Carb counting - how do you count them - food labels, weighing, nutrition lists or visual?

[mum2westiesGill]

How do you count your carbs
looking at food labels
weighing
nutritional lists
visually

I usually do
looking at food labels
weighing
nutritional lists
then visually is my biggest downfall - I'm hopeless at this and it's really starting to annoy me because I need to be able to do this for eating out.

 

[Sally71]

Anything out of a packet - read the label, although some things we can do from memory now and don’t need to look
Potatoes - just do by eye
Rice, pasta and cereal - have to weigh those as any attempt to just eyeball it usually goes wrong
I refuse to take scales when eating out though so we just make an educated guess then, if the blood sugars go a bit awry afterwards oh well it’s only one day, just deal with it and move on!
I would only do internet searching or use carbs and cals if it was a new food we haven’t had before or something we’ve not had for aaaaaages
Carbs and cals was a godsend for the first year or so after diagnosis, but we rarely use it now!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

looking at food labels

Yes 🙂

weighing

Yes - plus a note in my phone of ‘dry weight‘ of things like pasta and rice. Then I cook for everyone to have the same portion, and can simply divide the contents of the pan visually by eye when dishing onto plates. This has meant over the years that I know the carb count of ‘two and a bit’ serving spoons, plus what it looks like on the plate

nutritional lists

Yes. especially for new recipes. Though generally I only really count ‘main’ carbs and add an allowance for the niche things.

visually

Yep. Always a few disasters, but I’m happy enough with my guesstimating 🙂

 

[Piglet]

I do all of the above and as Sally 71 says, when eating out I guess and hope I'm close but if not that's what correction doses are for. You could also check out the company web sites or ask for the nutrition guide for the product which has to be kept for allergy advice. I have done this several times in both cafe's and restaurants and you can do it discreetly. They are legally required to give this info if asked for.

Good luck

 

[SB2015]

We have a list at home of the weights of our most common carbs that give 25g of
,so weigh thowe out x no of people and share out.
New ones we use the labels and weigh.

When eating out I do a best guess visually and correct later if necessary.
my Diabetes is certainly not going to prevent me eating out.

 

[nonethewiser]

How do you count your carbs
looking at food labels
weighing
nutritional lists
visually

All 3, when out just guesstimate if no info on food nutrition, more you practice better it gets, believe me.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

How do you count your carbs
looking at food labels
weighing
nutritional lists
visually

I usually do
looking at food labels
weighing
nutritional lists
then visually is my biggest downfall - I'm hopeless at this and it's really starting to annoy me because I need to be able to do this for eating out.

Weighing, labels and nutritional lists: yes.
I'm still very bad at visual gauging.

When I'm out I invariably ask the waiter, who usually asks the chef. Almost all restaurants do know what any one portion weight should be within a meal; they're in business to make a profit and can only do that if they have costed their meals against known portion weights. This seems to work, regardless of big food chains or standalone restaurants; sometimes not so good in small cafes.

 

[rebrascora]

Weighing, labels and nutritional lists: yes.
I'm still very bad at visual gauging.

When I'm out I invariably ask the waiter, who usually asks the chef. Almost all restaurants do know what any one portion weight should be within a meal; they're in business to make a profit and can only do that if they have costed their meals against known portion weights. This seems to work, regardless of big food chains or standalone restaurants; sometimes not so good in small cafes.

Wow you guys are trusting! I would rely on my own eyeballing skills before i trusted a chef to know how many carbs were in a meal he was serving, to base an insulin dose on, especially potentially 3rd hand info through a waiter. Too easy for a busy chef in a kitchen to make a mistake or have no idea and make up a number or for the waiter to misunderstand and deliver the wrong info back to me.

I'm out for a Chinese banquet on Thursday and a Christmas party dinner at a pub on Sat. I will have some insulin up front, limit my carb intake and correct later for both. I will still really enjoy my meals.
I very rarely weigh food because I mostly stick to low carb foods which are only likely to need 2-3 units per portion.
I do read Nutritional Info labels on new products but use it to choose the lowest carb variety. Not sure I would cope so well mentally if I had to weigh and measure everything. I'm probably not organised enough to do that!

 

[Proud to be erratic]

Wow you guys are trusting! I would rely on my own eyeballing skills before i trusted a chef to know how many carbs were in a meal he was serving, to base an insulin dose on, especially potentially 3rd hand info through a waiter. Too easy for a busy chef in a kitchen to make a mistake or have no idea and make up a number or for the waiter to misunderstand and deliver the wrong info back to me.

I'm out for a Chinese banquet on Thursday and a Christmas party dinner at a pub on Sat. I will have some insulin up front, limit my carb intake and correct later for both. I will still really enjoy my meals.
I very rarely weigh food because I mostly stick to low carb foods which are only likely to need 2-3 units per portion.
I do read Nutritional Info labels on new products but use it to choose the lowest carb variety. Not sure I would cope so well mentally if I had to weigh and measure everything. I'm probably not organised enough to do that!

To be fair I've never tried that in a Chinese or Indian restaurant. But I will phone a couple of days ahead if I can; if I've just found a place I continue to be surprised what a chef can determine for me once asked.