the company (or more so depending on who I was eating with…lol) but I think I need to revise my thoughts this time and remember I am there to see my family.
