Dietary musing

[dvandom]

Now that it's generally known around work that I'm diabetic, I'm often asked if I can have this or that. Thing is, that's not the right question. I have no food allergies, so I can have anything I want...in terms of varieties.

The proper question is a bit more complex, and in multiple parts.

1. How much can I have? If it's a meal, 30-60g of carbs (upper end requires I drink something no-cal instead of milk, though). A snack should be under 20g. Keeping calories down is also important, but I don't really worry about that too much right now, as restricting carbs alone generally keeps my calories down enough I'm still losing weight (217 lbs this morning). Now, this does limit my diet...while I can still have soda, I can no longer have the 44oz monster drinks I used to have. While I can still have pizza, eating an entire 12" pizza in one meal like I used to is right out. So is eating a half pound of Doritos.

2. Is it worth the bother to have that much? This is split into two sub-questions: 2a) is it worth bothering to consume that much, and 2b) is it worth the hassle of getting that serving size? If I'm thirsty, 8oz of soda won't do much for me, so it's not worth drinking soda. And there's a lot of things that just don't come in sizes that small. For instance, I really like Planet Sub's Italian sub. But the smallest variety is about twice as much as I really should have in a meal (maybe 50% too much...too much in any case). They don't have a kiddie size, and it's a hassle to eat part and take the rest home to eat later. So I don't eat at Planet Sub anymore (although I might splurge occasionally once I get off insulin).

3. Is it worth having that much instead of having something else? A granola bar (which I like) is about one snack's worth. Two small pieces of chocolate are also one snack's worth. Usually, I'd rather have the granola...more filling, better for me anyway. But once in a while if I get some high quality chockies, I'll have them instead. On the other hand, if the choice is 8oz of sugared soda or as much no-cal seltzer as I want and something to eat, soda loses every time.

Some things, like a single piece of sugar free toffee, or a stick of gum, are so small in portion size I can have one "free", but everything else goes through the above heuristic on some level now. As diets go, it's pretty easy to stick to, and that's the best kind, really. Complex diets or those high in denial are just stacking the deck against yourself.