carbs per meals, snacks and per day

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Nige13

Nige13

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello all.

I know this is not a one fits all ....... BUT ......... How many carbs do you try to have per meal (and snacks) and per day?

Thanks everyone - loving this site 🙂 Everyone's been so helpfull.
 
We were on holiday in the Balearics at my sister's house until recently. My BG was very stable despite the 38 degree heat. We were eating fish, salad and vegetables, with very few of the usual carbs each day. 95% in range, average BG 6.5! Didn't take much bolus with each meal. Interestingly, since returning my BG has jumped a bit to over 8 and I am around 70% in range. A rethink about diet might be in order. I don't eat poorly, but maybe a reduction in my carb intake might help!
 
I tend to keep meals less than 20g of carbs. generally less than 10g.
Not sure what I can/can't tolerate, as I've never really pushed it.
 
The Doc gave me a target of 250 grams of carb per day. In practice, I don't bother actually measuring them, but I estimate:

Oatcakes & Crispbreads:
6 to 10 slices => 60g of carbs​
​
Beetroot, carrot, cabbage, neep, onion & garlic:
500 grams => 50g of carbs​
​
Mooli, bok-choy, courgette, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, mushroom:
500g => 15g of carbs​
​
So daily carb intake is roughly 125 grams, but you could probably add another 20 grams to allow for little snacks
 
It varies enormously for me although breakfast is usually about 30g carbs. After that I may snack on low carb foods the rest of the day and not have any proper meals or I may have a low carb snack at lunchtime and 20-30g carbs in the evening..... or very occasionally I might have 40-50g carbs at lunch or evening meal. I try to keep it under 100g carbs a day, usually about 70-80g a day. I find thinking about it as an allowance for the day is easier than setting aside a set amount per meal, so I sort of spend my allowance on what I want but when it is gone it's gone. I always ensure I have plenty of low carb treats that I can dig into if I feel hungry and my allowance is gone.... nice cheeses, boiled eggs, nuts, olives, meat, pickles, pork scratchings etc.
 
I tested and checked my glucose levels and found that I needed no more than 50 gm of carbs a day, as I had found out long ago when eating low carb to control my weight and to feel well.
I now eat no more than 40 gm a day.
For years I was told that I needed to eat around 300 gm of carbs a day and I was hugely fat and felt dreadful, so I will go on happily eating low carb and feeling well for as long as possible.
The best way to manage blood glucose is to test, eat and then check again two hours after starting to eat. That should show you what you need to do to have normal levels, assuming that you are a perfectly ordinary type 2. There are more interesting but problematic options, but the low carb option with testing is a good starting point.
 
IrvineHimself said:
The Doc gave me a target of 250 grams of carb per day. In practice, I don't bother actually measuring them, but I estimate:

Oatcakes & Crispbreads:
6 to 10 slices => 60g of carbs​
​
Beetroot, carrot, cabbage, neep, onion & garlic:
500 grams => 50g of carbs​
​
Mooli, bok-choy, courgette, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, mushroom:
500g => 15g of carbs​
​
So daily carb intake is roughly 125 grams, but you could probably add another 20 grams to allow for little snacks
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Many would find 250gm/day of carbs is too high and will cause BS and weight gain.
 
I have to keep to 50/60g carbs a day to keep my BG under control. I always keep keto snacks and cheese, olives, eggs in fridge for in the evenings when I usually like a snack, or for if I have to go out unexpectedly.
 
I'm not measuring properly yet but I'm reading all the packets to get an idea. I have a follow-up where I'll get a finger prick bg monitor next month.

A guesstimate of my meals yesterday, this is the first time going low carb so I'm reducing slowly and trying to measure everything rounding up to 5g unless I have an exact figure.

Breakfast under 30g if I have porridge.
Yesterday was under 20g (1 slice of toast)

Lunch - miso veg soup without noodles
packets of ingredients
4g per 100g - stir fry veg
25g per 100g - itsu vegetarian gyoza
So I'd estimate lunch yesterday was close to 15-20g

Snack (crisps 16g)
Snack2. Celery and 1 tablespoon of hummus 14g per 100g I had maybe < 5g carbs

Dinner. Under 50g, yesterday was a salad so I'm not even sure how to guess measure that but I'd assume a very small number.
 
Thank you everyone - I'm trying for under 120gsm of carbs per day or around 20 - 30gsm per meal and a few low carb snacks throughout the day like nuits, veg sticks bit of fruit. I dont really want to loose any weight so keeping an eye on that too. Been diabetic for 15 years and never really bothered me until my last review whcih was shocking o_O so now trying to be better 🙂
My big downfall are crisps - anyone know of any good ones, I do like Aldi's Waves though thjink these are around 10gsm per pack 😉
 
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crisps are my biggest problem too i've been looking for alternatives. the only thing that is hitting the same spot for me is popcorn so far.

Propercorn brand salted is 11.3g carb per 20g bag.
i've been making my own on the hob seasoning with dried herbs or paprika / garlic / black pepper. ive been doing this for years but have now started to measure how much of it I eat, i stick to 20g or less once or twice a week.

i've been told to try cutting up some wraps and mixing with a tiny bit of olive oil and season with herbs or whatever and then bake flat for 10-20mins at 100c in the oven. the wraps look like they would be quite high in carbs but the aim is to eat half a wrap at a time.

i've read that air fryer with a dehydrate setting or proper food dehydrator can make some nice cucumber crisps but i dont have one to try it out.
 
This is all so new and overwhelming for me but I have a question - I was diagnosed with Type1 10 months ago and I have lost weight. I can't seem to put it back on - it's going the other way. :(
I've been very careful with how many carbs I eat so thought that may have had a bearing on my weight.
Is this something that can happen?
 
notmez said:
crisps are my biggest problem too i've been looking for alternatives. the only thing that is hitting the same spot for me is popcorn so far.

Propercorn brand salted is 11.3g carb per 20g bag.
i've been making my own on the hob seasoning with dried herbs or paprika / garlic / black pepper. ive been doing this for years but have now started to measure how much of it I eat, i stick to 20g or less once or twice a week.

i've been told to try cutting up some wraps and mixing with a tiny bit of olive oil and season with herbs or whatever and then bake flat for 10-20mins at 100c in the oven. the wraps look like they would be quite high in carbs but the aim is to eat half a wrap at a time.

i've read that air fryer with a dehydrate setting or proper food dehydrator can make some nice cucumber crisps but i dont have one to try it out.
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Love pop corn - sweet and salty kind though lol. Where and how do you make yours? 🙂
 
Mareen said:
This is all so new and overwhelming for me but I have a question - I was diagnosed with Type1 10 months ago and I have lost weight. I can't seem to put it back on - it's going the other way. :(
I've been very careful with how many carbs I eat so thought that may have had a bearing on my weight.
Is this something that can happen?
Click to expand...
If you cut carbs and don't replace the calories you would have got from them by increasing your fat intake then yes, you will lose weight. As a Type 1 there is no reason to reduce your carb intake unless you want to, you just need to match your insulin to the carbs you want to eat.

I personally prefer to eat low carb even though I am Type 1 but it isn't necessary or easier than eating a normal more balanced diet..... Not that I am saying eating low carb is not balanced, it is just balanced in a different way and to get that balance with calories then you need to increase fats and maybe have a little more protein.
For those people who need to lose weight then keeping their fat intake reasonable normal on a low carb diet will help them achieve that but if you need to put weight on then you need more fat or more carbs and more insulin.
I keep my carb intake pretty steady around 70-80g a day and I adjust my fat and alcohol intake and exercise to control my weight either up or down, although I will say that I am not recommending people drink alcohol to put on weight o_O .... but just that I cut my alcohol intake and my fat intake if I want to lose weight. I have things like real cream in my morning coffee every day and nice cheeses and full fat mayonnaise and creamy desserts and I cook with animal fat or butter or olive oil and use veg like mushrooms and aubergines which will soak it up to increase my fat intake.
It takes a leap of faith to go against the low fat government and NHS advice we have been bombarded with all our lives but I am so pleased that I did because eating more fat and less carbs suits my body and I feel fitter and healthier and younger than I have for years. Joints are much less painful (I can now run down hills instead of hobbling at a walk) and my skin is better and I no longer get debilitating migraines. I can't say that you will get any of those benefits but this has been my experience.
 
Nige13 said:
Love pop corn - sweet and salty kind though lol. Where and how do you make yours? 🙂
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im not a fan of sweet so its easy for me.
Just a regular bag of popping corn from the supermarket. usually get it from the world food section because its usually better and in bigger bags 500g to 1kg.

normally 2 tsp of oil but i've been using a bit less recently.

big heavy pan with a lid, heat up the pan when the pan is hot add the oil and a 2 bits of corn. once both have popped eat them. add all the corn swish around in the oil and put it back on the heat, add the lid but keep a small gap for steam to escape. wait 30 seconds and turn the heat down to med. shake every 30 seonds until you stop hearing it pop or its only popping every couple of seconds.

while its hot add flavours.
i currently have a jar on the go with a mix of the below. i use a few pinches of the mix added ot the hot corn.
1 tablespoon of paprika
2 teaspoon of hot chilli powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

mix 2 is in a tiny salt shaker. chilli powder and turmeric.
mix 3 isnt a mix its just a few dried mix herbs.
mix 4 isnt a mix its just salt and black pepper.

ive reduced my salt a little bit so im not adding any but if i was to add salt i would add the salt in the pot at the same time as the corn. (you can add the flavour at the same time as well but its going to burn.)

i used to pop around a big fistful of corn but now im popping about 30g at a time, eat half and store the other half in a airtight container for another time.

my lunch right now is 5g carbs so i just tipped the leftover popcorn from a couple of days ago at the side so its probably close to 15g carbs.

id like to try out an air popper but im not sure if that uses less oil, the amount im currently using isnt very much so its probably ok
 
Hi Nice, I try to keep it pretty low. To give you some idea of a typical day for me:

Breakfast: Greek Yoghurt or Alpro no added sugar yoghurt and coffee with no added sugar soya milk (I've always liked Soya milk, even before I was type 2!).

Lunch: generally some salad and protein such as chicken, prawns or cheese. I don't usually have anything else with it but ocasionally I might have a crisp bread or Hovis wheat cracker if I feel a bit empty.

Dinner: generally fish/something like a pork chop with whatever vegetables I have. I always have three different ones, e.g. broccoli, carrots, tomatoes. Kale is nice too. I noted advice about root vegetables but doesn't do anything to me that I've noticed. Never been a big fan of potatoes but if I'm cooking for someone else I might have a very small portion of potato like two or three wedges (generally how I cook them for others). I never eat pasta (not a fan). I don't really eat rice if I'm honest. Probably once a year with a takeaway and then it's a table spoon of it.

Dessert is usually some greek yoghurt and strawberries /raspberries or I have them with cream. A treat would be a chocolate eclair.

Genuinely it is very rare for me to snack between meals. If I really did want something, I might have piece of fruit, piece of cheese or some olives. If I've been busy and my numbers are below 5 I will sometimes have a piece of brown toast. Ocasionally I'll switch that for breakfast or lunch if I'm running a bit low. We're all a bit different but I know that I'm low 5s I will start dipping quite quickly and I feel symptoms of a hypo below 4. My GP told me not to drive under 5 .

To put things into context, I've been hovering around the early levels of pre-diabetes since actual diagnosis. I've lost about 2 stone in weight overall and kept it off. I too like crisps but I don't try to incorporate them or an alternative into my diet because I think I'd find them too moreish. I don't buy them as a regular item for me at all, but once in a while I might have the odd packet of Walkers Ch/Onion but I literally only buy one packet and then it's done.

I do keep nuts in the house so if I wanted a nibble on something, I'd have them rather than crisps

Not sure there is anything particularly novel in my approach above, but it's good for us all to share our approaches as someone might pick up a suggestion here and there.

All the best.
 
Thank you Barbara for that.
I think I need to increase both my carbs and fat intake!
I've been so scared of doing that and having to take more insulin. I'm constantly guessing everything. Soooo confusing :(
 
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