[mcgruff]

My wife (type 1 for 3 months now) seems to experience quite a lot of food envy. I don’t blame her and feel bad for her; I can only imagine how difficult it is to be around food that you want but can’t eat. This is not to say that she can’t eat these foods at all, of course, but that because of the time of the event (for instance, mid-morning brunch or mid-evening party) or because the food has a huge and/or unknown amount of carbs, she can’t practically eat the food that is there in that social situation. While nourishing oneself as a diabetic doesn’t seem to be too difficult for her or others like her, the fact that food is such a huge part of socializing definitely frustrates her, apparently both because it doesn’t feel socially normal to not eat what everyone else is eating and because she misses the foods themselves. Since her diagnosis, she has become more reluctant to go to social events, mostly for food-related reasons, it would seem. I was therefore wondering if other diabetics eventually get to the point where you can handle social events (including ones where you’ll be surrounded by food you can’t eat) and not be emotionally bothered by it? Did you yourself go through a period where you skipped a lot of social events because you were emotionally bothered by seeing others eating food you couldn’t really have yourself? If so, did you get past those feelings so that you could enjoy the same social events as before.? And if you did, how did you do it and how long did it take?

 

[Jen]

I have never hesitated to go to social functions. I developed T1 when I was approaching my 53rd birthday and after the shock wore off I realized that I was really not limited in what I could do.

Since your wife is taking insulin, there really is NO food she absolutely can't eat - she just needs to adopt an insulin strategy for handling it. I usually concentrate on foods that don't impact my BG too much: proteins, cheese, berries, salads - there's always something available that fits my lower carb lifestyle. If I know, however, that I'm going to indulge in other things (bread's always my downfall!) I make sure to do a small bolus (2 to 2.5 units) about 30 minutes before the event. Then I test and do supplemental boluses at one hour intervals as I decide what I'm eating and how much insulin I'll need to cover any treats.

It is an adjustment, I know, but there are ways to cope. Your wife just needs to be willing to experiment. She's probably self-conscious about the testing and injecting, but that will pass as she becomes more used to the process. Really (and it's probably hard to believe right now), very few people will be paying attention to your wife's regimen. They're all busy in their own conversations and activities.

Your wife is NOT her diabetes. It is a part of her life, but not the totality of it! Best of luck.

Jen