Burgers and Fries, Oh my!

Let me preface this post by briefly explaining how our family views type 1 diabetes and carbohydrates (and a whole bunch of other things reserved for a later date). 



Kids first, diabetes second.



There you have it.  That is our big mantra.  Our family motto.  We repeat it often. 



"Mom, can I have a snack at Sarah's house?  Sure! Kids first, diabetes second."



What this means is that we have a philosophy that in teaching our children proper nutrition, we stress that there are no "bad" foods.  By doing so, we hope to reinforce the healthy eating philosophy that all types of food can be consumed in moderation.  We are taking the stigma out of a cookie.  If it is not considered bad or placed in a mysterious category reserved for desserts or special occasions, we are hoping that the underlying message is that a cookie is no big deal.



Happily this seems to be working.  I have two little girls that love vegetables and fruits.  They are not afraid of onions, peppers, zucinni, or mushrooms.  No one seems to mind a bitter lettuce leaf or a sprout and I can serve peas, water chestnuts, broccoli or beans any day of the week without screaming.  Even the once dreaded squash worked it's way back into favor by quietly starring in a lasagna which the kids devoured in Garfield the cat style.

 



Through all of this regularly incorporated healthy eating, their A1cs have been great.   I also give a ton of credit to the fact that we are a family of pre-bolusers.  Before eating on any given night, the girls do a quick blood sugar check, enter their numbers into the CGM and then bolus for either all or at least half of the amount of insulin they will be taking for their dinners.



This works wonderfully.... EXCEPT, (I could also insert BUT here, but each time I think it, I remember the advice of my English prof that said no one wanted to have a big butt.  BUT I digress....)



Except for the fact that when you go to a restaurant and order burgers and fries, during the dinner hour in which everyone in town is eating, and your waitress is running half of the restaurant, then you are going to have a few problems.



1.) Pre-bolusing is dangerous because you don't know when the food is coming
2.) Counting carbs isn't accurate as there is no nutrition label to be found
3.) While the food is fantastic, everything is made in a fryer. 



You go, you order and you manage to sputter things like, "gulp, yum, chew, slurp, kids first, diabetes second, gulp, yum, yum, yum." 

And you end up making a special family memory that will last a lifetime.


Even when you know in a few hours that you will be doing this...How-to-check-nighttime-blood-sugars-and-scare-your-neighbors