It's ok to play with your food if you are diabetic.

People think I'm crazy when I order sandwiches out.  They give me the "Are you supposed to eat that?" look.  I can eat anything.  It's how much I eat that matters.  Especially with sandwiches, my rule is "If you didn't make a mess, you didn't do it right."

For example, the picture above.  This is an example of what my plate and hands look like after I've had a really good, juicy burger at a restaurant.  Messy!  I don't go sticking my tongue out with food in my mouth or do anything crude like that.  I just make a mess and usually need extra napkins.  Why?  Because I have a trick to eating hamburgers.  It helps me eat only half the bun (notice there's no meat on that burger bun above).  This works at most NON-fast food joints.   Fast Food burgers have a tendency to stick together too much for this....that's why I order a double from the cheap menu...it's a smaller bun.  Here's The Burger Trick:

Step 1) Make sure both bun pieces are separated from any cheese or sauce.
Step 2) Re-position toppings so they are still on the burger part, not just between bun.
Step 3) Use fingers to push burger and toppings (if possible) so they are hanging over the edge of the burger.
Step 4) Take a bite.
Step 5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the meat is gone.

My Husband makes me laugh, because every time I order a burger he asks; Are you playing with your food again?  My answer is always a resounding "YES! Of course I am."

I find that if you order the smaller burger (usually 6-8oz) at most restaurants, the bun is a little big.  So, I've been known to push everything to the edge and then peel off a good 1/4 to 1/3 of the extra bun from the beginning.

I do a similar thing for The Wrap Trick.  They usually fold over excess wrap around the side.  There is also a bunch of wrap folded up at the bottom to keep everything in.  Who needs to keep everything in?  Unwrap that puppy and let all the veggies and protein shine.  Then eat it more like a taco.  Depending on how much the wrap is stuffed, I can sometimes get it to only half the tortilla.  At a minimum I skip 1/3 of the wrap. Oh, yes, and I have some very messy hands.  That's what they make napkins and soap for though.

Then there's The Sub Sandwich Trick.  Subs are one of my serious weaknesses.  I absolutely love fresh baked sub buns stuffed with meat and veggies!  So, what do I do?  There are a few options here.

1)  Take out the bread - Some restaurants have an option to scoop out the excess bread in the middle of the bun. This is a great start to cutting bread carbs, so I look for this first.
2)  Order it cut - Order a 6" or 7" sub (depending on the restaurant) and make sure they cut it in half.
3)  Move it over - Take out the innards of one half and stuff them into the innards of the other half, throwing away half the bun.

This way, you get a big gigantic, stuffed to the gills sub and only eat half the bread (or so).

With all three sandwich tricks, I still get bread in every bite.  It's just not as much as I'm served, which can save up to 20 grams of carbs for a sandwich.  Leaving me room for some fruit, yogurt etc...  Yummy!

What are your sandwich tricks?