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When you’re in a group setting, like having lunch with coworkers or at a gathering with friends/family, how often do you feel you are judged or criticized for your food choices because of your T1D? Please feel free to share more details of your experiences in the comments.
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Friends and family go out of their ways to provide food and drink appropriate for my celiac disease and T1 diabetes. More so for the celiea disease. Lunch at work was less social because we worked through our lunches. No judgement there.
Darn, that’s celiac, not celia. Sorry.
I have T1d and celiac too. Most people don’t know about the celiac, but all my friends know about the diabetes. Yeah, sometimes I get a “you’re eating THAT??!!” Doesn’t bother me, I just say ‘yeah, I shot for it.’ That usually leads to questions, and a long conversation about how to manage it. If they ask. I don’t bring it up. The most common comment I get is, ‘wow, you’re in good shape for someone who’s had it so long.’ And then the story of their diabetic relative who died…..
They mean well. They annoy, however. Seems as if the portion of ignorance is the most heaping helping on their plate, not food. ¯\_( ͠~ ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯
I used to be more often. Especially several years ago when people remembered how restrictive their family member’s diet had to be. They would scold me for eating certain food items, or the time that I would eat.
This is one reason I didn’t tell that many people I had T1D. I didn’t hide it, just didn’t blast it in their face.
These questions!!!! STOP IT! You are shaming people. And for all the GOD people, judging is a sin. So go burn in hell! If you ban me for this, so be it. This is worse that social media.
Oy vey. Yahweh — whose name cannot be spoken — might be a teeny, teeny bit more forgiving. Or, as a sign on a Congregational Church said it better than I: “God loves a kind atheist. He hates a cruel Christian.”
I eat what I eat without hesitation so no eyebrows raised. It’s like walking down a street as if you own it so you don’t present yourself as a potential victim.
I don’t really feel judged, but sometimes people will say something like “Oh, can you have this dessert?” . It is usually people have I have just met and they have just found out I am diabetic.
I selected ‘Never’ as I no longer work, having been retired on grounds of ill-health in 1990.
Prior to that time, I rarely, if ever, was criticised [criticized] by my work colleagues as they were fully aware that I had a good understanding of my diabetes and how to control it.
I chose rarely. With my family, never. With close friends, never. With new acquaintances, rarely, when they realize I’m T1D.
Sometimes people ask a question, but it doesn’t feel judgemental or critical when they do. More concern or plain old curiosity.
Friends never even notice. My daughter may make a face if I order something out of my norm. That’s it’s. People are used to me.
should hav added “I am retired or don’t work, yet still T1D doesn’t change
If I get judged, it would only be because I deserved to be judged.
Really?
I never thought about that to you brought it up what is this?
I’m usually judged once people know I have diabetes and then I proceed to educate them. Once that is done I find my friends judge me less.
I live in California, we all eat what we want. I live and work with people from multiple cultures, some vegetarian, some not.
My friends/ family don’t judge my choices unless I judge theirs it seems!
It’s been a very long time since I’ve been at any kind of social gathering. In the past, before pump and CGM use, if an acquaintance noticed me testing my glucose level and injecting insulin before eating, I might get asked if I should eat what I had put on my plate/ordered at a restaurant. It was both a question and a judgement. It was a long time ago.
I can feel self conscious because I know the others have a simplistic understanding of what I can eat so I don’t want them to judge me. I rarely get actual comments, my feelings are self imposed.
My friends and family are more apt to show concern rather than judgement. My husband admires my discipline, even though I think he is more disciplined than me with his high blood sugar and food with high salt content. We all have our crosses to bear.
Very rarely. I have lived with T1D in my body for 60 years. I eat what I choose to eat and it’s nobody’s business to judge or criticize it. Most of my friends and family know me well enough to recognize & understand that I am sensible about the food choices I feed my body and they leave me alone.
However, every now and then some judgmentally unaware, insensitive & nosey person (it’s often been a co-worker) will comment, “Oh you really shouldn’t be eating that” or “Can you eat that?”. I usually just ignore their ignorance – or ask them, “And why shouldn’t I?”
If they respond with an answer like “Because you’re a diabetic” I ask them, “Oh? And what does that mean?” I may or may not take a few moments to educate them so they gain some understanding about carb intake and how the body metabolizes carbs for energy, and the role of insulin to do the job. I then tell them that everyone one is insulin dependent whether they have diabetes or not, because every human being needs insulin to process & transform food intake into glucose for fuel energy to maintain healthy body functioning. It’s usually more than they want to hear, but in the end they have received a modicum of “diabetes” education.
I don’t think so much about being judged as being able to participate. I don’t hide my T1, but I don’t like to take huge boluses in order to eat, so that means I have to be selective about what I eat or portion size. It’s something that I think will get easier with time. I’m fortunate my daughter, her mother/father-in-law, and a few others are sensitive and almost always ensure there’s something I can have…though I really wish it weren’t necessary.
I rarely FEEL judged, but I think everyone is apt to their own perspective. The few times I have felt this way in a minor way is when people with only type 2 education asked if I should eat these things and I explain the difference between the two conditions then bring out my food scale.
Often, but no one is my “food police”. Lol
It is very rarely that anyone would criticise my food choices, but I often get asked why I eat what I do.
Sometimes friends will ask questions about what has or doesn’t have a lot of carbs for their own information. I don’t mind any questions about any part of diabetes!!
I wouldn’t say “judged or criticized” as much as “observed and noted.” No matter how many meals we share, there are some people (3 in particular) who feel they have to comment on my food choices. They are always wrong in their assumptions about what I can eat and how I manage my diabetes.
Most often it is my mother. She took care of me when I was diagnosed at age 2 1/2 and still follows the old rules – – diabetics can’t eat cake, etc. So, when she sees me eating a slice of cake at a party/celebration she makes a face and tells me I “shouldn’t be eating that.” She, herself, has LADA and even thinks her doctors don’t know what they are talking about when they tell her it’s okay to have a piece of candy! Still, for someone in her 90’s she is doing very well, so I can’t really argue with her!
I have had several people question my food choices. My reply, “that is what insulin is for!” I can eat anything and everything as long as I take the correct amount of insulin. Usually this ends up in a lesson on diabetes, and I am totally fine with that. I really don’t mind educating people about the disease. There are a lot of misconceptions out there!
Most non-Diabetic people I know and mingle with very rarely ask me about food. However, most T2D persons are so ignorant that they ask the most stupid Diabetes questions. Shame on their Medical Personnel.
I rarely have that problem but if I eat somewhere other than my house which is not that often. I say I didn’t cook it so I can eat it joking around I and explain that I can do this once in awhile it’s ok