OMG, he just saved my vacation!

Had a bunch of stuff going on, hand't picked up his book in a little while. Yesterday, I had to go to ER (minor thing, unrelated), and so I brought 2 books along to read.

(Honestly, I also brought it to help me to remember to disclose diabetes.)

And I got to a section that "changed everything" for me.

Now, I've done Atkins before. I'm good at it, including when eating out. The thing is... before my diagnosis, the stakes were lower. I could occasionally "cheat" and be fine. (One of my more common "cheats" is there was a particular dark-chocolate/pomegranate candy I would crave during migraines -- which could get bad. So we would count them out, I'd eat them and feel a little better, and if I noticed anything the next morning, I'd just go deeper into Induction-mode... but usually that lone cheat wouldn't have any noticeable affect.

Now that I'm diabetic, there's a lot more at stake and I can't get away with just "starting over".

All of this has made me almost phobic of eating food not prepared in my own kitchen.

What did they cook it in? Is that sauce safe to eat? Can I have dressing on my salad, or is it sugar-loaded?

A lot of my favorite places, I just don't go anymore because I can't "trust" the food.

And in a year, we're going on a cruise. I've cruised before -- on this same ship - and was able to find plenty of LCHF food to eat. But that was before diabetes was on the table, and the stakes rose. I'll admit, I was being nervous about that, wondering how I would manage. ("Should I ask the doc to put me on medication for the trip?")

Then I got to the section where he talks about testing food for glucose.

You're kidding me, right?

First, I didn't even know they still MADE urine test-strips for glucose. (I remember when we had to dissolve a tablet in a test-tube and compare color. I think -- in my house -- we went straight from that to finger-pricks.) Second... I may actually be able to RELAX when eating out (or when on that cruise).