New to carb counting

[Wifeypage]

I’m new to carb counting and been told to give it a go by my dietician

I’m on a 1:12 ratio and worked out the following but with some items they are under 12g do I add them together to make a unit or not insulin for them
Bread 24g carbs = 2 units
Raisins 7g carbs =
Rice cake 1g carbs =
2 savoury eggs 8 g carbs =
This would = 16g altogether for the 3 under 12g

Also just double checking I have to count the milk in my weetabix and fruits?

Any direction would be fab. She probs explained it but there was so much info that day
Thankyou in advance

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I’m on a 1:12 ratio and worked out the following but with some items they are under 12g do I add them together to make a unit or not insulin for them

Yes that would be my strategy.

Calculate the whole meal, then apply the ratio. An additional 16g at 1:12 needs an extra unit of insulin.

Alternatively you could use rounding on the individual elements, where you round up or down depending on whether an item is half or more than half of your ratio

Bread 24g carbs = 2 units

Agreed

Raisins 7g carbs =

Round up to 1u

Rice cake 1g carbs =

Round down to 0u

2 savoury eggs 8 g carbs =

Round up to 1u

This would = 16g altogether for the 3 under 12g

Rounding would add extra insulin in this case. 16g is closer to 1u than 2u, so totalling everything is probably the more accurate?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Also just double checking I have to count the milk in my weetabix and fruits?

I think pragmatically with a meal like that where you are likely to have the same thing day after day it feels more appropriate to assess things on a BG outcomes basis for that breakfast choice. Does dose x work? or is more or less insulin needed. And what about dose timing? Do you need at wait a while for the insulin to ‘get going’ before actually eating the Weetabix?

In my experience carb counting is a hugely powerful strategy, and helps me enormously… But sometimes Diabetes Maths likes to have its own rules, and sometimes it feels more like art that science 🙂

 

[Inka]

I’d add up the whole meal and find the total carbs you’re going to eat @Wifeypage Then divide that number by 12. If you’re using a half-unit pen, you can dose more accurately. Do get one if you don’t have one. They’re useful for corrections too.

Yes, you’d add the milk for your Weetabix and in things like custard, a milkshake, cheese sauce, etc, where you have a reasonable quantity of milk. It’s usually fine to ignore the milk carbs if you’re just having a bit in tea or coffee. However, if you were having a big latte, you might need to account for the milk. It would be trial and error, depending on the coffee shop and coffee size.

 

[Drummer]

As an engineer I don't advise rounding up or down. There are books full of the consequences of usual methods where there were spectacular failures.