Eat it...just eat it!

THE CAKE IS MINE!

Okay. So we all know that whenever someone thinks of diabetes, food is one of the, if not THE first associations to come to mind. Most of the general public, since they have little to no experience of living with Type I, still have the antiquated  belief that we subsist on celery and unprocessed cheese and shun anything vaguely "starchy."

Well. I don't know about you, but that doesn't fit ME at all.  In fact, I have a relationship with butter cream frosting that could only be described as "complicated." And although I generally describe my eating habits as healthy and well balanced, I am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

What drives me nuts though, is when other people feel as though they have the freedom to "audit" me and say that I "shouldn't eat that." Oh, yeah, thanks for that memo. Because without your reminder, I would go into complete "diabetic shock" (don't you love that phrase?) due to my poor choices and ignorance.

Wow. I just realized how harsh that might sound, and I recognize that MOST people really do have the best of intentions when launching the whole "can you eat that" conversation. You have to understand that even complaining about these types of occasional comments makes me feel a little cliche, but because it is so prevalent, I feel the need to mention it. Not only because it feels good to vent, but also because it is one of the most common pet peeves for any diabetic.

LET THEM EAT CAKE!!

Aside from the directive and invasive comments though, I also find silent judging and questioning to be problematic. You know, like when you feel the eyes of  your spouse's boss  following every trip your hand makes to the bread basket...

Maybe I have a problem with trying to please everyone, but am I the only one who has ever "audited" what they ate in order to not freak out other people?  Don't get me wrong; I take most opportunities to further diabetes education and chat up the miracle of carb counting, but there are times when it isn't appropriate to dominate the dinner discussion. Or I am just too tired to explain myself for the 1, 345,624th time.

A hypothetical case in point: abstaining from the dessert tray at a family reunion party because my sweet great aunt** would be soooo worried if I had a molten chocolate explosion cake with an ice cream chaser, and my type II great uncle would be jealous and bitter and confused that I am indulging when he really can't (according to his treatment plan, not my judgment). Of course, I then remove my emergency cookie dough stash from the freezer when I get home so I can get my sweet treat fix that overtook my soul when I saw the dessert tray.

**Occasion and relationships have been changed to protect the adorably clueless



So...what are your food auditing experiences? When, where, and why do you find yourself silently altering your food intake in response to others?