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Takeaway

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J

James B

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I fancy a takeaway what’s gunna be a good options for low carbs, was thinking about ordering a large mixed kebab with some chips but unsure how to count the calories i was thinking it’d probably be around 80g of carbs? What do you guys get when you fancy a takeaway
 
I have Chinese, Indian, kebab, pizza...anything, but the two most difficult of those are pizza and Chinese.

So kebab is a good idea. I don’t always eat all the chips - it depends how many carbs you’re aiming for. It also depends what kind of chips they are - the solid chip shop type or the lighter fry type ones. I judge carbs by eye now, but I was told how many chips made up 10g carbs.

Are you adjusting your insulin dose now or still on a fixed dose (which would be normal)?
 
I’m adjusting my insulin now, 10g carbs = 1.5 unit of humalog. There just the standard takeaway fired chips like fries but a bit chunkier I’ve downloaded the carbs and cals app but I really don’t think it’s that good
 
I gave up on them except for special occasions. Then it will be a curry, but it always plays havoc with levels. A kebab is a lot more sensible. Just portion out your chips to match what carbs you are aiming for, and stick to that.
 
I don’t really count the number of carbs i eat I just adjust my humalog to fit it. No diet here yet, they said I could eat whatever I want!! I’ve already adjusted to eating brown rice to be healthier and whole grain versions of things like pasta and bread and eating more beans too. Takeaways are a once a week thing anyway so usually it’s easy to calculate carbs cuz the info is on the back of the packet but takeaways and restaurants for that matter don’t seem to show that information on the website so that’ll be difficult to judge when I’m allowed outside again
 
I don’t like that app either. I either measure by eye (after years of experience) or use digital scales to weigh or use a tablespoon.

The safest thing to do is have plenty of meat and salad but go easy on the chips. Then your guess will be closer to the right figure for carbs. If you have a great load of chips, it’s harder to calculate I find.
 
I don’t really count the number of carbs i eat I just adjust my humalog to fit it

Ok, this is where we talk at cross-purposes. Counting carbs means counting the carbs you’re about to eat so that you can take the right dose of insulin. Don’t get confused with people going on about how many carbs they have a day. “Counting carbs” when you’re Type 1 is what I said - calculating the amount in order to work out how much insulin you need.

It doesn’t mean aiming for a certain daily total.
 
So it’s what I’ve been doing? And when you say the match the carbs for what I’m aiming for you just mean carbs to insulin ratio? Eg I want to eat 50 grams of carbs so I take 7.5 units of humalog? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
 
Either - but chilli sauce is tastiest 🙂 Just avoid sweet gloopy sauces as they can be deceptive. The chilli sauce in my local kebab shop is just hot sauce - no sugar.

You don’t need to count the carbs in mayo either, so it’s only the chips you need to consider.
 
Inka said:
Either - but chilli sauce is tastiest 🙂 Just avoid sweet gloopy sauces as they can be deceptive. The chilli sauce in my local kebab shop is just hot sauce - no sugar.
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That sounds perfect the one in mine is some weird thin salsa thing that’s not hot I’ll be putting my own crucial hot sauce on!
 
If in doubt, eat more chips not less as you don’t want a hypo. Make a note of how many chips you have as that will be useful in future - ie you’ll know if you counted the carbs right. Then you can eat the same meal again and know how much insulin you need.
 
Inka said:
If in doubt, eat more chips not less as you don’t want a hypo. Make a note of how many chips you have as that will be useful in future - ie you’ll know if you counted the carbs right. Then you can eat the same meal again and know how much insulin you need.
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That’s a great idea, might make a spreadsheet for common meals and items I eat as a list so it’s just there and I don’t have to check the packet every time I want to eat something
 
My favourite take-away:
Tandoori Chicken with onion raita and side salad - or if feeling very extravagant tandoori prawns
 
Inka said:
I have Chinese, Indian, kebab, pizza...anything, but the two most difficult of those are pizza and Chinese.

So kebab is a good idea. I don’t always eat all the chips - it depends how many carbs you’re aiming for. It also depends what kind of chips they are - the solid chip shop type or the lighter fry type ones. I judge carbs by eye now, but I was told how many chips made up 10g carbs.

Are you adjusting your insulin dose now or still on a fixed dose (which would be normal)?
Click to expand...

just wondering how you do count carbs in pizza from takeaway? Because surely every bread dough is different and obviously different styles of pizza bread is there a good resource you use as the carbs and cal app is rubbish for normal takeaways and basic
 
If it’s a chain, you’ll probably find the carb info online or in the shop. Independent ones are harder. I tend to eat a certain number of slices rather than a whole pizza as it’s fairly high in carbs. The cheese on it adds fat and that can mean your blood sugar rises a few hours later. It’s called The Pizza Effect (yes, really :D )

So go for a pizza from a chain restaurant - at first, at least. I usually go for the thin pizzas.
 
Whatever I do when I eat pizza, it is 100% likely that the spike arrives like an express train approx. 5 hours after I started eating it. Ruddy nightmare even with a pump I need a gap between my upfront bolus and the later spike. Should we be a bit later eating it, and go to bed much before 1am it'll reliably start after I go to bed and may even be asleep by the time it does. Hence it's never been a regular feed.

A million years ago when Adam was a lad and I was diagnosed and we had what EDUAD told you about the other day, 'Exchanges' which equalled 10g of carb each and the chipshops all used standard chip cutters which produced even sized chips from large OLD spuds, 7 chips = 1 exchange. New spuds producing chips half that length or even less might be 10/12 chips to 10g - it was always only a guesstimate anyway, frankly! Unless you actually weigh them and you use frozen ones (hence the carb content is on the back of the bag) and cook them at home before you weigh them - it always is still a guess anyway!
 
The other thing to bear in mind with really big carb loads like half or more of a regular portion of chip shop chips, is that you may find the meal takes so long to digest that the humalog can act too quickly initially, and then not have enough oomph later. So splitting the dose into 2 parts can be helpful.

The proportions of the split, and how long to leave between the doses will be individual to you - so you have the excuse for several experiments :D
 
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