Help, I need Advice!

[alanajuliana]

I've been doing great since I started: All seven of my N days are green so far.

Here's my delimma:

Today I'm driving to an appointment over an hour away, on the interstate. I'll be driving there at around 11:00 am and arriving sometime after 12:00.

And I will be driving home again between 4:00 and 5:00 pm.

Here's the problem-the hours I"m scheduled to drive are my "Hungry times" when I'm miserable and waiting for the next meal. Obviously I could eat before I drive down, but then I would absolutely need something to eat before driving home.

This is my second week of No S, so I'm still establishing good habits, and figuring out what I can and can't do.

I AM hypoglycemic and have the doctor's note to prove it, so I've been rather amazed that I have been able to eliminate my afternoon snack.

And it's the hypoglycemia that worries me. Under normal circumstances I can get by OK with some tea or a cup of orange juice to get me through my late afternoon/early evening slump.

But driving a mini van with my four kids and myself in it is SERIOUS BUSINESS and I"m not willing to compromise safety, and I do get a bit dingy when my blood sugar is low.

And even with eating late, I am always slightly hungry by the time I go to bed between 10:30 and 11:30 pm, so I don't want to eat an early dinner before I drive.

This will be a recurring appointment, so I don't just want to call it an S day.

But I don't think (I could prove myself wrong and have worried for nothing) that driving will be safe unless I eat something.

Should I plan an extra mini-meal and slighly reduce the size of lunch and/or dinner?

Should I try to get by just sipping OJ or V8 juice?

It's certainly not an excuse to hit a drive through and pig out, or wade through a bag of chips or anything.

I'm thinking some juice and some sprouted grain bread with almond butter would be enough to make my evening drive safe. Can I do this and still call it an N day?

What would you do and how would you handle this?

[wosnes]

You do what you need to do to be safe. Don't put the rules ahead your own well-being or the safety and well-being of others. You've got the doctors note -- it's an N day.

There's a difference between snacking because you want to and because you need to for reasons of health, safety and so on.

[gratefuldeb67]

Yes Alana, bring stuff in case you feel your sugar dropping.
But you may be surprised to find you don't need it. Still bring it to be safe as Wosnes says.
One of my NoS friends here from the past had insulin dependent diabetes and was able to do NoS very successfully. I think he added a small fourth meal, but then found after time he didn't need it as he lost weight.

Good luck!
Debs

[howfunisthat]

I agree....your safety is what is important here. If this situation will reoccur, then I'd get in planning mode...decide what you really think you'll need. If having a planned small fourth meal on those days will be the best for you, then that's great. I don't know about you, but if I knew I'd have a fourth meal on those days, it would help me not overeat at the other meals, or be tempted to throw up my hands & give up on that day. I think there's a huge difference between random snacking and planning for a situation that you know will be difficult. And, if you choose to have a fourth "meal" ahead of time, I think you'll still feel as these travel days are a success. Sometimes I think we have to remind ourselves that this plan is designed to help us create healthy habits...and learning to be safe & content on a travel day is definitely a healthy habit! Even if you end up eating more than a normal green day, if you plan for it, you'll feel so much better about the day.

Let us know how it goes!
janie

[alanajuliana]

I think I can do that. And I KNOW that a small planned fourth meal would still not be the amount of calories I was snarfing down on chips and cheese late at night before No S.

[NoelFigart]

First: You do what you need to so that everyone is safe. That's the most important thing.

I do get woodgy and get blood sugar drops under certain conditions. My first signal (like yours) is CRANKY.

I used to carry a package of nuts and raisins in my purse "just in case"m, but found that a drink of milk, 100% juice or something like a V-8 would work.

If this were me, I'd be carrying that V-8 as well as a package of nuts as backup. I'd have the v-8 (totally No-S legal) when I started my drive. If I started yelling at the kids, I'd go ahead and eat the nuts.

[Kathleen]

Reinhard does not count drinking liquids as eating. I found this a useful distinction in a social setting where I could get by with drinking and not eating. I believe that drinking orange juice was one way you thought of to keep you safe, and I believe that keeps N Days green.
Kathleen

[alanajuliana]

Here's how my day went:

I ended up driving down early and eating a packed lunch of leftovers at my friend's house (who was babysitting my kids.) My lunch was lighter, basically I saved half of it for later. (It was a container of tuna noodle veggie leftovers, an apple and a soynutbutter/Ezekiel bread sandwich. I saved the sandwich for later.

I also had some H2Orange made up to sip on.

After my appointment (which went from 1:00-3:45 pm) I was HUNGRY. Yikes. I sipped the orange and then when I got to my friend's house I grabbed 4 fish sticks that the kids had left over...this let me know I needed food (dealing with an imaginary plate here) and I did NOT want that sandwich...

SO I decided to have an early supper before driving home. I got a burrito, and some chips and imagined it all fitting very well onto a plate along with the four fish sticks, ended up giving most of the chips to my kids and that was fine.

Now this late evening I am sipping warm tomato soup from a mug (home made, no sugar) so I'm guessing this counts as a very successful N day because I did not get any sweets, which I am wont to do on a road trip, I did NOT just snack and graze and I DID make decisions and fed myself when I needed it.

I still reserve the right to a mini meal before bed, if I need it (since I never did eat that sandwich), but I'm thinking sipping this soup will be enough.

[howfunisthat]

Yeah!!!! What a terrific day! It sounds like a plan you could do again with great success!

Congrats on a great plan executed!

janie

[BuckeyePink]

Great work, Alana!

Thinking and acting ahead is 95% of the battle.

[reinhard]

Congrutulations, alanajuliana!

Sorry I didn't get to weigh in till after the event -- but sounds like you handled it brilliantly (and I don't think I would have had much to add to the excellent advice you received already).

Reinhard