Eating at restaurants with type 1 diabetes often feels like a major challenge. There are so many things to consider, especially since we don’t know all the ingredients or if there are any hidden sugars.
Some quick tips for eating out as a type 1 diabetic:
- Look up the menu ahead of time
- Decide ahead of time if you’re going to have dessert
- Look on the opposite side of fast food tray papers for nutritional info
- Have enough insulin with you or in your pump to cover everything
- Don’t be afraid to ask about ingredients or for substitutions
We also talk about pre-bolusing, not bolusing enough, predicting carb counts, and tips that have worked for us while eating at restaurants with type 1 diabetes.
Wins & Fails
Colleen’s Win: I kept my blood sugar in-range on the last day of my infusion site! This is usually difficult because of how Tandem pumps work.
Jessie’s Fail: Jessie forgot her kit while going to the store and felt weird not carrying it.
Tip of the Week
Instead of spending a lot of money on fancy sharps containers, just use a thick-walled plastic container like an old milk jug, vinegar jugs, and other things like that. To dispose of it, just duct tape the cap shut and put in the trash.
Diabetes Spotlight
This week’s spotlight is focused on diaTribe, an online resource for diabetics both type 1 and 2 that always seems to have a relevant blog post or article. Adam Brown, diaTribe’s senior editor through 2019 and now a guest contributor, wrote a post on restaurants and how he handles eating out. You can find it at diatribe.org/restaurants.
diaTribe can act as your one-stop-shop for learning more about diabetes, especially if you start at their resource page.
Especially relevant today is the ever-increasing cost of diabetes care. diaTribe has a directory of information on insurance appeals, saving money on diabetes care, how to get access to insulin, and so much more. All of that information is at diatribe.org/access.
diaTribe is a website URL I give out to anyone who asks about resources for type 1 diabetes. You could spend hours on this website just going down the rabbit hole of knowledge, which is the best way to educate yourself about all the strange things you don’t understand about diabetes or just want to learn more.
Now It's Your Turn...
What is your favorite thing to eat out? What restaurant is your go-to of all time? Let us know in the comments!
Mentioned in This Episode
- Support us on Patreon!
Want to Read or Listen to More? - 25 Truth Bombs to Make You Re-Think Type 1 Diabetes
- The Stress Associated with Type 1 Diabetes
- What is Type 1 Diabetes and Why You Should Care
- What Burnout Looks Like in a Type 1 Diabetic
- World Diabetes Day is About Visibility
- What I’ve Learned from 20 Years at Panther Camp
- 4 Things Type 1 Diabetics Have to Watch Out For
- How to React When Family Members Joke About Diabetes
- This is What a Day as a Type 1 Diabetic Looks Like
Community & Social
- Join us in the Half-Dead Pancreas Club, our private Discord community for people with T1D.
- Follow us on Instagram @thisistype1pod, @jj_crystalkat, & @type1ravenclaw
- Follow us on Facebook
Choose Where to Listen
Credits
Our music is by Joseph McDade. Check out his website here!
Skip to content