Supermarket rage

[Scrabblechick]

So, those who have been DX a while may have gotten past this, but I haven't yet.

Ever had supermarket rage? You go to the store, a little hungry, looking for something quick to fix, and behold: NOTHING you can eat! An array of tempting food, but no, you're diabetic and you can't have it! The frustration is intense. "All the @#$% food in the world here and I can't have any of it if it looks, tastes or smells good! The only thing here I can have is @$#$% vegetables and I want something YUMMY!" And you have a barely controlled urge to slam the shopping cart into the glass freezer doors and start cursing foully at the top of your lungs. Happened to me tonight.

I was thinking, "Well, I can't just not eat. I don't have that option anymore. But nothing here looks remotely appetizing, unless I'm not supposed to have it." And that was a large part of my anger at my DX. I felt I'd just had all my options yanked out from under me. I was actually making a concerted effort to live a healthier lifestyle, but felt my option to blow it occasionally had been removed, to be replaced with this option: screw up and go on dialysis in 20 years. Not much of an option. It's not even that I really want that bag of Doritos that frequently. I just want the option! So I was very angry.

Anyway, after heading down that rabbit trail, I finally decided on a South Beach pizza.

I'm sure this will pass as things go along, and it's not a frequent occurrence, but I do wonder if anyone here has had the same kinds of feelings, especially when at the grocery store.

All part of getting a handle on this thing, I suppose. Thanks for letting me vent. :o

[soso]

lets see.. 4 yrs on... yep..still drives me crazy... all the pretty packaging... very carby... don't worry, time will come when apples look soooo good...
c'est la vie....

[SGT Shoutmore]

When all else fails, PORK SKINS! The spicey ones with zero carbs! An orange vitimin water with 13 grams of carb, a gouda cheese wedge, amd I'm good! For those days when I just have NO idea of what I want I've hunted high and low for something to catch my eye, fall back to that combo when all else fails for a quickie lunch that won't jack my blood sugar's up. If the carbs are not enough, substitute the vitamin water for orange juice or a serving of milk.

[SGT Shoutmore]

lets see.. 4 yrs on... yep..still drives me crazy... all the pretty packaging... very carby... don't worry, time will come when apples look soooo good...
c'est la vie....


You just HAD to say APPLES, didn't you?

Oh, the local grocer has these apples, they are more like a pear, are watery like a melon, but crunchy. Oh wow, I wish I could remember what they were. The are soooooooooooooo good.

[Jan B]

The way I handle it is to think if everyone ate like us, there wouldn't be such a health "crisis" of obesity, heart disease, etc., etc. There wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar weight loss industry. I put it in my brain that I'm healthy and these other carb gobbling people know nothing about nutrition . . . they'll just put anything in their mouths!

My other trick is to wonder why our world is so food-obsessed. Play games, make things . . . walk your dog, or yourself! Food is for survival, not entertainment. On the other hand, I spend a lot of time looking at different stores to find the best things for me. They ARE there . . . spices can make boring vegetables delicious. One day, you should/will learn to love steamed asparagus or broccoli, spinach, specialty cheeses, or whatever. There really are a lot of options. Ground flax meal on salads, and in muffins -- yummy, seriously!

Get mad, but get even by being a beacon of health. Do I see eyes rolling?!

[Puppypants]

I remember standing in the store right after being diagnosed, being told to eat low carb, low fat, and low sodium (all to help with the diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure) thinking, "What the heck do I eat?" I started to cry, and left the store. It's better now, but I still sometimes wander around the store with a nearly empty cart...

[UpNorth]

You just HAD to say APPLES, didn't you?

Oh, the local grocer has these apples, they are more like a pear, are watery like a melon, but crunchy. Oh wow, I wish I could remember what they were. The are soooooooooooooo good.

By the description it sounds like Chinese pears.. Shape is somewhere between apple and pear, size is about apple size, the skin quite yellow and the taste is also between apple and pear and VERY juicy and crunchy:thumbsup: If i remember it right they're called Nashi pears. I totally love them anyways :D They're extra delicious when having them in China since they can be picked at the right time there. The ones we have here are not nearly as good because they've been picked too early to be fresh upon arrival :s:

[UpNorth]

I eat what i want, and bolus accordingly. Though i do try to stick to more healthy options than i used to do before being diabetic. I eat more vegetables now.

Something i find quite delicious these days is to take 3 carrots and 2 bleek celery and chop into smaller pieces and cook in crushed tomato and then add a can of corn and some parsley on top and serve with wholegrain rice :D If wanting some meat, then just add some. I've tried this both the vegetarian way and with a couple of hotdogs in pieces in it. It's yummy, and very low carb until you add the corn and rice to it :)

[Jan B]

I remember standing in the store right after being diagnosed, being told to eat low carb, low fat, and low sodium (all to help with the diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure) thinking, "What the heck do I eat?" I started to cry, and left the store. It's better now, but I still sometimes wander around the store with a nearly empty cart...

Even this sounds familiar. I always try to be optimistic, but it's impossible to ALWAYS be in the UP zone.

[princesslinda]

I don't have as much trouble at the grocery store as I do eating out...or trying to find a healthy solution to the lunches that are brought in for us at work.

There are now SO MANY options for us diabetics (even us T2s not on insulin)....there are the double-fiber buns...so you can have the occ. hot dog or hamburger WITH a bun....there are low carb wraps...so we can have fajitas or bean burritos, there's Dreamfield pastas...so we can have spaghetti on occasion....there are all kinds of low-carb and s/f puddings, jellos and ice creams. I tried some of the Marzetti's s/f caramel dip with some sliced green apples recently...and they were quite good (remember portion control though).

Another poster mentioned pork rinds...you can also bake the low-carb tortillas and have some chips and salsa when the mood hits.

I think the stress comes from having to constantly THINK about what to buy and eat, and often having to prepare things at home as opposed to just going through a drive thru...the longer you've been diagnosed, and the more you look for lower carb ways of having what you've always enjoyed, that stress will lessen....but we all have those times where we miss our "old lives." Hang in there!

[volleyball]

So, those who have been DX a while may have gotten past this, but I haven't yet.

Ever had supermarket rage? You go to the store, a little hungry, looking for something quick to fix, and behold: NOTHING you can eat! An array of tempting food, but no, you're diabetic and you can't have it! The frustration is intense. "All the @#$% food in the world here and I can't have any of it if it looks, tastes or smells good! The only thing here I can have is @$#$% vegetables and I want something YUMMY!" And you have a barely controlled urge to slam the shopping cart into the glass freezer doors and start cursing foully at the top of your lungs. Happened to me tonight.

I was thinking, "Well, I can't just not eat. I don't have that option anymore. But nothing here looks remotely appetizing, unless I'm not supposed to have it." And that was a large part of my anger at my DX. I felt I'd just had all my options yanked out from under me. I was actually making a concerted effort to live a healthier lifestyle, but felt my option to blow it occasionally had been removed, to be replaced with this option: screw up and go on dialysis in 20 years. Not much of an option. It's not even that I really want that bag of Doritos that frequently. I just want the option! So I was very angry.
:o

It is kinda frustrating, but no more than overnight changing from a teen to an adult and not knowing what to wear. That process is more gradual but still the same. Like would you really want to see a middle aged woman wearing low rise jeans, a short tank top and JUICY written across her behind?
The supermarket has food for all of us, there is plenty of eat. Now it not a no brainer as it was before. If you shop the perimeter and go down the aisle for the things you need instead of wandering aimlessly down every isle, you'll have less frustration.
I now eat so much tastier food now that I restrict myself on what i eat. o ,yeah, I do crave stuff sometimes. I do indulge myself. A doughnut once a month won't hurt me, a box might but not one.
And even if you weren't diabetic, the food you are craving is not good for anyone. So diabetes is that annoying little voice on your shoulder telling you to do the right thing

[Jan B]

It is kinda frustrating, but no more than overnight changing from a teen to an adult and not knowing what to wear. That process is more gradual but still the same. Like would you really want to see a middle aged woman wearing low rise jeans, a short tank top and JUICY written across her behind?
The supermarket has food for all of us, there is plenty of eat. Now it not a no brainer as it was before. If you shop the perimeter and go down the aisle for the things you need instead of wandering aimlessly down every isle, you'll have less frustration.
I now eat so much tastier food now that I restrict myself on what i eat. o ,yeah, I do crave stuff sometimes. I do indulge myself. A doughnut once a month won't hurt me, a box might but not one.
And even if you weren't diabetic, the food you are craving is not good for anyone. So diabetes is that annoying little voice on your shoulder telling you to do the right thing

Very good, except for the middle-aged woman example. Well . . . ok, I would NOT have Juicy written across my butt!! Use an example of a man in those tacky Speedos next time!

[patricia52]

I have been there. I had been diagnoised a few week earlier and I was trying to decide what I could eat for breakfast. I could not think what I wanted that was on my "acceptable" list. I wanted real food and I wanted it now. I got upset, started to cry, and told my husband "I'm hungry but I don't know what I can eat. Everything I want, I'm not suppose to have." I stopped, checked my BG and I was having my first hypo (85--low for a person used to having high BG). I don't remember what I ate that morning but being hypo gave me permission to eat. I became more educated and learned that no food is off-limits as long as I count my carbs. I may have to eat a very small serving but I don't have to completely give up the things I love. I am also experimenting with foods I never tried before. I don't want to find myself sitting in the kitchen floor again crying because there is a panty full of food that I can't eat.
Big D, you have not beat me. I will eat more healthy-exercise more often, and enjoy my life.

[R2112]

I have been there. I had been diagnoised a few week earlier and I was trying to decide what I could eat for breakfast. I could not think what I wanted that was on my "acceptable" list. I wanted real food and I wanted it now.

When you think about it, being a diabetic forces you to eat "real food" all of the other stuff in the flashing packaging is process fake food!

I'm still learning what to eat daily and yeah, it's frustrating at times but at least I feel better and for me, I'm a lot healthier than I have been in years.

[Tazmara]

I too feel this frustration when I go grocery shopping. I am experimenting with various foods, so add variety to my meals. I found "safe" foods, and have been trying to stick to them until I can see the dietician and diabetes educator. But eating the same thing day in and day out is boring. I am bad at not being hungry, so when I get bored with what I have been eating, I put off eating. Which I cannot do anymore, because my numbers are getting better, and I am hitting lows that make me not feel well. To avoid the frustration, I decide what I am going to buy before I go to the store, and go directly to that area. I avoid the areas such as bakery, cookies and crackers, and junk food aisles. I have to, because I still crave all those wonderful starches and sweets. If I were to be honest with myself, looking back to when I was first diagnosed at the end of Dec., it is getting easier. Even if only a little bit at a time. I am sure that it will for you too. (soft smile)

[soso]

yeah,,,it kinda makes one wonder why they have to put the flashy packaging around it if it tastes so good......I had a taste of pizza for the second time in 4 years...amazed to report, I did not rate it any more, I ended up just chaawing the topping off and gave the bread to the dogs..it was pap.
Also a month or so ago I looked at every item in the bakery showcase (felt a binge coming on) and left with nothing as there was nothing "insulin-worthy" lol...
So hang in there, the pain does abate....

[Scrabblechick]

Thanks for the support, folks. I really do appreciate it. And as I said, I had already started to make a lot of healthy changes when I was DX. I'd already stopped buying junk food, etc. I just was SO frustrated that almost everything I could really eat took more time to fix than I had right then.

I love to cook and I don't mind spending more time on my food, until I don't have the time to do it. Also, the grocery stores around here don't carry the Dreamland brand, the Hood's brand for the low-carb milk, etc. I'll look for low-carb tortillas, though. Some of the stores in Huntsville might carry these brands, but that's a 25-mile drive and with the price of gas these days...

I generally shop the perimeter, and have for a good while. Last night, I just hit the wall. I wasn't looking for junk to eat, but just something that didn't take a great deal of time to cook.

Actually, I don't have as much trouble in restaurants. Isn't that strange? I can usually look carefully at the menus and choose wisely. And when I have TIME to cook, I usually don't have too many problems. It's mostly just when I'm short on time that I get so very frustrated.

One reason I'm so vigilant (other than that it's the best way to do this) is because I watched my dad die from complications of this @#$#% thing. He was diagnosed in 1966 as an adult diabetic (They didn't do the T1 and T2 thing then. It was either juvenile or adult) and was on ornaise for several years. In the late 70s, he went on insulin. Home glucose monitors weren't available then and he got his BG checked about once a month. I know, it sounds awful, but at that time, that's what was available. He wasn't nearly as strict about his diet as he should have been when he wasn't at home. The floorboards of the car would be littered with honey bun wrappers and chocolate milk cartons.

Anyway, he suffered diabetic retinophathy and in 1983, had a vitreous hemhorrage in his eye. In 1992, he had pneumonia, which damaged his kidneys (didn't know that could happen, but it can). In 1994, he had a heart attack and an allergic reaction to the dye used for the heart cath. That finished off his kidneys and dialysis soon followed. We lost him in 1995. Many of his problems could have been avoided, had he just been more careful about his eating. So, I have the ultimate cautionary tale before me.

Doesn't keep me from getting frustrated now and again, though.

[UpNorth]

25-mile drive and with the price of gas these days...


:topic: I really don't get why ye americans are complaining about gas prices these days! Here in scandinavia, gas costs about 2 dollars, often bit more, per LITER and that's about 1/4 of a gallon... :s:

[Evermont]

yeah,,,it kinda makes one wonder why they have to put the flashy packaging around it if it tastes so good...

It's because the product is competing with a dozen different flashy packages of unhealthy carp right next to it on the same store shelf. Plus, you don't get to taste them first, so you have to choose based on the package.

...I love to cook and I don't mind spending more time on my food, until I don't have the time to do it...

I make big batches of soups or salads on the weekends and otherwise prep food in part just for this reason. I'm always looking for efficiency, it's the engineer in me. Raychel Ray on the Food network has a lot of great tips for speeding things up. I watch her rip into a bell pepper with bare hands to get the seeds out while I've been doing pepper surgery like I'm getting paid by the hour. She cut my pepper prepper time to 1/4 of what it was. Just one example.

The problem isn't that healthy food is inconvenient, the problem is that we got used to the evil convenience of unhealthy foods.

If it helps, when you're all frustrated at "wasting time" prepping healthier foods, just remember that you get that time back manifold at the end of a much longer healthier, happier life.

[SGT Shoutmore]

Even this sounds familiar. I always try to be optimistic, but it's impossible to ALWAYS be in the UP zone.

Oh boy, TRUTH right there! At those moment, I fall back on "At times, you've just got to laugh".

[Kim_in_TN]

I have been where you are while either grocery shopping or just looking in my own pantry. I have found that the key is to keep good things in the house at all times. It's sort of become a little game-type challenge for me to go grocery shopping ... it's like testing my knowledge of healthy foods and feeling like I've "done good" by filling my cart with fruits and veggies and other healthy items!

The weekends are the tough spots for me. When the hubby and kids are in and out and schedules are crazy. We all get up at different times and it seems that someone is always hungry. I still feel the need to plan everyone's meals for them and that is where the problem comes into play. I have found that eating out is actually easier for me now. They can have whatever they want and I now know what to order and what to avoid!

[georgepds]

lets see.. 4 yrs on... yep..still drives me crazy... all the pretty packaging... very carby... don't worry, time will come when apples look soooo good...
c'est la vie....

That's what I was thinking...apples