Eating out

I pick somewhere that serves decent sized portions of meat. I have a preference for places where you order the ‘sides’ separately as usually that means whatever I really want to eat is larger, and there’s no need to order anything I don’t want to eat.

Having said that, most places will happily remove bread/pasta/chips etc and replace with an alternative - I look for something comparable in price and ask to swap or request something like an egg in place of chips with a burger. Ask for any sauces on the side so you can dip a finger in and assess whether you want to eat it.

Coffee shops don’t usually have anything low carb, so I stick to drinks.

t1 but low carb. The only place I would struggle with is a sandwich shop.
I ask for green veg sides to replace the chips/rice etc. and have a burger without the bun.
If you can, I'd get a copy of any menu from the internet just so that yu can practise making the choices you want to make rather than feeling flustered in the moment or tempted to go with the flow of people eating lots of carbs.
As you say this is for your health!

The usual suspects Meat, fisf chicken. Omlettes, Greek salad. Fried Halumi. Tofu dishes etc.Platters of cheeses I seem to manage pretty well now but in the beginning it was like climbing a mountain/s.
BEWARE OF SALAD DRESSINGS and related additions. Read all labels and beware of the fine print lists of ingredients.

Nando's is your friend! Half a chicken with broccoli and halloumi is my go-to.

Having checked the menus online, as NicoleC says, don't underestimate how helpful people can be if we only give them the chance. Most chefs/maitres d' rather like the consideration of the message going through in advance that we need to avoid certain foods, and will happily check out what we can eat e.g. no dressing on salads, as already mentioned, meat or fish without sauces, no carby veg. and so on. Quite a few people in the industry have diabetes as well, though not everyone sticks to a diabetes-friendly diet because that depends on whether they are getting the right information, and whether they are willing to follow it (just like us!). So rather than the (perfectly legitimate) decision-making being made during the stress of the mealtime schedule, do give them the opportunity to make changes to the actual menu in advance. It does take away the pleasure of ordering on the spot at the time, but saves an awful lot of worry too. Win-win!

stepBack said:

how do people manage going away on holiday? Sounds like a hellava lot of hard work planning ahead wherever you choose to eat including hotel/B&B etc.

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In most places you can easily find something to suit you without working ahead.
Just ask them to leave out the bun/fries/rice, and substitute for something else if possible. If not possible, just don't eat those parts and order an extra starter or a nice cheese platter for dessert.
Two or three starters can make a very nice meal as well!

Once I got more confident I'd happily ask for swaps, or at buffets I'd take the lettuce garnish and eat the contents of sandwiches leaving the bread - with a spoon if necessary. I've had burgers without the buns, the centres of pork pies, etc.
But I might take a square of dark chocolate to have when others are eating cake or deserts.

McDonalds sell burgers without the bun. You can de-select the bun on the touch order screen and the burger is served on a plastic 'sheet'.

stepBack said:

Hi, sorry if this topic has been discussed a million times already. I did try to search for relevant post, but had no joy. Probably me not being too familiar with forums. Anyway, my question is, what do type 2 diabetics do when they want to eat out - restaurants, pubs, coffee shops etc. The world out there doesn't seem to have a clue about low carbohydrates. Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten free all easily available. My partner has been type 2 since late 2019 and was in remission within six months thanks to this website and forum where I got the most helpful guidance regarding carbs and self testing etc. During the past two years we haven't had much oif a chance of eating out in restaurants - when we go to a coffee shop we sneak in home made cake for him. So tell me - how do you people manage if you want to eat out and watch the carbs??? Thanks for any comments.

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Hi, my experience is different I've got my AC1 from 90 to 42 and hopefully lower next test. I test my bloods after every meal and I follow healthy with good choices when I can BUT on occasion where I eat out I have what I want including chips. It's a treat so personally I don't freak out if I have 'normal' pub/restaurant meal couple times a month. I just pull back carbs etc next day. I eat similar as before diagnosis just cut junk and sweets out most time. We're all different so hubby could try a treat and see how it affects him. I'm lucky potatoes don't affect me at all . Even after a roast dinner with flour gravy and 1 Yorkshire pud (in moderation) but still having them my bloods are between 5 and 7 never higher. Only food that I go high with was a fish in batter which took me to 8 so I don't have that. Good luck and enjoy the odd treat.

Patricia Lopez said:

Beware of salad dressings.

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It depends. You can have Italian type salad dressing, best is just olive oil and balsamico vinegar, both have no carbs and IMHO it tastes much better than anything with carbs in it.

When I am travelling (and I was doing a lot before Covid) I tried to avoid food at airports, train stations, I never liked this anyway. I just make sure to drink enough water. For eating out, you can ask e.g. for two vegetables instead of rice, It depends on how low carb you eat.

I’ve just come back from a few day’s away and ate out every night, naked burgers with salad, Mediterranean chicken with mozzarella and salad and an Indian, lamb buhna, curried mushrooms, no rice just a small piece of hubby’s naan bread
(Sorry started the chicken before taking a pic!)

Lupf said:

It depends. You can have Italian type salad dressing, best is just oil and balsamico vinegar, both have no carbs and IMHO it tastes much better than anything with carbs in it.

When I am travelling (and I was doing a lot before Covid) I tried to avoid food at airports, train stations, I never liked this anyway. I just make sure to drink enough water. For eating out, you ask e.g. for two vegetables instead of rice, It depends on how low carb you eat.

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I’d be careful with balsamic vinegar. It’s about 25-30% carbs depending on brand and easy to consume quite a lot of it:

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/essential-balsamic-vinegar-of-modena/007184-3299-3300

You’re much better off with white wine vinegar or similar

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/essential-white-wine-vinegar/007182-3295-3296

Goonergal said:

I’d be careful with balsamic vinegar. It’s about 25-30% carbs depending on brand and easy to consume quite a lot of it:

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/essential-balsamic-vinegar-of-modena/007184-3299-3300

You’re much better off with white wine vinegar or similar

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/essential-white-wine-vinegar/007182-3295-3296

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Thanks @Rachox - I had checked this some time ago as well as balsamic vinegar tastes sweet. I never look at the per serving numbers as they are not well defined. I also don't understand what you mean by 25-30% carbs. All calories in balsamic vinegar are carbs. The Modena we use has 19g of carbs per 100 g. A generous big spoonful sprinkling of balsamic vinegar is about 15 g, which has less than 3 g of carbs. When I did this check I considered this low enough not to worry. I had mentioned balsamic vinegar in my earlier post as you usually can get olive oil and balsamic vinegar when eating out.

Comparing balsamic vinegar to Greek or natural yogurt which has 4 to 5g of carbs per 100g, but you will easily eat 100 g or more in one meal. Cauliflower also has 5 g of carbs per 100 g, even spinach has almost 4 g/100g. In absolute terms, the amount of carbs you eat from balsamic vinegar is smaller than that from vegetables, yoghurt and cheese. So unless you eat less than 30 g of carbs per day, you can indulge in a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar on salads.

All that said, we actually usually mix white wine vinegar with balsamico (apologies to Italian purists) as we like the acidity of white wine vinegar. As we had a surplus of apples in our garden over the last years my partner has started making apple vinegar which is also delicious.

Lupf said:

I also don't understand what you mean by 25-30% carbs

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It was me, not Rachox!

In the link I gave to Balsamic vinegar, the carb content is listed as 30g/per 100g = 30%. I said 25-30% in recognition that there will be a slight variation between brands. Obviously if you only consume a small amount, the carb content will be low, but in my experience it’s very easy to underestimate how much you use, unless you measure each portion.

The comment was intended as a point of clarification as you’d specified it was ‘zero carb’, which can then lead to the assumption that it can be consumed in unlimited quantities.

Hi, I've eaten out quite a bit since diagnosis, including being away on holiday. I've mostly managed well by:

*checking the menu first for things that are obviously ok,
*looking at what foods I could swop within meals I've fancied,
*phoning ahead if it's been a night out, where it would be spoilt if things were tricky, and just asking if they're happy to accommodate me swopping foods etc. and explaining why.
*swopping bits with husband or friends!

I've found that phoning ahead, then letting waiting staff know that I've done this, has been great. People have been really helpful and accommodating. I've also found that where you can easily sort it out, the food tends to be good because there is a chef actually cooking from scratch, rather than stuff coming in pre-made.

I thought I'd never be able to manage something like Thai...but my local restaurant has been amazing: cooking up individual meals to match requests.

For fast food: I've found that Weatherspoons are great and will bend over backwards, Nandos the same, Subway do a nice build-you-own salad (and they seem to be at the airports we've used this year, so hopefully they've a franchise in lots!!)

I guess the only thing I've not had is a sweet pudding. I'll have cheese instead or take a bit of dark chocolate with me.

Good luck!!
Em

Goonergal said:

It was me, not Rachox!

In the link I gave to Balsamic vinegar, the carb content is listed as 30g/per 100g = 30%. I said 25-30% in recognition that there will be a slight variation between brands. Obviously if you only consume a small amount, the carb content will be low, but in my experience it’s very easy to underestimate how much you use, unless you measure each portion.

The comment was intended as a point of clarification as you’d specified it was ‘zero carb’, which can then lead to the assumption that it can be consumed in unlimited quantities.

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Apologies @Goonergal and @Rachox for the mix up and thanks for the clarification. Balsamic vinegar is not zero carbs, wine vinegar is almost zero, about 20 calories/100 g. The variation between different balsamic vinegar is even larger as the Modena I am using has 19 g/100g, which seems to be a typical value, so I will stay away from the Waitrose product, it would probably taste too sweet for me.
PS I always use a spoon for measuring oil and vinegar when making salad dressing. Besides vinegar, lemon juice tastes also great as salad dressing