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As someone who has T1D, how would you describe the amount of freedom you feel you have with your food choices (e.g., what you eat, how much you eat, what times you eat)?
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As a T1D, I don’t eat deep fried foods as it’s too difficult to figure out my boluses. However, as a Weight Watcher, I’m just as glad I don’t eat deep fried foods.
I don’t ever say that anything is off limits, but I also don’t just eat everything ‘because I can”. For the most part I stick to what I am familiar with. If I go out to eat with someone I would never say that there is nothing on the menu that I can eat. I can always find something. Sometimes I end up eating things with lots of fat and carbs and if I mess up my BG for a bit I deal with it.
“What, how much, and what time” I feel complete freedom.
How fast I eat is an entirely different threat and opportunity. The faster I eat, the worse I feel. Slow, relaxing meals and snacks are good for the soul. I think many Europeans have it right: slow down and enjoy the dining. 🎻
I answered “a little freedom”, but could have easily said almost none. I had great difficulty answering this question because it doesn’t take into account that I also have celiac disease. My food choices are limit in quantity by my T1D, but my kinds and quality of foods are very restricted by my celiac. No gluten, no wheat, barley, rye, and most oats. Things like soy sauce must be specifically labeled “gluten free.” Dining out is no longer a pleasurable experience, and I avoid it.
Having said that, I eat very well, and a fairly wide variety of foods. But, not all the foods I would like to eat.
Well I’m not going to top dinner off with a hot fudge sundae. Bit would I do that as a non diabetic? No. We all need to make good food choices in life for any number of reasons.
This is a tricky question to answer because while I feel that I make my own choices every day, my choices are 100% driven by the fact that I have type 1 diabetes. Sure, I could choose to eat a bowl of cereal every morning and eat pizza for lunch every day, but those choices would complicate the heck out my type 1 diabetes and inevitably make my day harder. Type 1 diabetes influences every single decision and habit I have around food. I’ve embraced that fact and use it to empower my decisions — known I get to choose, and I’m going to choose the foods/habits/schedule that makes T1D easier. (And yes, that includes saving room for dessert every night…because I am still human! And a girl needs chocolate.)
You’re so right about the chocolate even if only one bite at times.
Ugh, it’s been several years of delaying with this T1, and I’m amazed at how crazy sensitive I am to ALL carbs and protein. Really, really sensitive, to the point where if I want to function well at all, I have to be strict. I also have some allergies – like tomato, sulfites, beef – making things more difficult.
So I’ve settled on the following rules: ~90% of the time, I strictly follow my meal and daily nutritional macros, know my quantity limits with certain foods, etc. Plan far ahead with eating out. So when there’s a birthday, holiday, etc., I allow myself to go with the flow a bit, and sugar surf. Overall, these excursions will have minimal long term impact, so I’m good with it. My will power is way stronger than I ever imagined.
My goal is to eat healthy. There are many great tasting and healthy food choices. Seeing a lot of very heavy people my age in wheel chairs. I don’t want to go there.
I was told when I started on a pump, back in 2000, that I could eat anything anytime I wanted. I still follow that philosophy.
Things have improved immeasurably over the years, largely due to short acting insulins. NPH had its own schedule, and eating was really ruled by the insulin’s activity curve. Fast acting insulin has transformed things, to the point that it’s hard to complain about the dietary aspects. …Short of the constraints that can keep nearly anyone healthy. A lifetime of hating the diabetes “diet” has gradually become the feeling that it is my choice to eat a healthy diet, and I often find that I’m almost grateful for what started out feeling like a tyrant’s regime!
I have a sweet tooth and a bottomless stomach. Then I was diagnosed with T1 a bit past 50. So now I sometimes have to limit the quantity of higher carb/fat foods, but I haven’t given them up. If I want a cheeseburger and fries, I give up the bun. If I want the bun, I give up the fries. Dessert has to be separate from the meal, unless it’s a really low carb meal. There are foods that I used to eat in much larger portions, but I still get to eat them in lower quantities. By the way, I know it sounds like I must weigh 1000 pounds, but I was lucky enough to be born with a “thin” jean. LOL.
I feel entirely constrained, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make choices I shouldn’t. The only rule I never break is I never eat anything containing gluten; I have Celiac disease. The consequences of eating gluten are even worse and longer lasting than eating too many carbs. 😩
I answered a lot – but that has to be in my perspective: I am not a foodie. I have never enjoyed eating, so in my world view – I have a lot of freeedom. As was stated above, back in the “old days” with the Nph and R regimen having to eat was a hardship. Now I only eat when I am either very hungry or when my CGM says it’s okay (in the 80 bg range) or I am trending low. I am trying to get my professional ballerina body back, so I count calories as well as carbs etc. My pump and the analog insulins allow me the freedom to not eat – which I value.
kristina, I am doing what I did in the old days [ 70 years ago ] except with the available “new” insulins.. I have NOT had any T1D problems, but sory to say have recently bin diagnosed with possible Asbestos related lung cancer.. I am 90 years OLD..
Mon objectif comme DT1 n’est pas de manger ce que je veux, mais de respecter le guide alimentaire canadien, comme recommandé à la population en général. Rassurer les patients en leur disant qu’ils peuvent manger ce qu’ils veulent est une fausse vérité!
tout droit mon ami
50+ years ago, my mom was given that exact advice (to eat whatever I wanted). I’ve always thought it was detrimental to me.
I believe newer technologies and software make it easier for T1Ds to “eat what we want” although I haven’t explored the possibility. I think my body would rebel eventually!
“My goal as a T1D is not to eat whatever I want, but to eat as most other Canadians. Reassure the patients on this site that eating whatever you want is a false choice.”
Did I get that mostly right or mostly wrong? Merci. C’il vous plait, contribute again in French.
Thanks for the translation, Wanacure. Funny, I took 5 years of French in high school and college (50 years ago), but, seldom had the chance to use it. Unfortunately, I was unable to translate enough words to get any meaning out of Claude’s statement. But, thank you, Claude, for your input.
My answer is “other” because of a relativity recent ( 2+ yrs) dx of chronic kidney disease. The need to choose low potassium foods and then limit the portion size of those foods has definitely thrown a wrench into the relief I felt when Control IQ came into my life. For a very brief moment I was able to enjoy BBQ again without the need to constantly monitor my glucose level and make corrections. Now that’s past tense. Considering my life now in contrast to when I first began 67 years ago, T1D does not totally restrict what and when I eat. I’m grateful that I can still enjoy good food.
As a T1D alone, I have some freedom in my food choices. I know how my body reacts to certain foods. However, as a T1D following a renal diet, that leniency has tightened up quite a bit.
My mantra for a very long time has been “Manage your diabetes; don’t let it manage you.” There are very few foods that I cannot manage with the right insulin dose and some exercise.
I picked Some. But, if I was truly. Eating to my disease like I should and treating Carbs as if I was allergic to them, I would have little no freedom and be on a very strict low carb diet. It helps with using less insulin, insulin resistance, and weight loss. But, carbs are like drugs. Sugar is so addictive, and I can’t kick the habit.
When my dad cooked the family breakfast, he always included really thick oatmeal (just the right amount of salt), each serving topped with a pat of butter, sprinkle of cinnamon and raisins and drizzled with honey. You don’t think it was hard for me to give up just plain old oatmeal fifty years later? If I can cut the carb addiction in half, and go without oatmeal, you can too. And all the penny candies and variety of candy bars!
I feel more constrained by limitations due to other health conditions, like gastroparesis, heart disease, HBP, etc.
I have a lot of other problems with my food choices since it’s not only the T1D. I’m also dairy intolerant and gluten sensitive, plus I’ve been working in maintaining a more even glucose line on graphics on my on the Clarity app. I feel I’d I can control my carb peaks after meal then I won’t have to overdose on insulin and end up with a low. I’m also do a lot of exercise, so I have to include that in the mix.
No more roller coasters drive will make my life so much easier.
I am not all that fond of food in general. So, I eat as close to “healthy” as I can. But, that is not to say I deny myself any celebratory “cakes and cookies”. Dessert, on occasion, can be good. But, the funny thing is, I don’t like the sweet aftertaste! LOL
There are no valid choices. I am always a slave to my glucose levels. Stress and food control the rises, sometimes insulin resistance overcomes all and throwing dozens of units at highs do nothing at all. Exercise sometimes will give a modicum of relief but lately it’s like I am dosing with water. I am sure it will pass but at the moment I am in survival mode just trying to keep it from going higher. For someone e that normally has 6.5 A1c it is humbling to be reminded how little we can do
If you eat slowly, look and smell each bit, and chew thoroughly, you will feel satiated…if you aren’t eating junk food, overly salted or sugary food which is DESIGNED to be habit-forming. Same thing with drinking. You don’t guzzle a pricey craft brew or a wine or whatever. You savor it. You sit and look around at the friendly comfortable environment. You engage in conversation. You read (or write) an email or a couple of pages or do 1/5 of a crossword puzzle. Or you draw part of a picture. If you’re inside an office, go outside to the plaza, walk to the waterfront or river bank to eat lunch. I take pleasure in eating foods nutritionally rich: that knowledge seems to make them taste even better. But I still can’t eat liver! My mom cooked kidney…once. The house smelled like a pissoir (French for Seattle skid road alley doorway). Yeah, I try to stay on a regular schedule with many of the same foods for long periods. But my tastes are always evolving.
For the most part, I am able to eat what I want, but I always have my sugar level in the back of my mind when actually deciding what or how much to eat. And sometimes that means eating more than I actually want to because my blood sugar level would go too low if I don’t get some carbs and/or protein in me.
If it wasn’t for self-control, when you are on an Insulin pump and CGMS. You could eat anything you want, but in the end, you will be paying the price, overweight, out of diabetes control. Who knows how short your life will be.
With LCHP, I feel super happy and well in control of my situation
I don’t eat yucky stuff.
Celiac along with T1D makes food chiices super constraining due to increased carb counts and how the carbs are absorbed ib gluten free doods.
Very little fredom!! T1d for 70 years, 90 years OLD.. NO T1D problems.. But… just diagnosed with possible Asbestos related lung cancer, so if I dissapear from this SITE, you will know why !!
Wishing the best for you. From a friend and fan.
As long as I take my recommended insulin pre meal and if I’m having a bigger dinner(ie. restaurant/party etc) I will adjust my insulin accordingly pre meal. Generally I feel my dosage has been sufficient and of course I follow a healthy diet and follow my daily protein fats starches fruit dairy that make up my daily meal counts that was designed my my diabetic dietician👍
As a DT1, my goal is not to eat whatever I want, but to adopt the same health recommandations as the rest of the population. Reassuring DT1 patients by telling them they can eat everything is a false truth!
Not sure you’re asking the right question(s) here….
The insulins now available allow extreme freedom re anything we want to eat whenever we want to eat it.
Getting that coverage text book perfect , or whether we should be eating XYZ are very different question.
We are all free to make our own choices. I choose to eat foods that are good for me.
This is the second question in a week that will fail to give meaningful results because of the word choices.
If my BG is in range AND my infusion site is working well, I don’t feel very constrained on food choices. I very, very rarely splurge on high carb snacks, but will occasionally eat a small dessert if the above things are good. LOL!
It’s so much better than it was “way back when”. The “Some” choice having so many people is an amazing sign of good things that ARE coming, have come, and gives the impression that we are getting better