[Gordonm]

Originally Posted by DannyK

Instead of giving any advise, I would like to know (from T 1's), how many of you think that it's OK to eat anything, or whatever you want, just because you can bolus for it?

NEVER have I thought that way, or was told (by Dr.'s) that it was an alright thing to do.....

It seems to me, that this only confuses the different thinking between the two types.

I eat pretty much like most normal people should eat. Everything in moderation. Yes I have pizza but limit myself to 2 slices. Cake sure why not for a special occasion, just not a huge honkering piece. Pasta on occasion but a very small amount. To eat whatever you want is not good for anyone and will lead to weight gain. I do limit myself on a lot of things but why not give a taste or two and bolus for it. I have found over the years I can limit myself pretty easily. A lot of people have no self control and over do everything.

[jenb]

When I have a yen for pizza I order an individual one with everything I love - sausage, eggplant, olives, onions, basil Hmmmmmmm. Then I just eat the toppings (with lots of crushed red pepper!) and a big salad. It's a high-fat-a-palooza though, so I make sure to test at 3 and 4 hours postmeal to catch that pesky fat-induced high.

Don't worry...the more experienced you get, the easier it will be to handle situations like this. Don't ever feel bad about splurging a little; just learn how to adjust your insulin for it.

Best,
Jen

[shiftzor]

Eating anything you want is a interesting idea. Now we all know the limitations of our insulin i.e. peaking at 2 hours and we all soon find out how food will affect us with this limitation. People keep posting these questions and yet they have the answer . If you can eat a hole pizza and it doesn't spike your bg (1 hour in, 2 hours in and 3-4hours after) then do so at will. If you can't eat pizza because you spike stupidly badly then eat it once in a while so that it doesn't affect your SD too much. Simply forcing yourself not to have it will only make you crave and binge more.

[JayDee1950]

It ain't easy man.
Once you stabilize life will become easier.
I created a spreadsheet to see what effect things had on me, test results and times, foods/snacks between tests, meds, etc.
Within two weeks I pretty much knew what I could get away with. You don't need to starve or be unhappy.
Taking control of your diabeties can be accomplished, most of us here have gone through the same ordeal as you and survived.

[Gangrel]

Originally Posted by DannyK

Instead of giving any advise, I would like to know (from T 1's), how many of you think that it's OK to eat anything, or whatever you want, just because you can bolus for it?

NEVER have I thought that way, or was told (by Dr.'s) that it was an alright thing to do.....

It seems to me, that this only confuses the different thinking between the two types.

I do. But, as many others here have said, in moderation. I think nothing of grabbing a chocolate bar once in a while now that I know MDI and carb counting. But would I do it every single day? No.

But, compared to some on here, i'm a loose cannon..... so your mileage may vary. I try to eat healthy, do all the right things.... stay in shape.... My average A1c over the past few years has probably been 6.6-ish, which compared to what I see in some signature blocks here is a full point higher.

But, this disease has already taken things from my life like career choices, and time, and energy........ I'm not going to give it anything extra.

I keep myself heatlhy, my endo is pleased, so voila. A piece of chocolate cake or a bag of M+Ms once in a while it is.

[washadog]

You can eat pasta at olive garden. I prefer not to eat candy. It is hard on your teeth anyway. I go to Olive garden all the time. You are playing a number game. You have to learn to master the BG control. You have to figure it out by trial and error method. It is never easy. I am 20 years vetern with this. I do understand well. Take one step at a time alway.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by DannyK

Instead of giving any advise, I would like to know (from T 1's), how many of you think that it's OK to eat anything, or whatever you want, just because you can bolus for it?

Not in the least, speaking for myself. I've moderated my carbs and diet quite heavily in order to get what I consider reasonable control.

This is through concrete necessity. Carbs work very fast in me, insulin can be quite sluggish. Most refined carbs outstrip the fastest insulin in me, period. For me, it's untenable to eat a lot of refined carby food and expect good control outcomes.

This is after years of trying to do so, and exploring every trick in the book. It needs to be clear there are two reasons why a meal/bolus may not work. One, is that the dosages and therapy is not correctly adjusted. Two, that the therapy is just not up to the job in most circumstances, for that body.

Some people's physiology seems to lend itself to better being able to match insulin with a wide variety of carbs, with a good outcome afterwards (talking 2 - 6 hours after). Good for them. Thoroughly putting aside all the other potential health risks with over-eating too many refined carbs (which I think could be significant, perhaps more for some people than others, but not actually central to controlling blood sugar in type 1 diabetes unless required), then there seem to be quite a lot of type 1s who can bolus successfully for "normal" amounts of carbs.

Presenting their experience is valid and reasonable. It's when people start telling other people with different bodies, what they can and can't do, that I agree it gets shaky. We need to keep the knowledge and the possibilities open. Note the "for me" in my sentences above. People need to be respectful that if they apply their own take on how control works too strongly, you run the risk of making things worse for someone currently trying to get a grip on their own particular reality.

Maybe the OP needs only to work on insulin delivery. Maybe the OP only needs to restrict carbs. I would highly suspect it's a combo of the two and that keeping both elements in mind (improving insulin therapy, and changing diet to be more conducive to control) that would help many a type 1 having control difficulties with food and meals.

It seems to me, that this only confuses the different thinking between the two types.

This "confusion" is relevant how? Why is it important here? We have a type 1, posting in a type 1 forum, with predominantly type 1s replying, and the types 2s who reply have responded appropriately based on where their own condition intersects with dietary moderation. For a change, there is NO inappropriate confusion between the treatment of T1 and T2. Why are you bringing it up?

[Subby]

Originally Posted by It Ain't Over

There is why you feel such strong hunger, high blood sugars are a clue.

Michelby, this is an incredibly important statement to consider. If you don't have good control, you could be setting off all sorts of tortuous hunger cravings. It can take a while, and that's fine, but doing whatever it takes to reduce your BGs in general back to normal with very little or only brief highs, will over some days likely remove this extreme terrible craving for carbs. Actually, at the moment you might be used to it "just being hunger"... if you move away from that, it's possible you actually will recognise carb cravings.

That might involve removing some carbs that you automatically overeat, leading to an inescapable viscious cycle (overeat, so WILL go high, so WILL keep having cravings...)

I agree with the others that for the moment, you should not feel so tortured by this, you should eat some pizza, other foods, just aim for SOME moderation. It need not be 1 slice or 1 pizza. How about 3 slices. If for example pizza spikes you and causes cravings, it makes sense that this is going to be problematic in the long run. You might be able to deal with many of your favourite foods, but you may need to tweak your insulin dosage and delivery a lot (pumps can also be a quantum leap up for dealing with different foods). But for now, practice bolusing from where you are at, learn something about trying to bolus for specific reasonably moderate sized, high carb foods and meals. Knowledge is power.

Are you carb counting and dosaging that way? That's going to be essential if you are going to be eating large amount of carbs that are so far spiking you. I really do understand your general frustration and I imagine it must seem annoying for people to focus on the details. I've learn't with my diabetes, that focusing on the details and making definite improvements and changes (may seem small and subtle), is how I actually get anywhere with improving control and improving the frustration and emotional side of dealing with the thing. So much of the horrible state of being high, the mental agitation, the moodiness, is the effect it is chemically having on your brain.

[lorilei]

i am much more comfortable with the occaisional splurge (usually not candy though..but a bagel or pasta yes)...it does take some practice...

however, if you are like i was in my early twenties..we went out alot...pasta was a big staple in college...carbs were the only food we could store in our dorm rooms..we had no fridge...i don't know how i would have done that and i think i would have been pretty darned ticked off...

sorry you in a slump right now...it will get easier..

[Mich]

Hi Michelby,

You will find that you are growing stronger than your friends. It takes a paradigm shift to learn to be a diabetic. I agree with Gordon that people tend to overdo things nowdays.

Olive Garden is not the best place to go for dinner when you're just staring out, but they do have great salads and any restaurant will add extra chicken to your salad. Just ask. Find one of your friends that doesn't eat as much pasta and hit them up for a "taste" of the sauce with a little pasta (1/4 or 1/2 cup) and then bolus for it. For salad, count at least 6 grams for each packed cup of salad greens. You can do this and may even teach your friends something about moderation. There is nothing you can't eat, you just learn to pick you battles and eat the stuff that doesn't require a HUGE amount of insulin unless it's *really* important this particular time. You may be young and active enough to tolerate large meals now, but usually as you get older you will be less active and need to eat less to keep from gaining weight.

As for your friends: Go to http://behavioraldiabetes.org/downlo...m=100&view=Fit and download a copy of the Diabetes Etiquette Card for each of them. It's for friends and family who "don't get it" and need a little educating! Enough of that playing "amateur dietician" at your expense! You know what you're doing.

Mich

[gary.keith]

Originally Posted by Mich

As for your friends: [...] download a copy of the Diabetes Etiquette Card for each of them.

Thank you for that link!

[viranth]

The past few days I've been moving, and because the new apartment doesnt have a ready kitchen yet, I've been eating out a lot more than I ever have.

That means burgers, fries, pizza, more burgers, more fries.

My meals have been completly irregular and basically this is horrible control, if you want a strict diet and tight BG control.

BUT, my BG has never been better. I simply cannot understand how it is possible, maybe because I've been walking/working/moving all day, but the amount of, I'm sorry to say, **** foods I've eaten, should have annihilated my BG.

I feel great, and I'm looking forward to getting my kitchen ready (on monday, thank god) so I can eat some healthy food again.

But to answer your first post, eat what you want and make sure you are full. Starving will only make you fall off the wagon, so enjoy yourself when you feel like you need it. Just don't make it a habit.

[mortis505]

I don't moderate as stringently as others here, but I don't eat whatever I please all the time either. I allow myself a treat if my numbers have been good and allow myself to enjoy a bit of decadence once in a while.

To the OP. As was said earlier. learn the value of carb counting. calorieking can be a great tool if used wisely.

[Joeprep4820]

You know, I eat what I want, when I want. I never eat at Olive Garden because their food is lousy, but if I want pasta, I eat pasta, and fairly often (fresh, whole grain pasta from Dean & Deluca's usually). I eat a balanced diet regularly because I don't want to get fat, but normally on a weekend I allow myself to be a bit more liberal with my diet - a few weeks ago when I was back from Berlin I ate a huge bowl of Linguine alla Bolognase and a bottle of wine, and that was okay. Last weekend I ate half of a pizza. You just have to learn how to adjust your insulin to carb ratio. When you master this, you can eat those foods again constantly if you'd like, but I still wouldn't recommend doing that as I wouldn't recommend any normal person doing it either.

[DeusXM]

Instead of giving any advise, I would like to know (from T 1's), how many of you think that it's OK to eat anything, or whatever you want, just because you can bolus for it?

From a diabetes perspective, it's fine.

I would say though that from a general health perspective, no, it's not. In much the same way a healthy 'norm' wouldn't eat McDonalds and pizza and Snickers Pie every day, neither would I.