Eating out with type one can be challenging and frustrating at times - but TOTALLY possible.
Here’s a few tips that help me:
1. Pre-bolus but only for part of the meal! This way if the food takes longer than expected to come out or you aren’t sure of the exact carb count, you won’t in a dangerous spot. Getting that little bit of insulin ahead of time helps tremendously in avoiding a post meal spike.
2. Be prepared to dose more after the meal! When I am unsure of what all is in my food, I often end up needing to give multiple doses throughout the meal. Stay flexible, watch your blood sugar and adjust as you go! As always, being flexible and ready to make changes at any moment is the key to managing diabetes successfully.
3. Stay kind to yourself. There is no point in getting down on yourself for a missed bolus. Eating out can be tough but you have to live your life!! Take mistakes as learning opportunities for next time.
4. If you eat at this restaurant often, create a note page in your phone to jot down the following to refer back to next time:
-Starting BG
-How early did you bolus? How much?
-Did you have to give another dose after?
-Did you spike or fall after?
-Were there any other variables going on that day that might have effected that outcome (ie exercise, stress, time of the month, technology malfunction, etc)
Do you have any to add? If so, let us know in the comments below.