Can we eat anything at a fast food restaurant?

[judyblue]

I have to say, restaurant eating is one of my biggest problems. I can control what I eat at home, but when it's time to go out I am all confused. Actually, eating at a nice restaurant is no problem - grilled fish, salad and a sweet potato (cut in half, of course) makes a great meal. But for me, and having kids, that is a once a month proposition at best.

More likely, I am going to go to somewhere cheaper and faster. My two favorite meals at chains are -

Taco Bell - fiesta taco salad. I skip the little crunchy things and salsa and add my own dressing. The downfall is you have that nice crunch tortilla bowl sitting there tempting you and you have to toss it.

Panera Bread - Steak Bistro salad with whole grain baguette. Love the salad and I cut off the amount of bread I can handle.

I have actually toyed with the idea of taking my whole wheat tortillas to my local mexican restaurant and using those while I order fajitas.

Anyone else? What do you get if you need faster and cheaper? Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

[Cinnabon]

Judy, are you a T1 or T2?

If you are a T1 you are able to be a bit more flexible, using your carb to insulin ratio.
If you are a T2, you have to know how well you tolerate these foods, according to your meds.

[Penny]

Cin is right. I can eat a Wendy's chili and one of their small burgers, without too much of a spike as long as I inject for it. Cannot handle regular burgers or fries at all. Taco Bell anything causes a spike that takes forever to go down. But I can eat a 6 inch Subway, and be Ok, with just a little extra Novolog. Really if I am careful and don't do it too often, I can eat out anyplace I want. I just figure on being a little high that day.

[Belinda]

The best thing about eating out is that there are more choices now as opposed to a few years back. Are you eating out for convenience or a treat? I know it is hard with small kids. I babysit two kids in the summer time ( ages 6 and 8 )and only on Mon and Fri. We have daily adventures and do different activities. They also get to go out to lunch these days and they are forever wanting to go out to the usual McD's , Wendy's etc. My solution to the problem was each time we take turns so each of us has a turn to pick the eating establishment so every three day it is your turn again. THE kicker to the game is NO place can be picked twice (unless it is your birthday and on your birthday you get to pick anyway...they both have July birthdays) AND you can't say ...yuck, gross, I don't like this place etc.....let me just say this has worked out GREAT and the parents love it since it opens up new options for them as well because the kids will say ....lets go here...and the parents didn't even know of the place or was so set in a usual pattern....

[gettingby]

The best thing about eating out is that there are more choices now as opposed to a few years back. Are you eating out for convenience or a treat? I know it is hard with small kids. I babysit two kids in the summer time ( ages 6 and 8 )and only on Mon and Fri. We have daily adventures and do different activities. They also get to go out to lunch these days and they are forever wanting to go out to the usual McD's , Wendy's etc. My solution to the problem was each time we take turns so each of us has a turn to pick the eating establishment so every three day it is your turn again. THE kicker to the game is NO place can be picked twice (unless it is your birthday and on your birthday you get to pick anyway...they both have July birthdays) AND you can't say ...yuck, gross, I don't like this place etc.....let me just say this has worked out GREAT and the parents love it since it opens up new options for them as well because the kids will say ....lets go here...and the parents didn't even know of the place or was so set in a usual pattern....
That's a great idea Belinda. It opens the kids up to new places and also teaches them that change can be good. Way to go !!!!!!!! :)

[Cyborg]

Both Panera Bread and Taco Bell provide nutrition information on their food items. If you are type 1, simply take the correct amount of insulin. If type 2, you will have to see how the foods affect you.

[judyblue]

Sorry I left out some details. I need to have a signature with a little of my story so I don't have to include it with every question.

I am probably pretty unique around here. I am an insulin resistent pre-diabetic with reactive hypoglycemia thrown in. All that to say is my blood sugar is all over the place and it gets there fast. I treat with Meformin (total of 850 mg/day), diet and exercise. I do best with small frequent meals, I am learning to "graze". Complex carbs are a must. I was on a high protein diet, but had to get off because it caused a ph problem - all that meat is very acidic.

Penny, thanks for mentioning Wendy's chili...I always forget that. Chili and a side salad is a great meal for me. And Cyborg, thanks I hadn't thought to look up Panera's data. I have Taco bell and other fast food info in a booklet that I keep in the car.

[shanda]

I bought The Calorie King Fat & Carbohydrate Counter. It's a fairly small size book that is easy to carry with you. I'm sure you can search Google and find several places to buy it online. I believe it's about $8 US.

This book lists many different popular restaurants and fast food places in the United States and gives pretty good information about the foods they serve.

I live in Canada so many of the listings don't apply here, but we have several restuarants in common like Taco Bell, A&W, McDonalds (ugh) etc. If you like to eat out this is a handy little book.

It's not JUST restaurant food thats listed but almost anything else you can think of that you'd have at home too. I highly recommend this book.

[kgm0612]

Judy..........I eat at Panera bread quite often. They carry 2 types of low carb bread that you can order a sandwich on. Also, I do great with their new Crispini pizza. It's very light and thin.


Karen

[Mich]

We like to make an afternoon pitstop in Starbucks on the weekend. I had worked out that it took a BIG bolus to cover a Vente Nonfat Iced Mocha but last weekend, I found out exactly why. Starbucks has published a brochure listing nutritional info on all of their drinks.

Whew, 52 grams of carb in the abovementioned VNIM!! Yikes. I'm switching to
iced Lattes with Splenda.

Mich