Friday, January 6, 2012

My Take on Restaurants

First up, I know this post will cause some controversy and that is the last thing I want to do.

PLEASE DO NOT GET MAD AT ME.  We all have different opinions on how to handle diabetes and I'm hesitantly tossing my thoughts out there.

Recently I read a post "bashing" restaurants for not having nutrition information.  And quite frankly, I don't see what the big deal is. (Gasp!)

Yes!  It would be GREAT if every restaurant provided nutritional information, but at the end of the day, we should be able to guess the carbs in food.

And we need to teach our kids to do the same.

Why?

Because you can't rely on nutrition information.

Every cook will dish up a different amount of food.

Ingredients change.

Recipes and portions change!

And what about when you go to a friends house for dinner, or a school party, or a church potluck?

I wouldn't hold my breath for carbs counts.

As parents, it's our job to know the food we allow our children to eat.

At least be able to make a good guess without relying on nutrition information.

And for goodness sakes!  Make sure you check BG 2 hours after eating, because odds are you didn't get it just right.

But I bet you'll be closer next time!

7 comments:

Misty said...

I am grateful when a restaurant has carb counts because even the same food/dish can be made so many different ways. I just recenlty found out that a local pizza place has added sugar in their sauce - no wonder I love it so much! - but that definitely makes a difference in carb counting. However, you make a good point. I am always preaching around here about teaching Ally along the way so that she will one day be confident in managing her own diabetes. Learning to count carbs, even swagging it, are important lessons. And yes, sometimes we get it wrong! But we do learn from it.

Unknown said...

I appreciate the nutritional information as a guide to help when I'm stumped on a SWAG.

That being said, I can't remember the last time I asked for a nutritional guide for carb amounts while dining out. I'd really prefer to just be able to get a straight answer about what is -- and is NOT -- gluten free on the menu.

I've gotten flak from other T1 parents because I don't post nutritional info with recipes on my blog. Well, all I can say is that my idea of a cookie could be larger than yours. There are websites where you can enter the ingredients to calculate nutritional info. If you really think you need it, feel free :)

Denise said...

I totally agree! :-)

I have gotten nutritional info that I felt was off, to find out a couple hours later *I* was right!

SWAG on!

Stephanie said...

Agreed! I don't expect the world to cater to my little diabetic. We SWAG with the best of them! :)

NikDuck said...

Tracy, You are such a trouble maker! Just kidding! :-) I do appreciate restaurants that provide the nutritional info so I can at least use it as a guide and adjust based on what I think when I see the food. I usually plan ahead and check the website at home before we go to a chain restaurant rather than asking for it once there. When so many chain restaurants do provide info it would be nice if the few that don't would get on board. I am shocked over how high the carbs are in so many restaurant foods. I have chosen something different for myself than originally planned once I've seen the carb count!

We go to a lot of local restaurants that do not have printed info and I don't usually even ask, but one place I did happen to ask and they told me there were 30 carbs in their hamburger buns. They were right on. Another local place we went to, I didn't ask and guessed the same amount in the hamburger bun because it looked the same. Well after a few visits I have now figured out it is 60 carbs! That is 2 extra units! I feel pressure to get it right the first time though to avoid an extra shot. I don't expect it from local places, I just think the chain places should follow in line like the majority. Especially since Cracker Barrel says on their website that their mission is "pleasing people".

Denise aka Mom of Bean said...

It's up to us to have basic information to help us in situations when garb counts aren't available...or accurate. Plus, that 60g slice of piazza might need to be counted as 45 for your T1, 60 for mine, and 75 for the one over there.
SWAG on!

Susie said...

Totally agree!
We used to ask, and we'll look around to see if it is available... but no big deal if it isn't. Jess is great at figuring it out!