Snacks????

[Lala.3]

My friend has recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and I want to educate myself so that I can support her.
My friends and I used to have a night once a month where we call came to my house and watched the Cornetto trilogy films. A big part of this was that we bought A LOT of snacks, including a box of cornettos EACH.
My friend had a pretty traumatic time with her diagnosis. She spent a lot of time in hospital and missed some of our GCSEs. Her mum hasn’t wanted her sleeping away from home for a little while but now she’s fairly used to living with it, she’s allowed out again.
This Friday, we’re having Cornetto night for the first time since she was diagnosed and OBVIOUSLY the previous arrangement is not going to work. I don’t want her to feel left out and I especially don’t want her to feel like I’m pitying her, but I do want to buy snacks she can actually eat.
If anyone has any advice of snacks that would be good for me to buy, and how to make my friend feel supported, I’d really appreciate it!

 

[Rokaab]

If anyone has any advice of snacks that would be good for me to buy, and how to make my friend feel supported, I’d really appreciate it!

Ask her what she would feel comfortable eating
T1 is not the same for everyone, so the answer for what one person can deal with as snacks may differ significantly from another

 

[Lala.3]

Ask her what she would feel comfortable eating
T1 is not the same for everyone, so the answer for what one person can deal with as snacks may differ significantly from another

Thank you!

 

[Antje77]

Hi @Lala.3 , welcome to the forum.

First of all, thank you for being a wonderful friend!
I think most of us could have used more friends like you shortly after diagnosis, life is so much better with friends who want to work with you and spend some time learning what we need.

While T1's theoretically can dose for whatever we choose to eat, a whole box of cornettos in one sitting is more of an advanced level of diabetes management, delightful as it sounds. I certainly haven't reached this level after 8 years, but it's not completely impossible in theory either.
Still, likely not enjoyable for your friend at this point so looking for an alternative makes complete sense to me.

Like @Rokaab said, start with what she's comfortable with. Often we start with dosing for meals and avoiding carbs in snacks because we don't know yet how to dose for them, but that's something to ask your friend.

If she's already counting carbs and adjusting mealtime doses to that, she might be comfortable with snacks (but likely not with a box of cornettos).
Have you considered a charcuterie board? Cold meats and cheeses, olives, cherry tomatoes, stuff like that? There are very little carbs in those so if she has her normal meals she's likely to do well with those on top.
If it's instead of a normal evening meal, some carby stuff as well may be useful, depending on how she decides on her doses. Charcuterie board with a cornetto for dessert sounds pretty indulgent and festive to me, but please ask her!

The basics for T1 is that you count the carbs you'll eat, and calculate your insulin dose based on that. But we don't know if she already started this, it takes time to get the hang of it and sometimes we start on fixed doses which don't allow for huge fluctuations in carb intake.

I think you and your friend may find this video both funny and informative. It shows how it's possible to eat the equivalent of a couple of cornettos while keeping your blood glucose in check, but it also shows it needs lots of knowledge and experience, and it's much more work than having that charcuterie board for a festive snack. (By the way, this Afrezza inhaled insulin is not available in the UK.):

(edit: Those guys use different units for blood glucose than your friend does because they're in the US, it's like a Celsius/Fahrenheit thing. So ignore the numbers.)

 

[Lala.3]

Thank you so much your reply has been really helpful!
She’s fairly used to managing her levels from what I’ve seen, though I’m usually around her at concerts when we’re doing a lot of exercise
I’ll definitely ask her what she think about a charcuterie board, I think that’s a brilliant idea!

 

[Antje77]

Thank you so much your reply has been really helpful!
She’s fairly used to managing her levels from what I’ve seen, though I’m usually around her at concerts when we’re doing a lot of exercise
I’ll definitely ask her what she think about a charcuterie board, I think that’s a brilliant idea!

Good luck, and enjoy the return of the cornetto nights, with or without cornettos!

And of course tell us all about it, we love a good party.
Early days with T1, it's not so much about achieving perfect blood glucose but much more about learning about patterns.
So whatever happens with your friend's BG on friday, it will be a learning opportunity for her (and all of you!), and she'll have a better idea on how to manage next month because of this.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

My friend has recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and I want to educate myself so that I can support her.
My friends and I used to have a night once a month where we call came to my house and watched the Cornetto trilogy films. A big part of this was that we bought A LOT of snacks, including a box of cornettos EACH.
My friend had a pretty traumatic time with her diagnosis. She spent a lot of time in hospital and missed some of our GCSEs. Her mum hasn’t wanted her sleeping away from home for a little while but now she’s fairly used to living with it, she’s allowed out again.
This Friday, we’re having Cornetto night for the first time since she was diagnosed and OBVIOUSLY the previous arrangement is not going to work. I don’t want her to feel left out and I especially don’t want her to feel like I’m pitying her, but I do want to buy snacks she can actually eat.
If anyone has any advice of snacks that would be good for me to buy, and how to make my friend feel supported, I’d really appreciate it!

Cornetto nights! I love it. My husband and I watch the movies once a year at least (Though the first one more frequently, as the mood hits us), but we're "old" and have to get to bed early, so we tend to spread them out over a week.

Anyway, just wanted to say I quite agree on the asking. I'm a T2, entirely different kind of animal, but people make assumptions about what I can and can't eat, and it's so much easier if I'm just ASKED... They don't know what's right for me, I do, so... It's nice to be able to participate in something properly, rather than disappointing my host with a... "Yeah, mango slices, not my bag... Victoria sponge? Not for me, thanks".

In any case, charcuterie is an excellent idea, and if you want to add in ice cream, you might want to look into the OPPO brand. It's relatively low carb and without a carby cone it should be quite doable, but when in doubt... Ask your friend. And whatever you do, always keep the packaging at hand, so she can calculate carbs/dosage if need be.

I hope you have an absolutely stunning Cornetto night!
Jo