Diabetes: Psychological support

My mother just entered an assisted living facility where the food is Okay, but it's institutional food. She is type2 -- diagnosed just a few years ago. Early on, she didn't have anyone to support/help her and she didn't really know what to do. She ate popcorn and ice cream, gained weight... she wouldn't listen to anybody. I don't know if she was in denial or if her bs was interfering with her judgment.

She really isn't in good enough health (congestive heart failure) anymore to exercise the way the Type2 might demand, but she does attend an exercise session each morning. Her worst problem right now is a mania over food. We're supplying lots of healthy snacks -- yesterday I took her cheese cubes, fresh strawberries, and a Lean Cuisine meal to put in the freezer. She wakes up in the middle of the night starving. She "needs" to eat she says. Now, in the morning, she realizes what's happened, but she says in the middle of it, she says she feels so hungry she just can't control herself.

I talked to her for a long time about trying to remember to eat the cheese and strawberries if she feels in a panic -- not all of them at once, mind you -- but enough, then wait until it kicks in and THEN... she'll be able to control herself and make better choices. She knows it intellectually, but I don't know how much good I did. I don't want to overwhelm her, so next visit, we'll be talking about the dawn phenom and good bedtime snacks, but her problem isn't a high bs in the morning, it's these middle of the night attacks.

She can still tolerate a lot of foods and at her age, I don't see the need to deny her occasional treats. She ate half a Hardee's cheeseburger and half a chicken sandwich for lunch and two hours later, her bs was just 108. I made her drink a bottle of water with it and she said she felt fine afterward and I watch her closely after she eats treats -- only one has caused her trouble so far. She wants a fish sandwich, but I swear, I'm gonna have to catch the dang fish and fry it up myself... I can't find a fish sandwich anywhere nearby and I'm too far away to buy it here -- it'd be just awful by the time she got to eat it. At this point, I don't know if her nighttime attacks are psychological or symptomatic. I guess we'll figure it out in time.