I am so sick of my family having everything based around food. I also hate that we don’t have enough money to get me all of the right foods and sometimes I am stuck eating stuff that makes me feel bad. I wish the people in my life would understand how I feel and not make me feel like an outsider. :’(
Who feels the same way?
My last two severe hypos happened to involve family events. They also happened to be when I’d worked out more than usual before the family events. I can’t really blame my family, in that I was the one who should have made adjustments and paid closer attention to things but still, the batting average is 1.000.
It’s funny when it comes to my family. I got a diabetic daughter too so back when she was at home we ate one meal and my husband and other daughter (the normal one) ate another. Now when my husband and I go grociery shopping he goes one way and I go another LOL! HOLD STRONG!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
While I understand the perspective generally… why would you feel BAD for eating INTELLIGENTLY!!! You eat something that is a sane portion, rather than the entire troth… you have a small spoonfull of the rice, or pie or ice cream instead of multiple cups…Help ME understand the “bad” there??? I can no longer remember a time I was not diabetic and I am not old at all.
Help me understand what ."… eatting stuff that makes you feel bad …" that you are talking about. I cannot understand how you mean that yet…
Stuart
What I mean by “feel bad” is food that makes me spike and feel sick.
Corinne, life has always been based around meals, it is a time to talk and exchange information. Food is not bad, but carbohydrates are not good for diabetics. Try to go easy on the potato, bread, rice and pasta. Eat meat and vegetables as much as you can, these will not make you feel ill. Of course you feel like an outsider, so do I when I eat with family or friends. After all, I am an outsider, I am the only one with diabetes. Have you talked with your family about how you feel? Do they understand that it is not only sugar that you cannot eat? Can you get your doctor to talk to your family and explain why you can’t eat the same as the rest of the family? You have to be grown up enough to sort this out for yourself, although we can sympathise and offer advice, we can’t do this for you.
Hugs,
Maureen
Why does everyone think healthy food is expensive?
Potatoes are like $2.99/ 5 lbs while beef jerky is like $3.99/ serving. Hamburger, you might get 4 servings for $2.99?
Well with my family we have 8 people living in our house and it’s more cheep to just get box mac and cheese and caned raviolis. Also its easier to by bulk stuff and it sucks!
We used to eat what we called “TunaMac” with frozen peas too, how funny, is that some kind of well known recipe? I have no idea where my wife came up with the idea, maybe it was on the side of the box. Rather tasty and easy on the wallet, but not very D friendly:(
Healthy eating is expensive. Leaner meats tend to cost more. I buy lean chicken breast at 9 dollars a package. Fresh veggies another 15 dollars. That only feeds 3 people. So one meal was 24 dollars for 3 people. Fruits for snack is another 10 dollars. My typical grocery Bill for one week is 200. If a person makes 8 an hour that gives that person 260 after taxes for the week. If they bought what I bought they would only have an extra 60 to pay for rent, utility, and transportation.
This article list some good sites that help with menu planning on a budget. The USDA also has a Thrifty Meal Plan that is designed to meet basic nutritional needs on a budget. The TMP link is also located at the bottom of the article. Hope this helps!
Corinne, I spent part of this morning making chicken burgers for the freezer. I was lucky enough to get chicken mince on special at the supermarket. I just minced a spoonful of minced garlic (I hate chopping onions) in with the mince and salt and pepper, shaped it into burgers and fried them. They would be so easy for you to make for the family, they can have the full burger option, bun, salad, cheese and stuff, whilst you can feast on just burger and salad. I made 5 burgers out of half a kilo of mince and it cost me $6 - not expensive at all.
I try to talk to my mom about it and in return she sneaks foods into the house all of the time. I even explained to her that I was ok with her having her junk food as long as we can find some kind of alternative for me. I try to be very understanding and let the people around me have other things, its just hard when the first 18 years of your life you were told to eat what ever you want and as much as you want. I think I am going to have to sit down with the whole family and have notes written out so I can explain it better. Mom even went to my appointment with my dietitian and she still doesn’t understand sometimes.
I have 8 people in my family. One is a 2 year old that is allergic to peanut butter, soy and is lactose intolerant. I can not eat any pasta other then ones like boxed mac and cheese (it doesn’t make sense to us either). Its hard to buy food cheap enough to feed 8 people with 2 of them having different dietary needs. Its not as simple as making rice and beans or pasta with your own sauce. Its super expensive and hard. They do eat pastas when I’m home but then they also have to make a whole separate thing just for me and it gets to be a pain so I am usually left with barley anything to eat. I mean I’m not starving, its just hard when you don’t have money to get what you know that you need and make sure it doesn’t have anything the 2 year old could get into and get sick.
Can you get something with a lock on so you can put stuff like peanut butter in so the 2 year old can’t get it? I read a blog that was a mother a diabetic kid that was also austic. She had to put locks on her cupboards or he would eat everything in sight overnight. Even if you had to eat your peanut butter in your room, you would be able to have some.
When I first got out of school, money was tight so I ate a lot of mac & cheese – I didn’t do the box kind. One of my coworkers used to joke with me that I had more money than her because I could afford to get cheese for mine. She ate hers plain.
Corrine,
There is a reason why diabetes rates are higher in low income communities, the easiest way to stretch the food budget is loading up on cheap starches. Unfortunately if you have a genetic tendency for T2 these types of foods are unhealthy.
You are doing the right thing in being patient, but don't give up, eating lots of starches is not good for you. Here's a thread from here on tuD discussing eating low carb on a budget, perhaps this will give you some ideas for things to suggest to your Mom. It's not easy but if you are creative it can be done.
I admire you for your persistence in dealing with this and feel that by educating yourself and remaining patient you will be able to resolve this.
Emmy offers some great advice. I agree that eating really “healthy” can be expensive, especially when you think of “healthy” being organic foods from a place like Whole Foods. But you can eat healthy on a budget too! I had to when I was in college because having diabetes meant that eating bad could do way worse things to me than the average college student. Beans and rice are a great staple that are high in fiber, low in fat, and generally good for you. Vegetables like onions, celery, lettuce, peppers, etc can all be found for decent prices, as decent as a bag of chips in most cases. Check out local farmers markets and sales at your local grocery stores.
There are so many HEALTHY snacks that can serve as alternatives to the unhealthy things you might be consuming now - carrots, pistachios, grapes, walnuts, cheese cubes, apples, whole wheat crackers (in moderation). The trick is having these things at the ready so you’re not tempted by other foods kept in your house.
Unfortunately, staying healthy is up to you. If that means you have to get a part-time job to help buy the foods you need, then that’s what you do. Check out recipes on sites like epicurious.com. You can find a lot of good low-carb options.
Eating healthy does take some effort. It’s far easier in our country to walk into a McDonalds or pick up a box of Mac n’ cheese. These things are tasty and relatively cheap. But they are horrible for your body, especially if you have diabetes.
I have Type 1 and eating has always taken a lot of planning and effort. Even when I put a lot of effort into my meals and planning and counting carbs, it still doesn’t always work out right for me. But I do love the fact that having T1D forces me to look at food in such a different way from everyone else.