Need portable diabetic snack ideas

Quentin Grady · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

This post not CC'd by email
On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 14:11:04 GMT, "B Briggs"
wrote:

>My husband is trying to control his blood sugar readings
>with diet, but we are having a hard time with the day time
>diet. We live in a rural area and when he his working he is
>often away from anyplace to stop and eat. If he can, he
>comes home for a good lunch but often he is many miles away.
>We need some ideas for some good, tasty and portable snacks
>that he can keep in his work truck that will be easily
>available so he doesn't end up going hours between eating,
>or worse yet starving by the time he passes by the local
>burger joint and caves in to eating a hamburger and tater
>tots with (gasp) a banana milk shake. We are new to this
>and have begun home testing to try to get a grip. His
>morning numbers are over 190, while mine are low 80 or less.
>Help!
>
>Thanks for any ideas
>Barbara

G'day G'day Barbara,

You don't say whether your husband is T2 or T1. These are two
different ball games. The dietary rules are about as similar as those
for basket ball and base ball.

Something I found useful was raw almonds with a few dried apricots.
Almonds are very low in carb, supply vegetable protein containing high
levels of arginine and the mineral magnesium which reduces the
incidence of ischemic heart attack. Some people worry themselves over
most anything and get concerned that the fats will raise cholesterol.
In this instance recent research shows quite the contrary; eating
almonds actually reduces cholesterol levels. Since your husband has
high blood glucose levels more or less continuously then he will be
passing a lot of magnesium in his urine. This is not a good thing as
it makes the heart more twitchy. Dried apricot have a low glycemic
index which means although apricots are high in carbohydrate their
affect on blood glucose is surprisingly mild. Dried apricots are high
in potassium and boron. Boron is good for blokes. It helps reduce
the incidence of prostate cancer. Whatever. Almonds with few dried
apricots keep well. I used to carry them around in a resealable
sandwich bag in my pocket without them deteriorating.

Good to see you giving him a rev up with your life isn't over speech.
It sure ain't. In fact there is a high chance if he responds to this
wake up call that he will emerge healthier than before.

Best wishes,
Feel free to ask as many questions as you like,

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

Archived from group: alt>food>diabetic

lallin · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 10

You'll first have to get him over the denial stage. Any diabetic who thinks
it's ok to have a hamburger, tater tots and banana milk shake is one who is
looking for excuses not to take diet seriously. There is no reason why he
could not stop at the hamburger place and have a diabetic friendly meal; he
just has to be willing to do it.

Take McDonald's as an example; a Quarter-pounder, no cheese, is 2 carb
exchanges, 1 fat and (i think) 3 medium fat meats. Skip the fries, the
smallest order is 2 carb exhanges, and have a salad (worst case .5 carbs
unless you eat the croutons, then it goes up another .4). And the guy is an
idiot to order the banana shake; at Mc's the lowest carb load any shake has
is around 6, the highest about 12; skip that and have a diet drink, water or
iced tea. You can eat a filling meal at just about any fast food joint with
a carb load of only 2-3 exchanges; need less, toss half the bun and pick
your salad carefully and you can get to 1 carb exchange and still have a
filling meal.

Compare that to the Sonic menu you mentioned: Banana shake starts at 3 carb
exchanges, depending or size and whether its the banana cream pie shake, can
go up to 9 carb exchanges. Tater tots, 2-3 carb exchanges depending on size
and topping. Hamburger is 3 carb exhanges, unless he gets the Jr.
(unlikely) which is 2. Assuming Sonic is where he stops, the meal you
mentioned is a minimum of 7 carb exchanges and can be as much as 15 and we
haven't even looked at the speed with which some foods effect blood sugar
(for me, potatoes of any kind are turbo charged carbs, fast and very high
rise).

So, get him past denial; that's the only thing that will help. You come up
with "diabetic" snacks and he'll eat those and then top it off with a banana
shake on the way home. The reason you are having trouble with the daytime
diet is most likely because you are not there to see what he's eating and he
goes nuts.

You obviously have online access; visit the websites for local fast food
purveyors and read the nutrition info. Decide in advance what kind of
meal(s) is acceptable from their menu.

Good luck.

On 18-Jul-2003, Quentin Grady wrote:

> >We need some ideas for some good, tasty and portable snacks
> >that he can keep in his work truck that will be easily
> >available so he doesn't end up going hours between eating,
> >or worse yet starving by the time he passes by the local
> >burger joint and caves in to eating a hamburger and tater
> >tots with (gasp) a banana milk shake. We are new to this

Jennifer · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 64

B Briggs wrote:

> Oh yes. Out of control, but we are getting a grip. He even
> did his blood test on his own before lunch at home
> yesterday! Baby steps, baby steps. Smile

>
> Barbara
>

That's great Barbara!!

And I'll bet as he begins to see better and better numbers, he'll
"enjoy" using the meter more.

Best of health to you both!

Jennifer

B Briggs · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 6

"Jennifer" wrote in message@earthlink.net...
>
>
> Quentin Grady wrote:
> > This post not CC'd by email
> > On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 09:37:01 -0700, Jennifer
> > wrote:
> >
> >
> >>His morning numbers are high because of the Dawn
Phenomenon. Most T2s
> >>suffer from it. I have a lovely long explanation, but
to be honest, his
> >>numbers are a bit high even for that.
> >
> >
> > G'day G'day Jennifer,
> >
> > He might just be wildly out of control.
> >
> > Best wishes,
>
>
> That's what I was intimating...
>
> I guess I need to be more direct ; )
>

Oh yes. Out of control, but we are getting a grip. He even
did his blood test on his own before lunch at home
yesterday! Baby steps, baby steps. Smile

Barbara

Quentin Grady · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

This post not CC'd by email
On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 16:09:18 GMT, "B Briggs"
wrote:

>Oh yes. Out of control, but we are getting a grip. He even
>did his blood test on his own before lunch at home
>yesterday! Baby steps, baby steps. Smile

>
>Barbara

G'day G'day Barbara,

Baby snatcher! Baby snatcher!

Awe come on. He's a big lad.

Haven't you given him the obligatory "Stop behaving like a girl's
blouse" lecture and warned him that if he doesn't get his blood
glucose levels under control his dick will fall off?

Chances are he'll understand that a whole lot better than nagging him
about all the wonderful friends he make if his kidneys pack up and he
has to go on over night dialysis. But hey whatever works.

Just long as you don't give him a lolly for being a good boy after he
takes his blood glucose.

Best wishes,

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

Quentin Grady · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

This post not CC'd by email
On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 09:22:31 -0700, Jennifer
wrote:

>That's great Barbara!!
>
>And I'll bet as he begins to see better and better numbers, he'll
>"enjoy" using the meter more.
>
>Best of health to you both!
>
>Jennifer

G'day G'day Jennifer,

Gee you're nice. OK, most of us are nice.
I have even been known to be nice ... though there is clear evidence
"nice" is a four letter word.

Myself I get a little uncomfortable about control by proxy so
sometimes I will go that little bit further to ensure I attract the
attention of the principle.

Best wishes,

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

B Briggs · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 6

"Quentin Grady" wrote in message@4ax.com...
> This post not CC'd by email
> On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 16:09:18 GMT, "B Briggs"

> wrote:
>
> >Oh yes. Out of control, but we are getting a grip. He
even
> >did his blood test on his own before lunch at home
> >yesterday! Baby steps, baby steps. Smile

> >
> >Barbara
>
> G'day G'day Barbara,
>
> Baby snatcher! Baby snatcher!
>
> Awe come on. He's a big lad.
>
> Haven't you given him the obligatory "Stop behaving like a
girl's
> blouse" lecture and warned him that if he doesn't get his
blood
> glucose levels under control his dick will fall off?

Omigod, that "will" scare the hell out of him. Me too. Smile

Actually, I do understand he is the one to utlimately be in
charge of his own body. All I can do is cook the right
meals and make sure we don't have the "bad" tempting snacks
at home. If he wants to blow it on his own time, there
isn't much I can do about it. We've only been at this
lifestyle change a few weeks so it will take some time and I
realize I can't push my hubby down the path. As I said, I
do not want to be the food police or the blood patrol.

> Chances are he'll understand that a whole lot better than
nagging him
> about all the wonderful friends he make if his kidneys
pack up and he
> has to go on over night dialysis. But hey whatever works.

> Just long as you don't give him a lolly for being a good
boy after he
> takes his blood glucose.
>
No, but we might consider something with that other body
part you mentioned.

Thanks, you are all so helpful.

Barbara (wife of Terry)

Quentin Grady · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

This post not CC'd by email
On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 14:10:04 GMT, "B Briggs"
wrote:

>Wonderful! We live in California land of apricots and
>almonds.

G'day G'day Barbara,

A sweet almonds in my pantry came from California. California's
reputation for almonds is well founded.

>> Good to see you giving him a rev up with your life isn't
>> over speech.
>> It sure ain't. In fact there is a high chance if he
>> responds to this wake up call that he will emerge healthier than before.
>
>Yes he needs a bit of encouragment, however I don't want to
>become the food and blood testing police. Smile

Now that really is a toughy. I mean it. I'm glad you recognise that
you can't successfully be the food and blood testing police. That
would be control by proxy and it doesn't work well. Crap will happen
to your husband from time to time. It is unfair if somehow you appear
responsible for his lack of attention to these matters. The reality
is that no matter what we do there are no guarantees that everything
will turn out all right. You might or might not guess that I am a
strong advocate for adult liberation. IMHO adults basically take care
of themselves. Sometimes when they are lucky someone else protects
their butt but heaven help any adult who doesn't take responsibility
for dealing with something they can clearly see.

>So far just
>a few weeks of changing diets, snacking during the day and
>trying to exercise more have helped his numbers. We were
>thrilled to see a reading of 129 after dinner last night.
>(Green salad with poached prawns, broccoli and cauliflower
>bits,olives, baby carrots, avocado and sliced egg, with
>vinegarette dressing and a bit of parmesan cheese.

The obvious flaw with this is the queue outside your kitchen/dining
room door. It should make the location of your house visible from spy
satellites.

Just kidding. That is a brilliant balanced meal.

> Club soda
>with freshly squeezed lime over ice. Dessert sliced
>strawberries sweetened with splenda and cream.) As a good
>aside, I am also losing some weight and feeling better.

Further brilliance.

>Todays food: Give me feedback if this is not good diabetic
>eating.
>Breakfast: Omelete with avocado, shrimp and parmesan cheese
>(left over from the last night salad) and the rest of the
>sliced strawberries, small glass of v-8
>
>Lunch: my best guess since I am at work also Baked mustard
>herbed chicken breast (also left over) with
>cauliflower,carrots and broccoli dipped in a mayo/ranch
>dressing. Diet grapefruit soda.

> Dinner. Stir fry beef (top round) with red bell pepper,
>broccoli, onions, mushrooms, sweet peas over brown rice.
>Dessert: cubed cantelope and bing cherries.
>
>Thanks for the support
>
>Barbara

You will KNOW you are on the right track as you see the blood glucose
readings dropping to normal levels. Both of you will feel better as
well. You're doing great.

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

Quentin Grady · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

This post not CC'd by email
On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 00:09:26 GMT, lallin@juno.com wrote:

>So, get him past denial; that's the only thing that will help. You come up
>with "diabetic" snacks and he'll eat those and then top it off with a banana
>shake on the way home. The reason you are having trouble with the daytime
>diet is most likely because you are not there to see what he's eating and he
>goes nuts.

Absolutely.

I has to be him.

Best wishes,

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

Quentin Grady · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

This post not CC'd by email
On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:54:32 GMT, "B Briggs"
wrote:

>> Awe come on. He's a big lad.
>>
>> Haven't you given him the obligatory "Stop behaving like a
>> girl's blouse" lecture and warned him that if he doesn't get his
>> blood glucose levels under control his dick will fall off?
>
>Omigod, that "will" scare the hell out of him. Me too. Smile

G'day G'day Barabara,

Good. It is important at one level that is scare BOTH of you.
Governments and health insurers hate diabetes. The complications may
take a long time coming but the other side of the coin is one has to
live with them for a long time. The "one" in this case is the whole
family.

On another level there is something else perhaps more important to
take hold of ... you have incredible strength. It is expresses itself
in your humour, and the rapidity with which you have adapted.

>Actually, I do understand he is the one to utlimately be in
>charge of his own body. All I can do is cook the right
>meals and make sure we don't have the "bad" tempting snacks
>at home. If he wants to blow it on his own time, there
>isn't much I can do about it. We've only been at this
>lifestyle change a few weeks so it will take some time and I
>realize I can't push my hubby down the path. As I said, I
>do not want to be the food police or the blood patrol.

Dunno. Is it ALL you can do? Perhaps that is how it is. From a
zillion miles away I'd have thought there would a bit of drawing lines
in the sand. Like giving some detailed reality tv facts of what
awaits blokes who don't get their diabetes under control. Crunch
time. The crunchy bar or me BEFORE his bar starts losing its crunch.
The point of the negotiation gets a bit lost if left too long.

>> Chances are he'll understand that a whole lot better than
>> nagging him about all the wonderful friends he make if his kidneys
>> pack up and he has to go on over night dialysis. But hey whatever works.
>
>> Just long as you don't give him a lolly for being a good
>> boy after he takes his blood glucose.
>>
>No, but we might consider something with that other body
>part you mentioned.

I don't usually hold out much hope for situations where one partner
shoulders the responsibility rightfully belonging to the other. There
is a whole literature on "enabling" alcoholics for instance. However,
in your case, there is something special. You have a wicked sense of
humour. Now wicked is good because it allows what needs to be said to
be said without nagging so action is taken while still poignant.

>Thanks, you are all so helpful.
>
>Barbara (wife of Terry)

And I get the impression Terry is worth fighting for.
Maybe he needs to know that.

Best wishes to you both.

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin

Al in Oz · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 1

"B Briggs" wrote in message$Lk3.765@news02.roc.ny...
> My husband is trying to control his blood sugar readings
> with diet, but we are having a hard time with the day time
> diet.
(snip)

Hi Barbara.
I've just got back to misc.health.diabetes after a holiday and just now
found how to load a.f.d and discovered your thread.
I was dx Feb 2002 T2. I know how hard it can be to convince him - I
hope you've succeeded. You've had lots of great advice and I won't add
to the lectures.

Snacks depend so much on your tastes, but I found that a small
re-sealable plastic box of marinated olives in the car helped me stay
away from Maccas etc. At home I make up a little platter of cheese (try
to have small chunks of several types), peppers, sliced raw
onion/carrots/etc with low-fat crackers. Also nuts can be great but you
have to be a little careful about eating too many. One definition of
impossible is to eat one nut from a box...
You know what he likes - try experiments with lo-carb versions if
possible and try to swap high GI with low; e.g. beans instead of
potatoes or multi-grain wholemeal instead of white bread and so on.

Best of luck to both of you:-)

Walter Luffman · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 3

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 14:41:49 +1000, "Al in Oz"
wrote:

>
>"B Briggs" wrote in message
>$Lk3.765@news02.roc.ny...
>> My husband is trying to control his blood sugar readings
>> with diet, but we are having a hard time with the day time
>> diet.
>(snip)
>
>Hi Barbara.
>I've just got back to misc.health.diabetes after a holiday and just now
>found how to load a.f.d and discovered your thread.
>I was dx Feb 2002 T2. I know how hard it can be to convince him - I
>hope you've succeeded. You've had lots of great advice and I won't add
>to the lectures.
>
>Snacks depend so much on your tastes, but I found that a small
>re-sealable plastic box of marinated olives in the car helped me stay
>away from Maccas etc. At home I make up a little platter of cheese (try
>to have small chunks of several types), peppers, sliced raw
>onion/carrots/etc with low-fat crackers. Also nuts can be great but you
>have to be a little careful about eating too many. One definition of
>impossible is to eat one nut from a box...
>You know what he likes - try experiments with lo-carb versions if
>possible and try to swap high GI with low; e.g. beans instead of
>potatoes or multi-grain wholemeal instead of white bread and so on.
>
>Best of luck to both of you:-)

And don't ignore the low-carb and low-glycemic-index snacks made
especially for diabetics. My current favorite is the Fifty/50
chocolate peanut butter bars; a little pricey, but just the thing for
when you want something sweet without raising BG. The Hershey and
Reese's chocolate snacks made with aspartame are also pretty good,
although not in the same league (IMHO) with the Fifty/50 products.

For times when the BG is a little lower than you'd like, those little
snack-size boxes of raisins are a tasty, easy-to-carry way to avoid
hypoglycemia. Not as fast as juice or a sugary soda, but useful when
you're still above the true danger zone. I keep a box or two in my
car at all times. (I also keep glucose tablets for when I need to
lift my BG *fast*, and dry-roasted peanuts or cashews for when I just
want to maintain my current BG level.)

At home my favorite between-meals snack is sugar-free gelatin. But
itself it's something a diabetic can eat in any quantity without worry
about raising BG. Add "lite" fruit cocktail to it and it has only a
small-to-moderate amount of carbs per serving, which most of us can
easily work into our daily carb allowance.

Or just grab an apple, a plum, a nectarine, a handful of berries, or
some citrus fruit. Fructose (fruit sugar) is not nearly as big a
problem as table sugar, because it takes very little of it to impart a
lot of natural sweetness to fruit; that means there isn't very much
fructose (carbohydrate) in most fruit. Besides, whole fruit also has
fiber, which is "good" carbohydrate. I wouldn't recommend fruit (or
any other form of carbohydrate) for someone whose BG is higher than it
ought to be; but if it's within the normal/nondiabetic "safe" range, a
little fresh fruit should be just fine.

___
Walter Luffman Medina, TN USA
Amateur curmudgeon, equal-opportunity annoyer

Siobhan Perricone · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 29

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 02:05:40 -0500, Walter Luffman
wrote:

>And don't ignore the low-carb and low-glycemic-index snacks made
>especially for diabetics. My current favorite is the Fifty/50
>chocolate peanut butter bars;

How many carbs is in one of those?

>Or just grab an apple, a plum, a nectarine, a handful of berries, or
>some citrus fruit. Fructose (fruit sugar) is not nearly as big a
>problem as table sugar, because it takes very little of it to impart a
>lot of natural sweetness to fruit; that means there isn't very much
>fructose (carbohydrate) in most fruit. Besides, whole fruit also has
>fiber, which is "good" carbohydrate. I wouldn't recommend fruit (or
>any other form of carbohydrate) for someone whose BG is higher than it
>ought to be; but if it's within the normal/nondiabetic "safe" range, a
>little fresh fruit should be just fine.

Yeah, I find that cherries are great. They have plenty of fiber, and I can
eat a fair number of them without significantly impacting my BG, though
oranges I can't have so much. Apples work for me, too, and peaches. I
guess the more fibrous fruits are better for me. Smile

--
Siobhan Perricone
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or
that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

You have a choice: www.deanforamerica.com
Feel free to contact me about him, he was my governor and "boss" for 10 years.

Walter Luffman · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 3

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 15:01:52 GMT, Siobhan Perricone
wrote:

>On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 02:05:40 -0500, Walter Luffman
> wrote:
>
>>And don't ignore the low-carb and low-glycemic-index snacks made
>>especially for diabetics. My current favorite is the Fifty/50
>>chocolate peanut butter bars;
>
>How many carbs is in one of those?

Nutrition info for all Fifty50 foods can be found at:
http://www.fifty50foods.com/nutritionchart.html#snackbars
Scroll down until you find "PB snack bars". Note that all numbers
given for the chocolate-covered peanut butter snack bars are based on
a serving size of two bars.

___
Walter Luffman Medina, TN USA
Amateur curmudgeon, equal-opportunity annoyer