Type1_20years_newLibreUser_books?

[fabmichelleT1]

Hi I am looking for recommendations for the best recipe and carb counting books , preferably aimed at Type1 Diabetic. Have been diagnosed 20 years and have been using Libre for last few months (start of lockdown) and has made me realise that I really need to work harder on my carb counting along with cutting down Carbs ..preferably in an interesting and delicious way? Ideally with some mind control elements too...
Suggestions welcome, not much of a meat eater so vegetarian would be great
Would also welcome any ideas on “no carb” snacking .. does it exist?
thank you in advance🙂

 

[Kaylz]

I've never used a book for carb counting, I self taught using product nutrition information and never had a problem that way, books are just a rough guide, the same thing can vary widely on brand etc

As for recipe books, you could just take any recipe book and adapt to your lifestyle choices, so say things that use rice, substitute it for cauliflower rice etc

No carb snacking - eggs, cheeses, cold meats, things like that I at least don't need to bolus for but some may due to the protein content but that's completely individual (as is all things diabetes lol)

And oh welcome to the forum 🙂
xx

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @fabmichelleT1 Glad that you have found us.

Like you I learnt a lot about what was happening to my levels post meals once I had a Libre. A real game changer for me. I found which foods made my levels spike, and I also used the output to work out how early to do my meal Bolus at different times through the day.

At the start of carb counting I used Carbs and Cals, and now occasionally use the phone app when we are out if I am unsure of a meal. Having been counting for a while now I generally know by eye.
(I became very knowledgable about the carbs in different biscuits from attending meetings). Many restaurants and cafes have the info if you ask for it. Our local cafe which does a mean cheese scone did not know the carbs for it, but promised to find out for me by the following week which they did. Before lockdown that was a regular haunt with such excellent service.

Like @Kaylz I don’t use any specific recipe books. I use a different one each time it is my week to cook. All we then do is adapt the portions or make swaps of lower carb options to suit our own target of carbs. I swap pasta for courgette when courgettes are in season. We know how many potatoes or how much rice gives us 25g of carbs, and for us the other 5g to make up our target comes from fresh veg. I am a fan of our spiraliser as that bulks out food and makes things cook very quickly. The book Inspirallised has loads of yummy recipes in. In lots of recipe books now I have written the carbs in next to the ingredients. I know different brands will vary a bit but it is good enough as my eventual amount will no doubt be a bit of an ‘ish’ count.

My biggest frustration is the way that so many products give the you carb count for the amount once cooked. The info about dry weight is usually buried in there somewhere but who weighs their food when it is cooked in amongst everything else. We have gathered a list of how much dry weight of the foods we commonly use to get us to our 25 g of carbs, and another for the carbs per 100g for other stuff. If all else fails there is Google.

I hope that that helps. Do come back with any other questions that you have, and we also look forward to your input with all your experience.

 

[fabmichelleT1]

Welcome to the forum @fabmichelleT1 Glad that you have found us.

Like you I learnt a lot about what was happening to my levels post meals once I had a Libre. A real game changer for me. I found which foods made my levels spike, and I also used the output to work out how early to do my meal Bolus at different times through the day.

At the start of carb counting I used Carbs and Cals, and now occasionally use the phone app when we are out if I am unsure of a meal. Having been counting for a while now I generally know by eye.
(I became very knowledgable about the carbs in different biscuits from attending meetings). Many restaurants and cafes have the info if you ask for it. Our local cafe which does a mean cheese scone did not know the carbs for it, but promised to find out for me by the following week which they did. Before lockdown that was a regular haunt with such excellent service.

Like @Kaylz I don’t use any specific recipe books. I use a different one each time it is my week to cook. All we then do is adapt the portions or make swaps of lower carb options to suit our own target of carbs. I swap pasta for courgette when courgettes are in season. We know how many potatoes or how much rice gives us 25g of carbs, and for us the other 5g to make up our target comes from fresh veg. I am a fan of our spiraliser as that bulks out food and makes things cook very quickly. The book Inspirallised has loads of yummy recipes in. In lots of recipe books now I have written the carbs in next to the ingredients. I know different brands will vary a bit but it is good enough as my eventual amount will no doubt be a bit of an ‘ish’ count.

My biggest frustration is the way that so many products give the you carb count for the amount once cooked. The info about dry weight is usually buried in there somewhere but who weighs their food when it is cooked in amongst everything else. We have gathered a list of how much dry weight of the foods we commonly use to get us to our 25 g of carbs, and another for the carbs per 100g for other stuff. If all else fails there is Google.

I hope that that helps. Do come back with any other questions that you have, and we also look forward to your input with all your experience.

Welcome to the forum @fabmichelleT1 Glad that you have found us.

Like you I learnt a lot about what was happening to my levels post meals once I had a Libre. A real game changer for me. I found which foods made my levels spike, and I also used the output to work out how early to do my meal Bolus at different times through the day.

At the start of carb counting I used Carbs and Cals, and now occasionally use the phone app when we are out if I am unsure of a meal. Having been counting for a while now I generally know by eye.
(I became very knowledgable about the carbs in different biscuits from attending meetings). Many restaurants and cafes have the info if you ask for it. Our local cafe which does a mean cheese scone did not know the carbs for it, but promised to find out for me by the following week which they did. Before lockdown that was a regular haunt with such excellent service.

Like @Kaylz I don’t use any specific recipe books. I use a different one each time it is my week to cook. All we then do is adapt the portions or make swaps of lower carb options to suit our own target of carbs. I swap pasta for courgette when courgettes are in season. We know how many potatoes or how much rice gives us 25g of carbs, and for us the other 5g to make up our target comes from fresh veg. I am a fan of our spiraliser as that bulks out food and makes things cook very quickly. The book Inspirallised has loads of yummy recipes in. In lots of recipe books now I have written the carbs in next to the ingredients. I know different brands will vary a bit but it is good enough as my eventual amount will no doubt be a bit of an ‘ish’ count.

My biggest frustration is the way that so many products give the you carb count for the amount once cooked. The info about dry weight is usually buried in there somewhere but who weighs their food when it is cooked in amongst everything else. We have gathered a list of how much dry weight of the foods we commonly use to get us to our 25 g of carbs, and another for the carbs per 100g for other stuff. If all else fails there is Google.

I hope that that helps. Do come back with any other questions that you have, and we also look forward to your input with all your experience.

I've never used a book for carb counting, I self taught using product nutrition information and never had a problem that way, books are just a rough guide, the same thing can vary widely on brand etc

As for recipe books, you could just take any recipe book and adapt to your lifestyle choices, so say things that use rice, substitute it for cauliflower rice etc

No carb snacking - eggs, cheeses, cold meats, things like that I at least don't need to bolus for but some may due to the protein content but that's completely individual (as is all things diabetes lol)

And oh welcome to the forum 🙂
xx

I've never used a book for carb counting, I self taught using product nutrition information and never had a problem that way, books are just a rough guide, the same thing can vary widely on brand etc

As for recipe books, you could just take any recipe book and adapt to your lifestyle choices, so say things that use rice, substitute it for cauliflower rice etc

No carb snacking - eggs, cheeses, cold meats, things like that I at least don't need to bolus for but some may due to the protein content but that's completely individual (as is all things diabetes lol)

And oh welcome to the forum 🙂
xx

Ok thanks

 

[trophywench]

I tell you what I wouldn't be without - a decent set of 'Add & Weigh' kitchen scales. If you know the nutritional value of the food from the internet, with the exact weight of it you can calculate the exact carb value, then (as long as your insulin to carb ratio is correct, which presumably you have learned previously alongside basal insulin dose testing since it's impossible to get the bolus insulin dose 100% correct without) you can correctly calculate the correct dose.

If there's any step of any of that or what anyone else says that you aren't 'with' - just say so - none of us know how much or little anyone knows and hence - NO question is considered silly!

 

[fabmichelleT1]

Welcome to the forum @fabmichelleT1 Glad that you have found us.

Like you I learnt a lot about what was happening to my levels post meals once I had a Libre. A real game changer for me. I found which foods made my levels spike, and I also used the output to work out how early to do my meal Bolus at different times through the day.

At the start of carb counting I used Carbs and Cals, and now occasionally use the phone app when we are out if I am unsure of a meal. Having been counting for a while now I generally know by eye.
(I became very knowledgable about the carbs in different biscuits from attending meetings). Many restaurants and cafes have the info if you ask for it. Our local cafe which does a mean cheese scone did not know the carbs for it, but promised to find out for me by the following week which they did. Before lockdown that was a regular haunt with such excellent service.

Like @Kaylz I don’t use any specific recipe books. I use a different one each time it is my week to cook. All we then do is adapt the portions or make swaps of lower carb options to suit our own target of carbs. I swap pasta for courgette when courgettes are in season. We know how many potatoes or how much rice gives us 25g of carbs, and for us the other 5g to make up our target comes from fresh veg. I am a fan of our spiraliser as that bulks out food and makes things cook very quickly. The book Inspirallised has loads of yummy recipes in. In lots of recipe books now I have written the carbs in next to the ingredients. I know different brands will vary a bit but it is good enough as my eventual amount will no doubt be a bit of an ‘ish’ count.

My biggest frustration is the way that so many products give the you carb count for the amount once cooked. The info about dry weight is usually buried in there somewhere but who weighs their food when it is cooked in amongst everything else. We have gathered a list of how much dry weight of the foods we commonly use to get us to our 25 g of carbs, and another for the carbs per 100g for other stuff. If all else fails there is Google.

I hope that that helps. Do come back with any other questions that you have, and we also look forward to your input with all your experience.

Thank you, I do have a couple of questions... just wondering how / when you set yourself a target carb? Do you use for each day or each meal? I did a carb counting course a few years ago with my diabetes nurses but realise very rusty and don't think my visual carb estimates are working well enough and have no recollection of setting a target carb.. for meal or day?
I am going to look up Inspirallised, just need some inspiration, I have a grater thing that does much the same thing and an allotment with courgettes forming 🙂
Have just purchased a copy of Carbs & Cal on ebay, will be good to read and refresh/relearn!
Have found myself wondering if my ratio, which is 10-1 may have changed, as I have gotten older...or could it just be lockdown lows 🙂 . Also when do see nurse, going to ask about changing to a faster acting insulin...Libre results show I am always a little out of synch.
Definitely work in progress, inspired/enforced by the results of the Libre, which has made life so much easier.. but also raised my awareness of erratic levels and after 20 years my rather lackadaisical approach!

Welcome to the forum @fabmichelleT1 Glad that you have found us.

Like you I learnt a lot about what was happening to my levels post meals once I had a Libre. A real game changer for me. I found which foods made my levels spike, and I also used the output to work out how early to do my meal Bolus at different times through the day.

At the start of carb counting I used Carbs and Cals, and now occasionally use the phone app when we are out if I am unsure of a meal. Having been counting for a while now I generally know by eye.
(I became very knowledgable about the carbs in different biscuits from attending meetings). Many restaurants and cafes have the info if you ask for it. Our local cafe which does a mean cheese scone did not know the carbs for it, but promised to find out for me by the following week which they did. Before lockdown that was a regular haunt with such excellent service.

Like @Kaylz I don’t use any specific recipe books. I use a different one each time it is my week to cook. All we then do is adapt the portions or make swaps of lower carb options to suit our own target of carbs. I swap pasta for courgette when courgettes are in season. We know how many potatoes or how much rice gives us 25g of carbs, and for us the other 5g to make up our target comes from fresh veg. I am a fan of our spiraliser as that bulks out food and makes things cook very quickly. The book Inspirallised has loads of yummy recipes in. In lots of recipe books now I have written the carbs in next to the ingredients. I know different brands will vary a bit but it is good enough as my eventual amount will no doubt be a bit of an ‘ish’ count.

My biggest frustration is the way that so many products give the you carb count for the amount once cooked. The info about dry weight is usually buried in there somewhere but who weighs their food when it is cooked in amongst everything else. We have gathered a list of how much dry weight of the foods we commonly use to get us to our 25 g of carbs, and another for the carbs per 100g for other stuff. If all else fails there is Google.

I hope that that helps. Do come back with any other questions that you have, and we also look forward to your input with all your experience.

Thank you, I have a couple of questions, just wondering how / when you set yourself a target carb? Do you use for each day or each meal? I did a carb counting course, a few years ago with my diabetes nurses, but realise very rusty and realising that my visual carb estimates are not working well enough. Have never set a target carb.. for meal or day?
I am going to look up Inspirallised, I need some inspiration, I eat a mainly veg, have a grater thing that does much the same thing and an allotment with courgettes forming 🙂
Just purchased a copy of Carbs & Cal on ebay, will be good to read and refresh/relearn!
Have also found myself wondering if my ratio, which is 10-1, may have changed, as I have changed/aged Want to ask about changing to a faster acting insulin too... Libre results show I am always a little out of synch.
So thank you , definitely work in progress, inspired/enforced by the results of the Libre, which has made life so much easier but also raised my awareness of erratic levels and after 20 years my rather lackadaisical approach to my Diabetes

 

[fabmichelleT1]

I tell you what I wouldn't be without - a decent set of 'Add & Weigh' kitchen scales. If you know the nutritional value of the food from the internet, with the exact weight of it you can calculate the exact carb value, then (as long as your insulin to carb ratio is correct, which presumably you have learned previously alongside basal insulin dose testing since it's impossible to get the bolus insulin dose 100% correct without) you can correctly calculate the correct dose.

If there's any step of any of that or what anyone else says that you aren't 'with' - just say so - none of us know how much or little anyone knows and hence - NO question is considered silly!

Agree re carb ratio, I bought a digital scale after doing the course.. but will need to dust off... Uncertain what 'basal insulin dose testing' is, have probably been told but forgotten, going to look up. Thanks

 

[fabmichelleT1]

Agree re carb ratio, I bought a digital scale after doing the course.. but will need to dust off... Uncertain what 'basal insulin dose testing' is, have probably been told but forgotten, going to look up. Thanks

UPDATE Have looked up and now know what 'basal insulin dose testing' is, realise I had discussed checking it with nurse at our last meeting!! Will check. Thanks again

 

[SB2015]

Hi Michelle

I set myself a carb limit of 30g per meal, which we both aim for (it is a target and we sometimes miss it). This came about when I saw the spikes on the Libre. My DSN had told me at the start that I could eat anything so long as I matched it to the insulin. I had continued that for years, until I got the lIbre!! It was only then I saw just how bike the spikes were. I was generally on target by the next meal so my ratios were okay but there was chaos in between. This change, along with timing of my Bolus dose before meals has reduced my mountainous spikes to more like the lower fells and my time in range is a lot better.

It was only when I cam on here that I realised that my ratios might need to change with the seasons and through the day. My ratios at present vary from 1:10 in the morning, 1:12 at lunch and 1:11 in the evening. I have to change these now and then.

I also thought basal rate testing was something you just did before a consultant appointment. Now I adjust these when results wobble and I have no other explanations. This is easier now that I am on a pump so I can change the rate hour by hour over a day.

I hope that helps, but as always come back with any questions. No one minds.
I have learnt most of what I know about D management from others on here.

 

[fabmichelleT1]

Hi Michelle

I set myself a carb limit of 30g per meal, which we both aim for (it is a target and we sometimes miss it). This came about when I saw the spikes on the Libre. My DSN had told me at the start that I could eat anything so long as I matched it to the insulin. I had continued that for years, until I got the lIbre!! It was only then I saw just how bike the spikes were. I was generally on target by the next meal so my ratios were okay but there was chaos in between. This change, along with timing of my Bolus dose before meals has reduced my mountainous spikes to more like the lower fells and my time in range is a lot better.

It was only when I cam on here that I realised that my ratios might need to change with the seasons and through the day. My ratios at present vary from 1:10 in the morning, 1:12 at lunch and 1:11 in the evening. I have to change these now and then.

I also thought basal rate testing was something you just did before a consultant appointment. Now I adjust these when results wobble and I have no other explanations. This is easier now that I am on a pump so I can change the rate hour by hour over a day.

I hope that helps, but as always come back with any questions. No one minds.
I have learnt most of what I know about D management from others on here.

Great, that makes a lot of sense, think I am in a very similar place to where you once were. I heartily embraced the freedom when "My DSN had told me at the start that I could eat anything so long as I matched it to the insulin" but Libre has told a different story. Unfortunately I also have a bit of a 'maths/numbers' aversion, so have avoided changing my ratio to even slightly more complicated. (I know!!) Must/will try harder. Thanks again, feel encouraged and on right track

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Which insulins are you on?
To my mind, if you keep your carb intake low (like 30g per meal or less) then you don't really need to worry too much about your carb ratio not quite being 1:10. Obviously if it is very different, like 1:5 or 1:15 then it's another matter but if it is between 1:8 or 1:12 you aren't going to be too far out using 1:10 on a 30g meal and having the Libre will show you if you are going a little low and small need a snack to keep you in range. I'm definitely not into complicated maths so for me 1:10 is close enough.

How far in advance you pre bolus can be a big game changer and for me at breakfast time particularly I need to wait a remarkably long time between injecting and eating..... sometimes more than an hour for NovoRapid and 45mins for Fiasp. At lunch and evening meal I usually only need 15-20mins pre-bolus time. I have just recently started self funding Libre and I watch for my BG dropping below 5 before I eat breakfast. I am not recommending you wait that long yourself but just to be aware that it can take much longer than you expect for your insulin to work, particularly on a morning, so experimenting with that timing is really useful.

 

[SB2015]

Great, that makes a lot of sense, think I am in a very similar place to where you once were. I heartily embraced the freedom when "My DSN had told me at the start that I could eat anything so long as I matched it to the insulin" but Libre has told a different story. Unfortunately I also have a bit of a 'maths/numbers' aversion, so have avoided changing my ratio to even slightly more complicated. (I know!!) Must/will try harder. Thanks again, feel encouraged and on right track

Hi Michelle

If you have a Bolus calculator on your handset, which a lot of them do, you can ‘tell it’ your ratio, and the carbs and it will do the Maths for you. I had one from the start like this (even though I am a retired Maths teacher so can cope with the sums). Some Practices prefer you to use a basic one as the strips are often cheaper, but usually they let people on MDI have one that has a Bolus calculator.
Well worth asking.

@rebrascora is right when she says that with a lower carb meal the error from not tweaking your ratio will have less impact than on a high carb meal. Although I think it is worth sorting things if you are trying to get those lines in the Libre more level.

 

[fabmichelleT1]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Which insulins are you on?
To my mind, if you keep your carb intake low (like 30g per meal or less) then you don't really need to worry too much about your carb ratio not quite being 1:10. Obviously if it is very different, like 1:5 or 1:15 then it's another matter but if it is between 1:8 or 1:12 you aren't going to be too far out using 1:10 on a 30g meal and having the Libre will show you if you are going a little low and small need a snack to keep you in range. I'm definitely not into complicated maths so for me 1:10 is close enough.

How far in advance you pre bolus can be a big game changer and for me at breakfast time particularly I need to wait a remarkably long time between injecting and eating..... sometimes more than an hour for NovoRapid and 45mins for Fiasp. At lunch and evening meal I usually only need 15-20mins pre-bolus time. I have just recently started self funding Libre and I watch for my BG dropping below 5 before I eat breakfast. I am not recommending you wait that long yourself but just to be aware that it can take much longer than you expect for your insulin to work, particularly on a morning, so experimenting with that timing is really useful.

I tend to wake up hungry, test ( I have the Libre at my bedside ), then whatever the results inject accordingly, and eat breakfast. I never wait to eat breakfast just figure/hope it will all work out in the mix .. which it often does but the Libre has made me realise what’s actually going on, can see there’s no real control.
Since eavesdropping on others Libre discussions, long before I got mine, I had considered the length of time my insulin takes to work, but have not really made any adjustment for myself, that forum is also where I heard about a faster acting insulin. So I am aware that I need to make some changes, but to start, I’m going to focus on lowering my carb intake and the idea of introducing a carb limit each day has some appeal, Also know I will need to do in an interesting way, hence my initial request for books & recommendations. It’s working I have already done more reading in day about Diabetes than in last 20 years!
Thanks again all for info & encouragement by example.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

How many carbs a day you choose to eat is quite a personal thing. There are folks who find a moderate-low carb intake helps them reduce glucose variability and instability, but others do just fine with the ‘recommended‘ 250-300g a day.

As a T1 you have significantly increased flexibility, because (in theory) you can eat what you like and just dose the insulin to match. Of course... sometimes higher carb loads are a little trickier to get right regularly, especially where carb ratios and sensitivities change through the year... but personally I have seen very wayward responses from 30-40g estimated carbs and had excellent results from meals where the carb count is in 3 figures(!) so like everything connected with diabetes - you have to work out what works for you, and where you able to ‘break your own rules’ without causing too much chaos.

I tend to have a bigger meal later in the day, and probably average approx 150-180g of carbs a day for the most part.

If you want a carb-counting refresher, you could look up The Learning Zone above (orange tab), or consider the online BERTIE course

Bertie Diabetes

www.bertieonline.org.uk

 

[fabmichelleT1]

How many carbs a day you choose to eat is quite a personal thing. There are folks who find a moderate-low carb intake helps them reduce glucose variability and instability, but others do just fine with the ‘recommended‘ 250-300g a day.

As a T1 you have significantly increased flexibility, because (in theory) you can eat what you like and just dose the insulin to match. Of course... sometimes higher carb loads are a little trickier to get right regularly, especially where carb ratios and sensitivities change through the year... but personally I have seen very wayward responses from 30-40g estimated carbs and had excellent results from meals where the carb count is in 3 figures(!) so like everything connected with diabetes - you have to work out what works for you, and where you able to ‘break your own rules’ without causing too much chaos.

I tend to have a bigger meal later in the day, and probably average approx 150-180g of carbs a day for the most part.

If you want a carb-counting refresher, you could look up The Learning Zone above (orange tab), or consider the online BERTIE course

Bertie Diabetes

www.bertieonline.org.uk

Thanks very much, Have signed up for the Learning Zone & will take a look at Bertie, a refresher is long overdue 🙂