It's 7pm on a Friday night. You're on your way home from a hard days work in your fabulously charming job and have just an hour to get home, glam up and get back out there to meet your mates for a night on the town. You're starving and you're thinking that maybe an injection might also be a good idea. Cooking is out of the question, so where to???

With your diabetic conscience and guilt working overtime lately you set out to find a meal low in fat (particularly big, bad saturated fat), that won't pump your blood sugars sky high. You want a meal that will satisfy that persistent rumbling of your stomach and that might make some kind of positive contribution to your nutrient intake. You know to avoid pies, pasties, chips and other foods with visible puddles of fat but what are the better options? With a checklist in mind of things that you have learnt from similar expeditions in the past, you set out to satisfy the now almost violent rumbling of you stomach.

You wander past the local Subway store. There are plenty of low fat options there. A sandwich would be filling…but no. Tonight you want something a little more exotic.

Chucky's Chinese are famous for their steamed rice and stir-fried vegies. Carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and fibre! A nutritional goldmine! You look at some of the other options. The visible grease tells you that it's best to avoid those meals that are clearly fried. But the stir-fry just won't do it for you tonight. So the search continues.

The strong, garlic-tinged aroma of Ciaomagnoli's Cucina draws you in. The options jump from the menu board. Minestrone. Just like Mamma used to make. Chunky, filling and brimming with vegetables. You can just see the nutrients swimming around! Then there's the selection of pasta dishes. The best of which are of course those with tomato-based sauces. Don't shy away from the lasagne either. Sure it may have a higher fat content, but it does taste great and contributes to your iron and calcium intakes, both pretty important for 20-something people on the go.

Jack's Japanese Delights is the next stop on your culinary journey. Sushi is a great choice nutritionally, as it is very low in fat. Raw fish just won't hit the spot tonight, however. Most Japanese food is quite low in fat, and being a largely fish-based cuisine, there is no shortage of those ever-popular fish oils. As good as you know it all is you just can't find that elusive meal that your stomach is now screaming out for.

Where to next? Why McDonalds, KFC, Hungry Jacks and Red Rooster of course! While much of the menu at each of these fine establishments could induce an instantaneous myocardial infarction, there are in fact some decent possibilities.

KFC offers bread rolls, salads and potato and gravy. Although the salads are reasonably high fat a small serve of coleslaw is at least some vegies. If you couple this with a bread roll, a small potato and gravy and a piece of chicken you'll have a tasty meal that won't pack on the pounds.

Even better than this is the skin free chicken and associated products at Red Rooster next door. Can you believe it even has the Heart Foundation tick of approval!??? Who ever said take-away had to be bad?

Then there's Macca's. Oh, the call of the golden arches. This is the place for dessert. A soft-serve cone has only 4g fat (just ensure adequate supplies of the wonder drug: insulin). For those of us a little more indulgent there are strawberry and caramel sundaes with only 6 and 8g fat respectively. If you need further justification, one sundae will provide more than one quarter of your daily calcium requirements. The sound of the customary "Would you like fries with that" snaps you out of your daze and you realise perhaps you should choose a meal before you eye off dessert.

Farley's Fish and Chips across the road promises the best grilled fish in town, add a bread roll, some salad and a couple of steamed dim sims and you think that maybe it could be a deal. Combined with a low fat shake, you think you have finally decided.

It's finally decision time and all you can think of is that food you've been dying for. The food that is going to satisfy the now painful hunger. The food that will do it for you!!! KFC chips with extra salt. So much for exotic! You can't win 'em all but you now have a good handle on the options open to you next time.

This page reviewed 26 October, 2005