Carb counting/tracking on a spreadsheet

[LucysLostSister]

Info on packets, shop websites, the internet and a calculator.

Yea but what about foods that aren’t labelled? And do I have to weigh & measure & work out portion numbers?

 

[freesia]

When i was first diagnosed i kept a paper diary with what food i ate (how much detail you want to put there is up to you) and how many carbs.

To work out the carbs i weighed out how many carbs i was having, divided it by 100 then multiplied it by the TOTAL carbs listed on any packaging. This gives you thr carb amount you are eating. Bear in mind that cooking methods can sometimes alter the carb amount so check labels to see whether it says cooked/uncooked. I then could see with my meter what foods i could tolerate.

I found the Carbs and Cals book really helpful as it gives you portion sizes in pictures as well as raw and uncooked amounts. Nutracheck free version can be used to check carb amounts when out. I hope this helps.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Yea but what about foods that aren’t labelled? And do I have to weigh & measure & work out portion numbers?

If you buy an item that say's 100gms/portion and the pkt states 4 portions then just divide the portion by 4.
Same as if it says 80gms of carbs for 100gms weight then all you do is weight divide 100 X per grams you are eating.

I haven't worked out why you are going to such extremes though as you are not on insulin are you?
If you are not on insulin then the easiest thing to do is look at what you would normally eat carb wise then reduce it to what you are comfortable with whilst having a good look at the type of carbs you are eating.

 

[Lucyr]

But I need to know how to count the carbs

That’s why I suggested nutracheck to look up the carbs. You can write them down with a pen and paper if you want to stick to the free version.

 

[LucysLostSister]

If you buy an item that say's 100gms/portion and the pkt states 4 portions then just divide the portion by 4.
Same as if it says 80gms of carbs for 100gms weight then all you do is weight divide 100 X per grams you are eating.

I haven't worked out why you are going to such extremes though as you are not on insulin are you?
If you are not on insulin then the easiest thing to do is look at what you would normally eat carb wise then reduce it to what you are comfortable with whilst having a good look at the type of carbs you are eating.

What do you think i am doing is so extreme? Why do you think my not being on insuline is a factor?

I’ve already cut my carbs right down and my bg is still far too high. Most of my meals I’m not having obvious carbs at all (all foods have some carb content)

It’s incredibly hard on a vegetarian diet. I need to eat something and quite honestly I’m hungry most of the time at the moment which is not sustainable or realistic.

I cannot afford to be spending on books, apps etc I don’t want to waste my money on things that I won’t know if they’ll work for me until after purchased. Apps in particular are pretty much impossible to get refunds on.

 

[LucysLostSister]

Nutracheck like Myfitnesspal is not always accurate and the database can be changed without verification.

 

[Lucyr]

Nutracheck like Myfitnesspal is not always accurate and the database can be changed without verification.

It’s accurate enough for many of us who base our insulin doses on it. You seem to again be focusing only on the negatives and finding excuses to make it seem much harder than it needs to be.

It really doesn’t matter if your carb estimate is a gram or two out. The carb values on the packets are an estimate anyway and you aren’t doing anything with the information so being marginally out isn’t going to kill you.

 

[bulkbiker]

It’s incredibly hard on a vegetarian diet.

Indeed it is.. maybe time to reconsider adding back some animal based foods to improve your health?

 

[LucysLostSister]

I just don’t trust it if just anyone can update it. Information on packets is approx yes but it’s also heavily regulated and not allowed to be widely inaccurate.

I don’t believe I’m “finding excuses” at all and quite honestly find that comment insulting & offensive.

I’m trying to get to grips with this and work out a diet that meets my nutritional needs, doesn’t leave me hungry (which is likely to lead me to being tempted to eating things I really shouldn’t), doesn’t affect my other health issues and doesn’t mean compromising my ethics.

To be quite honest I find it very disappointing that while the various plans aimed at diabetics include vegetarian options, there’s not one I can find that is actually designed for a vegetarian diet/lifestyle, with a true understanding of things like we need to be careful to cover nutrients we aren’t getting from meat & fish.

 

[LucysLostSister]

I’m addition to the ethical side, I found by accident that I really don’t tolerate meat well anyway, I had a few incidents after quitting meat where I accidentally consumed it and even without knowing I had, I became quite ill - not food poisoning. It was only after a few incidents that myself and hcps realised what was the trigger. I’d been raised eating meat but had also had constant gastro issues all my childhood which mostly stopped when I stopped eating meat.

I’m not giving up being veggie.

 

[Leadinglights]

Nutracheck like Myfitnesspal is not always accurate and the database can be changed without verification.

I think you are thinking you need to be a lot more accurate than you really have to. Bringing blood glucose down is a gradual process and is not going to happen overnight but being consistent and trying to keep your meal increases to 2-3mmol/l at the 2 hour post meal, will start to bring overall levels down.
For example last night I made a stirfry with some ginger and chilli Tofu 7.5g carb per 100g, the suggested portion was 70g so 5.3g carb, I used a mixture of courgette, red pepper, spring onion, celery, mushrooms, mange tout, frozen green beans, a bit of chilli, a desert spoon of peanut butter and some soy sauce. Had some salad with it and a few prawn type crackers.
I can't remember how much the tofu cost but the pack did 4 meals.
If you are dietary managed then being aware of the carbs you are having rather than needing to know pretty accurately to be able to work out the insulin dose where they would need so many units of insulin for Xg carbs and that X will be different for different people and may even be different for a meal depending on the time of day.
Some of the apps are pretty detailed to allow people to do that.
But testing the effect of your meals is going to be key.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

What do you think i am doing is so extreme? Why do you think my not being on insuline is a factor?

I’ve already cut my carbs right down and my bg is still far too high. Most of my meals I’m not having obvious carbs at all (all foods have some carb content)

It’s incredibly hard on a vegetarian diet. I need to eat something and quite honestly I’m hungry most of the time at the moment which is not sustainable or realistic.

Being on insulin you have to carb count accurately otherwise it's hypo or hyper land simple as that.

If as you say you have cut your carbs right down then, you need to talk to your GP and sort out a suitable medication to help you out.
There are also plenty of carb free foods on the market which are vegetarian friendly so no need to go hungry. You have a lot more choice than a coeliac I can assure you. 🙂

Having a go at posters who are trying to help you isn't that helpful either

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I just don’t trust it if just anyone can update it. Information on packets is approx yes but it’s also heavily regulated and not allowed to be widely inaccurate......

That is not actually the proviso, it's not allowed to be intentionally wildly inaccurate in an attempt to be misleading.
Beyond that, anything goes really.
It can be "accidentally" wildly inaccurate.
Well, not even that is wrong really.
Nothing is illegal.
It's just what !should" be done, or they may ask you to change it.

From the "guidance"

Definition of “average values”
The term “average value” in this context is defined in the European Commission’s guidance on
the setting of tolerances for nutrient values as:
“the value that best represents the amount of the nutrient which a given food contains, and
allows for natural variability of foodstuffs, seasonal variability, patterns of consumptions and
other factors which may cause the actual value to vary.”

Tolerances
Level of accuracy required for declaring amounts of nutrients
It is recognised that it is not always possible for foods to contain the exact amount of nutrients
labelled, owing to natural variations and variations arising from production and length of
storage. However, it is important that the actual nutrient content of foods should not deviate
substantially from labelled amounts, as the consumer could otherwise be misled.

 

[Leadinglights]

Have you seen the Rose Elliot vegetarian low carb recipe book for diabetics.

 

[helli]

@LucysLostSister sorry to read about your struggles.
Unfortunately, there are many approximations and slight inaccuracies when managing diabetes. Our meters have a 15% accuracy tolerance, there are many things apart from carbs that can affect our blood sugars (e.g. stress and illness and exercise and medication and …) and then it is difficult to accurately measure all the food we eat. Different varieties of apples may contain different levels of carbs, a slice of pie may be one with more carrot than the next slice, etc.
All these inaccuracies and influences mean I don’t worry about precise carb counting. An extra carb or two here could be counteracted by a stressful meeting or a few less carbs would be insignificant compared to a drop in blood sugars due to running for the bus.

As an engineer, it took me some time to get used to guestimating and approximates and expecting my levels to be the same every day even if I ate the same number of carbs.

I hope this makes sense and, maybe, explain some of the blunt comments above about your current approach appearing extreme.

 

[42istheanswer]

@LucysLostSister I'm not sure if I have posted this on any of your threads previously, but this is a free carbohydrate reference table if you want to use it. https://www.wchc.nhs.uk/content/uploads/2019/11/Carbohydrate-reference-tables.pdf

 

[LucysLostSister]

Have you seen the Rose Elliot vegetarian low carb recipe book for diabetics.

Not come across that as yet I’ll look it up

 

[LucysLostSister]

Being on insulin you have to carb count accurately otherwise it's hypo or hyper land simple as that.

If as you say you have cut your carbs right down then, you need to talk to your GP and sort out a suitable medication to help you out.
There are also plenty of carb free foods on the market which are vegetarian friendly so no need to go hungry. You have a lot more choice than a coeliac I can assure you. 🙂

Having a go at posters who are trying to help you isn't that helpful

Being on insulin you have to carb count accurately otherwise it's hypo or hyper land simple as that.

If as you say you have cut your carbs right down then, you need to talk to your GP and sort out a suitable medication to help you out.
There are also plenty of carb free foods on the market which are vegetarian friendly so no need to go hungry. You have a lot more choice than a coeliac I can assure you. 🙂

Having a go at posters who are trying to help you isn't that helpful either

ok that makes sense re insulin though it’s also important for t2.

Trying to avoid meds if I can but open to them if deemed necessary.

Aware I have more choice than a coeliac is that something else you have to deal with?

Don’t think I’ve “had a go” at anyone but merely defended myself from an unwarranted accusation from a poster who seems to dislike me anyway.

 

[Lucyr]

An easier way to explain why you can’t find what you want, and have to accept some level of inaccuracy is that:

You’re looking for a source of carb information that doesn’t allow users of the app to update the nutritional information. But you also want a source that is kept up to date with accurate nutritional information.

This means, someone running the app/website needs to be on top of checking the nutritional information of every single manufactured product in the UK plus all the new products to ensure that the app is up to date. That sounds like a full time job for more than one person to me.

This is why some of the apps people find most accurate have a limited free version, and an annual charge for the full version, and then why some also allow users to update the nutritional information if it does change.