Today's Confession...

Here is my confession for today:

I ATE A MUSHROOM CHEESEBURGER.

I ate all but two bites of the bun. I savored that burger, too - my first one since being diagnosed with diabetes. I'm not a big red meat eater, but sometimes, I just want a burger. And today was one of those times.

So, now that I have diabetes, this is what I try to do. I try to figure out ahead of time where I'm going so that I can look at their menu online. It's a big, fat bonus if they have nutritional info listed, too. Today, I determined that I wanted a burger and where I wanted to get it. I went to the website and looked up the nutritional info.

News flash: FRIES HAVE A POOPLOAD OF CARBS.

I love the fries at this place. They're crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. You can get them with this lovely sauce on them that's buttery, rosemary-ey goodness. So. Fricking. Fabulous. But SO. MANY. CARBS. Even the kids' serving would put me over on carbs! (What is wrong with this picture? But that's another day...)

So, I decided, before I even left my house, what I would order, based on the numbers in front of me. I even came up with a backup plan in case my primary plan didn't work. And the plan didn't include fries. I made that decision before I even got into my car.

The whole time I was driving over there, I went over and over the plan in my mind. If it seems like overkill, maybe it is. But I'll tell you that for me, this kind of looking ahead and planning ahead really works. I order better because I know better what I'm ordering.

The deal is, eating out can be really tricky. There are all kinds of hidden things in food we get in restaurants - if it's low in one thing (say, fat), it's probably high in something else (say, carbs). And so there's a balance to find. Sometimes, I do really well, and other times - not so much. But looking ahead and planning ahead really does help me to do better.

And, by the way, to the restaurants out there who provide nutritional info, as a diabetic with several food allergies - THANK YOU.