simple carb counting

[litto-miss-loz]

hey all,

I have been waiting for over a year for a place on the dafne course and i am finally going on it this september. yay! lol

but i would like to learn simple car counting the now, just to maybe keep me going until i go on the course.

i was on the bournemouth carb counting website and they r quite good but it can be pretty confusing lol

has anyone got any tips for doing some simple carb counting?

thanks.

 

[sofaraway]

what bit were you getting confused with? Have you tried to work out how many carbs you are eating at each meal? have you been given any ratio's from your DSN?

I would reccommend an appointment with your dietician as they are usually very good at teaching how to count carbs.

 

[MCH]

I have had a go at the Bournemouth stuff and found their Carbohydrate Counting Reference Lists very useful. These give you and idea of an "average portion" size and how many units are likely to be in each. I now have a reasonable idea of how much CHO is in the food I generally eat (slices of bread, apples bananas etc) and although I started off weighing everything, am now beginning to look at things and estimate their content. I haven't quite sorted out the insulin ratios, but am happy about the CHO I eat in most home cooked meals.

 

[katie]

Can I just say WOO BOURNEMOUTH!

I realise this is of no help.

 

[Northerner]

Can I just say WOO BOURNEMOUTH!

I realise this is of no help.

I dunno katie - made me laugh!

I too, have reached a point where I really don't have to count too closely - just deciding what I'm going to eat gives me a general 'dose', which I then correct up or down depending on my levels before eating. I tend to eat a lot of similar food all the time, but have also been surprised at the accuracy of my 'guesstimates' when eating something out of the ordinary e.g. party food.

I am very aware though, that I can't just nibble throughout the day like I used to because this can push my levels up quite a bit, especially when my fast-acting insulin is way past its peak.

 

[sofaraway]

http://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/sites/diabetes/food/CarbohydrateCountingRef.php

this isn't a bad site. it's aimed at kids but is still relevent and has some good food tables

 

[katie]

I dunno katie - made me laugh!

I too, have reached a point where I really don't have to count too closely - just deciding what I'm going to eat gives me a general 'dose', which I then correct up or down depending on my levels before eating. I tend to eat a lot of similar food all the time, but have also been surprised at the accuracy of my 'guesstimates' when eating something out of the ordinary e.g. party food.

I am very aware though, that I can't just nibble throughout the day like I used to because this can push my levels up quite a bit, especially when my fast-acting insulin is way past its peak.

I'm glad it made you laugh Northerner 😉

If I nibble through the day my levels go high too, which is why my HbA1c isn't perfect. If I never snacked i'm pretty sure it would it would be within range. I miss my honeymoon period, my levels sorted themselves out even if I snacked in between meals and I only needed 1:10g but now it's 2:10g, boo!

 

[litto-miss-loz]

Hey,

yes i have tryed workin out how many carbs are in each meal and no i havent been given a ratio from my dsn. i am just startin with a ratio of 1:10 and im halfing it when im working as im always on the move.

but yh i might need to go and speak to my dsn. i was at the hospital last november and the doctor said she would refer me to talk to someone about simple carb counting but have never heard so i think i will phone, they have probs forgotten about me.

Hi MCH, what ratio do you use??? i printed out the carb tables and carry them around now and im doing ok with breakfasts lol

thanks for the website sofaraway 🙂

 

[MCH]

Hello again,
I am currently playing around with 1 unit per CHO point (or 10 gramme portion), which seems to work OK for me some of the time, (Do you find you can take the same insulin/CHO and one day it work really well and another evertything is a mess?) -and to be fair seems to be an improvement on what I was doing!

Congratulations on breakfast by the way.

 

[rossi_mac]

I've been keeping it simple, weighing rice and pasta in a cup so I know how much I'm having, then looking on the side of packets of stuff I eat regular like.

I've heard some courses can confuse and I don't want carb counting to be my evil cousin perched on my shoulder taking over my life!

But on a similar note, I have also been 1 unit per 10g of carb, which the nurse told me to start at, does this change? And can it do so dramtically as I seen to be 0.5 units per 10g the last 2-3 days, or am I honeymooning???

I'll have a look at those websites too, thanks.

 

[litto-miss-loz]

I am going to maybe weigh in a cup, i need to buy scales so until i do so thats a good idea.

well all the feedback i get from the courses is that it "changes your life" and everyones overall control is soo much better. Its worth a try since diabetes is for life, may aswell give the course a go 🙂

yh i think it does change, everyone is different, it can depend on ur weight aswell (i think) lol but not too sure. 1:10 is ok for me the now.

are you a new diabetic??

yep take a look, got some good advice and info.

 

[rossi_mac]

Sure am, diagnosed last year, November. Maybe I should introduce my self in that other messageboard?

You're probably right a course will be worth it, maybe in a few months I'll see how I'm doing.

My weight hasn't changed so who knows!

 

[litto-miss-loz]

Yep u should 🙂

its a work n progress

xx