How do you count carbs?

[showmethenumbers]

Hi I am T2 been diagnosed since 2022. Initially 108 but got myself down to 38 at one point using a Newcastle Hybrid. Couldn't keep it going and slipped into bad habits. On Metformin x 4 a day now and struggling to get my glucose into single figures at the moment, even though I have been carb free for the last 4 days.

Query I have is how do you count carbs . I know low carb should be less than 130g a day but what is an easy way to work that out?

 

[Inka]

@showmethenumbers If you’re just on Metformin and not insulin, you don’t have to count carbs, just watch how many you eat. That sounds pedantic but carb counting is something Type 1s and Type 2s on insulin do in order to calculate their insulin dose.

If you just want to monitor how many carbs you’re eating, you could just use an app like MyFitnessPal. Another easy way is to keep breakfast and lunches similar so you know the rough carbs in those and then just vary your evening meal.

You could also look at the Recipes section on Diabetes U.K. where all the recipes have the carb information.

Some Type 2s use the Carbs and Cals book or app.

 

[JITR]

I use the free version of the Cronometer app. You enter the weight of each food you eat in grams. It works out total calories and the amount of 84 nutrients you have consumed. First class

 

[Leadinglights]

I use the free version of the Cronometer app. You enter the weight of each food you eat in grams. It works out total calories and the amount of 84 nutrients you have consumed. First class

As this is American are carbs shown including Fiber or asin the UK excluding Fibre.

 

[JITR]

As this is American are carbs shown including Fiber or asin the UK excluding Fibre.

Canadian. User sets net carbs or total carbs.

 

[Docb]

I think @Inka has got it right in that you need to watch carbs rather than count them. I also think you can get most of what you want without the precision needed to balance carbs with insulin dosing.

My suggestion is that for a few days you write down everything that you consume. Then set aside an hour or so to go through it work out the carb contents of all the components. You might need to do a bit of weighing to get an idea of your portion sizes, looking stuff upon the interweb and checking on packets in your store cupboard. Then run your eye down the list and look for the big hitters - those things with the highest quantity of carbs. You can then focus on reducing the amounts of those things by either reducing portion size, substitution or even elimination.

That effectively was my approach although I was helped by my blood glucose monitor which again pointed to things which had big effects.

 

[rebrascora]

You mention that you have been "carb free for 4 days"..... Can you explain what you have been eating?
It is important to understand that there are carbs in most foods to a greater or lesser extent, particularly plant based foods, so even the humble lettuce contains a tiny few carbs, bit you would have to eat a ridiculously large amount of it to have any impact on your levels. Having a completely carnivore diet would probably be the only way to be carb free and long term I can't imaging that being enjoyable or particularly sustainable for most of us.
Perhaps you have just cut the carb rich foods from your diet like bread and pasta and rice and potatoes and all the sweet stuff, but you are still having milk and yoghurt and vegetables etc.
If this is the case and you are still seeing levels consistently in double figures (before and after meals) after a more significant period like a month whilst taking Metformin, then then I would say you need to seek a further treatment plan.

Do you have much/any weight to lose? Is it possible that you might not be a straight forward Type 2 but possibly a slow onset Type 1? Being initially diagnosed with a high HbA1c would be a possible red flag for that. Can you tell us a bit about how your original diagnosis came about? Were you symptomatic and if so, which symptoms or was it picked up in a routine blood test.

 

[CoolShot44]

i use the my net diary its a fee app you can upgrade but i just use this to log everything sugar level etc food steps etc its really good and recommend it .
the link is https://www.mynetdiary.com/

 

[JITR]

@Docb @Inka

I use the free version of the Cronometer app. You enter the weight of each food you eat in grams. It works out total calories and the amount of 84 nutrients you have consumed. First class

To clarify. My post was in response to the OP: Query I have is how do you count carbs.

The reason I chose to download Cronometer was not to count carbs but to check my nutrition. After 80 years on the planet I knew nothing about any of the ingredients in a healthy diet. Going on to real food VLCD without any guidance would have been foolhardy in the extreme. Cronometer was rated best for tracking nutrients.

EXAMPLE Lunch today (screenshots)

 

[Docb]

Quite right @JITR - rule number one should be to read the question properly and answer it!

@showmethenumbers - My response should have opened with asking the question - how accurate do you want to be? I could have then opined that maybe you do not to be particularly accurate and that you could get what you need as a T2 by the process I outlined.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I know low carb should be less than 130g a day but what is an easy way to work that out?

For me it’s partly about weighing portions at the cooking stage (eg this much dry rice becomes total carbs when cooked, so my half / quarter / third of the cooked quantity will be blah carbs). Part of it is looking at the print on packaging. Part of it is looking up stuff on the internet (grams per 100g of Celeriac, or Butternut Squash, or whatever…)

Then over time I built up a sort of ready-reckoner of standard components - 1 medium apple likely to be 15-20g carbs… 1 slice seedy bread likely to be 18-20g carbs… hen’s egg sized potato 10g carbs… etc etc.

So I can make an educated guess as I go along for some things, and weigh others. 🙂