What restaurants do you eat at that don’t have vegetables as sides? I haven’t found that to be the case. I’ll get double veggies and no potato pretty often, nobody seems to care.
I don’t see the point in this. Why would you expect places like McD and BK to serve healthy food? They are multi-billion dollar companies and are extraordinarily successful at what they do. It’s fast food and it’s never been healthy. If you want a diabetic friendly meal cook something yourself and bring it with you. Make sandwiches, cut up fruit, grill chicken breasts and all sorts of other things that a little planning but make your life easier in the long run.
Fast food already has great options for diabetics. Eat a McD grilled chicken salad with no dressing. Wendy’s chili is a great option.
The best thing I’ve found if you’re in a pinch for time (I travel all the time for my jobs so yes I do this) are supermarkets. They usually have precooked food at the lunch counters which you can get to go in roughly the same time as fast food. Grab a styofoam cooler, a bag of ice, a rotisserie chicken, couple apples and a loaf of bread. You will be out $10-12 dollars, depending on if you bring your own cooler and ice packs, and you have at least 2-3 meals of quality high protein, low fat, low glycaemic food.
I say this a lot, but Wendys has other good options for diabetics too. Their salads are v. good–and the Cobb salad is low-carb and high protein and actually tastes good. Carls Jr’s low carb burger with a side salad is something like 7 carbs and if you are having a burger craving it really hits the spot. I try to stay away from McDs and burger king. Subway’s salads can also be a good choice . . . so even if people insist on having fast food there are good options that exist.
Ha, ha! I travel aboutr 5 times per year from Southern OH to Northern MI (about 500 miles)…I pack a cooler and all I buy along the way are drinks. Or, I find a grocery store (Walmarts are everywhere now…the ones that have groceries).
I keep snacks in my car - Target sells the Planters South Beach Nut mix in snack packs (4.00 for 7 packs) and they are great on glucose and very filling. Can even sub for a meal for me at about 250 calories…or keep me going for a few hours.
But it is still an issue socially, isn’t it. When we are stopping with friends?
Yet, I have had a few positive experiences. I was starved one evening and needed to eat. I went to an Arby’s and asked the guy at the drive through if I could have an Arby’s Cheddar Melt without the bun…was there a container he could put it in and give me a fork? He was nice as could be. It was NOT one of my healthier choices…cardboard roast beef and canned cheese! But it did the trick and my next test was fine!
ALSO…I am a FOUNTAIN diet coke lover…especially from McD’s. There is something about the mix of syrup to water to bubbles…they’ve got the ratio right!
In any event…on my last trip from Michigan I got my usual medium DC from a drive through in rural MI and I drove off ad tasted it, still in the parking lot and swerved right into a parking space…it was THE REAL THING all right…pure sugar…
So, I very nicely went into the store and to the counter and explained …expecting that they’d get defensive because these days a machine spits out the drinks…so really the order taker has to make the error…and punch the wrong button…but it happens…
…the manager took my drink from me…and GET THIS…looked through the lid…shook it a bit and said:
“YOU ARE SO RIGHT Ma’am, and I APOLOGIZE…THAT IS A REAL COKE ALL RIGHT…LOOK AT THOSE BUBBLES. THE ONES WITH SUGAR BUBBLE A WHOLE LOT MORE…Danny get her Diet…”
But Danny had one already to go for me and handed it to me and we shook it…NO BUBBLES…
Pretty clever trick, huh?
Maybe I should put this in a separate post, do you think? It’s kind of helpful…
Anni
Thank you so much for this topic. As an active Type 2 insulin dependent I feel your pain.
I have mentioned this in my blog several times only to be land blasted by folks that are just worried about carb counting and taste of food. I love Italian food and would love to eat it knowing it was a little better for me. I used the term “diabetic friendly” because it was the term I looked for when I was newly diagnosed. I sadly didn’t see it and stayed in a fog of confusion for weeks about what I am suppose to eat. I am far from that now. There are so many ideas as to what the term diabetic friendly is suppose to mean. This basically depends on if you are a Type 1 or Type 2. I chose for it to mean a plate of food that is all the write proportions with the right amount of nutritional requirements. Of course it should have a decent taste. I am not stating it should be for just carb counting.
Here in the Hollyweird (Los Angeles, CA) restaurants have now problem catering to gluten free, wheat free, vegan and vegetarian agenda style menus. I have never seen a diabetic friendly offering on any menu. Our money is taken for granted especially when we have larger numbers than vegans/vegetarians and we also may have other food ailments like having to be gluten free. The truth of the matter is most these health junkie folks really don’t know what foods are good for them and just hope it doesn’t have any ill affects on them. I think this is what all these places like Trader Joe’s and Wholefoods bank on. When I was newly diagnosed I went to my local Wholefoods and couldn’t believe the amounts of sugar and carbs in so called natural and organic foods. They have to contain sugar or the crap would taste like cardboard.
I am all for a publicity campaign for diabetic friendly options. I must say that diabetics as a whole are not very active when it comes for fighting for rights and services like AIDS patients.
Dannon has a diabetic friendly yogurt???
By the way, in the absence of having found a yogurt I could eat without a TON of carbs…my solution has been the Stonyfield Oh Baby Simply yogurts. They are 4 oz and come in 4 packs and I get them at Kroger in the health food section (dairy).
Then, I buy one of the sugar free vanilla syrups with ZERO carbs that are often used in coffee drinks. Mix it into the yogurt to taste and HONESTLY, I like it even BETTER than the original. I WAS THRILLED to find this solution.
I’m sure you could do it with any plain yogurt…but I really like the Yo Baby because it has only 80 calories and 6 (SIX) carbs! These are whole milk, so have a bit of fat, but I’ve lost such a large amount of weight due to restricting foods and carbs, I can use the calories and the fat…
Anni
It is not their responsibility but restaurants have no problem catering to a group they like. Being Los Angeles there lots of restaurants and gourmet food trucks that have vegan, gluten free menu items. There is a cup cake place here that has gluten free cupcakes. When I asked about sugar free they looked at me crazy. I thought gluten free was crazy.
Look at the video.
I guess I have just lived with this disease too long, I just adjust as needed. Add a Diet Coke to the below and you should be good to go. I personally choose to stay away from the ice cream.
McDonalds
Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken - 12g carbs
Burger King
WHOPPER (Minus Bun) - 4g carbs
GARDEN SALAD - 7g carbs
I’ve found that most local restaurant owners have been very helpful and want my business. I am both diabetic and celiac. This has also been true of most sit-down chain restaurants although they usually bring me the manager which is fine. We avoid fast-food as a family and always have although we will eat Subway, Qdoba, or Panera occasionally when on the road for soccer games and that’s all time allows. I usually eat salad.
I will concede that I don’t want to seem like a nuisance, but I know that a friend of mine wants my family back in his pizza place, and he will work to make something that I can eat. He knows my kids rarely get “real” pizza so he sneaks them some whenever he can. So much of our socialization revoloves around food. Diabetes can be a very isolating disease if you let it.
I never have had any problems going anywhere where I cant find anything that I can eat that is diabetic friendly. All the work has to be done upfront to determine what I can eat. There are different levels of diabetics meals that I eat based on the amount of carbs I need for the day.
Every restaurants server grill chicken practically. That is my main course of action to eat the grill chicken. I go based on portion control also. Even if you want to have a burger you can get a burger on a wheat bun at whataburger and put mustard on it and avoid a lot of the high carb junk that goes in the burger. Plenty of places do shrimp like texas roadhouse here in my side of the world. They do a grilled shrimp that is not full of sauces.
Chick Fillet does a grill chicken sandwhich on a wheat bun and if you pass the fries and go for the salad you are still good for a lower carb meal. Boston Market here in Austin does turkey with two sides. Salad can be a side and a low carb veggie. if you go to a bbq joint you can go with the turkey or chicken. Stick to the beans and cole slaw and pass the bread and bbq sauce and still good. It just takes education on our side to figure out what we should be eating. Plus a lot of places have the weight watchers info and tells you about the lower carb options.
Keep on looking for good places and combinations.
I don’t have a huge problem eating out. I have celiac disease and diabetes. I will concede that I’m not counting carbs because my diet is extremely low carb and on the occasions when I’ve indulged in any I’ve seen spikes that I’m not comfortable with. I don’t think that artificial sweeteners are good for you so I drink water or unsweetened iced tea. I don’t crave carbs anymore. I haven’t been dx diabetic long, but have been living gluten-free for 3 years.
I have to sound a dissenting note. I think carbs are really only toxic if you are already ‘in the club’ or on the shortlist for membership.
People with absolutely perfect pancreases can probably eat as much carb as they want, every single day, and their bodies will just go on pumping out the insulin they need. My endo told me that even people with clinical ‘severe insulin resistance’ can go through life severely insulin resistant yet never develop diabetes, if they are lucky enough to have beta cells that just tirelessly work at supersonic speed all the time, without ever pooping out.
The trouble of course is that there is no way to tell in advance which group you belong to.
I agree (though I do love diet soda and dont really like regular…).
SF candy is bad for you. Period. It can cause terrible tummy distress. As a CDE friend told me one time, just go get a little piece of real chocolate and eat it. Don’t buy the huge candy bar, buy the miniatures and eat just one. It is possible to do and not over-indulge.
I also use a drop of regular pancake syrup, real pudding, and real granola bars. Same lady told me a real granola bar will stabilize your BG and you dont need to buy special bars for that.
Of course, this is from a type I perspective.
If I were I type II I would probably not handle things the same way.
Restaurant-wise, I more appreciate the information that a place has gluten free foods, because my Mom is a Celiac and I think that kind of diet is far more difficult to deal with when eating out.
Diabetes wise, I dont think we need to label any restaurant as D-friendly.
I agree, Lila, that most people can go on eating lots of carbs, and that behavior in and of itself will not trigger diabetes. However, what AR is getting at is that a high-carb diet has other health risks associated with it in the long run. Some of us get T2, others have obesity problems, cardiac and vascular issues, etc. Loading up on carbs at each meal and in between is just not a healthy lifestyle. It comes with lots of health risks.
Here’s some more fast food low carb options from Hardees. Low carb burger no bun wrapped in lettuce 5g carbs. Low carb breakfast bowl eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, cheese 6g carbs. Although I don’t eat fast food on a regular basis, it’s good to have options when pressed for time.
You must have be blessed with a mild case of Celiacs. Some people I know are so sensitive that gluten contact in cooking is sufficient to cause problems. We recently had a restaurant open nearby that caters to gluten-free. You can say you don’t have a problem, but think about being able to go to restaurant and order gluten-free things like crab cakes, chili cheese fries, southern fried chicken and carrot cake. I know they aren’t low carb. But there are many who feel resigned to ordering plain egg, meat and salad and still worrying about whether it is still truly gluten-free.
If we really want restaurants like this to survive, you have patronize them. Go to them. Be willing to pay some premium.
ps. I rarely eat out, but when I travel with the family, our place to stop on the road is Cracker Barrel. They are consistent can accomodate low carb and vegetarian and they have a wide range of low carb options (listing the low carb in it’s own menu section for both lunch and dinner with net carb counts).
Hi bsc. Talking about Celiac Disease is like dealing with shifting sands. I do truly have Celiac. I can tolerate cross-contamination from pots, pans, etc., but I can’t eat a bite of gluten-containing food without bad effects. Wheat flour thickened sauce for instance, so I avoid all sauces not prepared by my husband or myself. I’ve read that people with an allergy to gluten can wind up in the hospital from simple cross-contamination. A restaurant totally gluten-free is awesome, and I hope it has a lot of patronage. Actually, most non-gluten food does really taste good!
I go with you. And I guess I’ve been a diabetic too long too.
My Mom is 85, and has Celiac. She doesnt worry so much about cosmetics, things like that.
And the older she gets, I think she is a little less cautious, within reason. She’s been able to eat a little more than she thought she could, and if I think she made a mistake I dont say anything and half the time it never bothers her.
We’re more careful when we cook, and she is careful which restaurants she chooses to go to, but she is doing really really well. Must say, at 85 she is quite the bread baker!
I love my dear Mom! Two Type I daughters and Celiac, what a family.
Beans & coleslaw could have a lot of sugar hidden in their sauces…unless you get plain boiled pinto beans and dressing-free shredded cabbage/carrots 