For us diabetics dining out can be a minefield. Cooking at home means you can measure everything and calculate the carbs and know you're safe. My problem eating out is actually that I totally overestimate everything and end up having a low blood sugar moment. That's a train to Shelbyville (Steel Magnolias reference!). For example, I went to a great restaurant near our house and ordered the lamb sliders (Mmmmm!) and I estimated the carb content of the mini buns to be around 15 g of carbs per bun. It turns out they were much less than that because my blood sugar level went down to 65 (it should go below 80) and I was all shaking and bitchy.
But dining out has been a joy when I realize there are things I CAN eat and things I can enjoy. Here's the cuisines I've been partaking as well as the ones I'm avoiding:
The Good:
The Classy High-End places - These are awesome because the portioning is usually a decent sized piece of protein (roast chicken, steak), a great vegetable, and a starch that is fairly well defined portion wise.
Chinese - There are many things on a Chinese menu that fills my tummy and are low carb. Mu Shu! Hot and Sour Soup! Things to avoid are those General Tso's type of of batter fried. But most of the menu is a cavalcade of fun for this diabetic.
Indian - Naan may not be your friend but the basmati rice is easy to portion out and the curries and tandooris can be eaten to your heart's content.
The many organic diners in the Bay Area - tasty omelets and salads along with toast is killer(in the good way)! I'm blessed to be fairly indifferent about french fries so the salad substitution is great.
In and Out - a double double has 30 grams of carbs. I can have 45-60 per meal. If I do take out and make myself a salad I am SOOOOOOO set.
The Not So Good:
Vietnamese - sugar is a pretty integral part of of the sauces and marinades so I have been hesitant to try. I have made a splenda nuoc cham at home and that is some tasty eating.
Thai - Do you know what the carb content is for 1/2 a cup of pad thai? 98 grams. At most you should have 60 grams per meal. What the hell? Are they dousing it in sugar and deep frying? A Kripsy Kreme donut is less than that!
Mexican - Beans have carbs. Rice has carbs. Tortillas have carbs. Avocados are teeming with fat.
Checking in / On the road...
12 years ago
2 comments:
Hey - I'm sure you went over this before, but I'm short-attention-span Stef today. Do you have to keep an eye on fat content as well as carbs? Or do you mostly have to focus on carbs? It sounds like you still have plenty of good eating-out options, good for doing your reseach.
i have a very hard time eating out when I'm trying to be good, and for me it's mostly about trying to avoid fat and sodium. And I *love* tasty, salty fatty stuff! Salads, non-cream soups, and appetizers are usually my good way to go.
I haven't been particularly worried about fat content. Although I am more sparing about the almond flour desserts since almonds have a high fat content. The levels of fat and sodium I intake has remained constant as I rarely add more salt to anything and I use the usual olive oil or canola oil for savory cooking. With my level of exercise, my nutritionist wasn't at all worried about my fat or protein intake as it was being burned off before it even hit my gut or my ass. How funny we are worry about parallel things carbs vs. fat/sodium.
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