Comments on: Teaching Patients to Carb-Count

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:46:34 +0000

I learned from my diabetes educator at Joslin. We went through awareness step by step in her office and she sent me home with a CalorieKing Book and an EatSmart Nutrition Scale. Time and persistence were the two biggies….now I can eyeball foods pretty well. It did take months if not years to get it right though.

By: Karen Davis

Karen Davis — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:15:00 +0000

I use the tips in this article http://tinyurl.com/6xyqhu to help my sister (type 1) stay healthy. She stays away from rice though..it's just too much for her.

By: AmyT

AmyT — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:08:41 +0000

Hi Adam,
I don’t like potatoes and I’m allergic to wheat, so no, I don’t eat a lot of those things. But LOTS of other foods have carbs too, of course. I’m envious of your post-prands, btw

By: Adam Becker Sr

Adam Becker Sr — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:35:09 +0000

Amy,

The picture that accompanies this post shows bread and potatoes. Do you eat much of those?

I’m type 2; following Bernstein. All the ‘carb counting’ articles I’ve seen suggest much higher carb intake than my body can handle. I try to keep carbs below 20 g / meal, but I don’t weigh portions. If I were taking insulin, I’d probably be following my carb intake a lot more closely. Right now, I can keep below 140 mg/dl at 1 hr postprandial pretty easily.

Adam Becker Sr

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:35:25 +0000

I was diagnosed while I was pregnant and the dietician I was sent to see couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that I wasn’t “just gestational.” My Endo (who knew I was T1) just said that I could keep rescheduling with the same dietician if I needed more help. They gave me a sample meal plan that included mostly hot dogs and canned fruit…who would tell a pregnant lady to subsist on that? I was also a vegetarian…but that didn’t alter their 2-page “plan” at all. I discovered everything on my own on the internet and now use CalorieKing, TheDailyPlate, and a scale at home to carb count.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:17:00 +0000

I refuse to carb count or ever weigh an ounce of food I eat. I grew up with a type 1 brother diagnosed in childhood, and could not face adopting that kind of restrictive lifestyle myself. I eyeball what I eat, guesstimate, and exercise after carb-laden meals. A1c is 5.2 so I don’t plan to change my management style.

When I’m a doctor I will probably not advocate that a patient do what I do, which is “wing it.” But everyone is different, and you have to find what works for you.

By: Olga

Olga — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:38:16 +0000

Wow, I guess it’s been 24 years already with Type 1 (!) — I was diagnosed at age 11, when we were living in Austria, and I spent 3+ weeks in the hospital getting SO much education that it puts today’s system to shame. Plastic food played a part, we memorized the 15g rule for “breads,” “milks,” and “fruits,” and had a scale at home (which, reading previous posts, I’m tempted to drag out again. Since I eat little prcessed stuff, weighing should be the way to go).

But seriously, the SWAG Eyeball most of the time, except for treating lows (to avoid overtreating in a panic).

I’ve found dietitians to be of very little help (and this at the UW, home of the one & only Irl Hirsch) — is it just me?

By: kkonmymind

kkonmymind — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:19:54 +0000

Yes, this is how I learned. My CDE was (is!) great. I was paranoid in the beginning and stuck mostly to things that came with labels. But as I got the hang of it I got a little braver. My CDE mentioned the importance of a good food scale in this process. I took her advice and bought one I am really happy with.

I still ask her about things I am not good at figuring out.

By: AmyT

AmyT — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:04:23 +0000

You people are great. I too use the SWAG and Doggie Paddling systems. Sink or swim, for sure!

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:43:20 +0000

The first dietitian I saw didn’t even try to teach me about counting carbs. I was handed a Type 2 meal plan – I do mean PLAN, with only three options for any meal in the day – that involved less than 1500 calories and only 120 carbs per day. I am a Type 1 and at that point I was literally running around all day as a waitress! I managed to get into Joslin, where I learned basic carb counting out of a workbook in a big class of aspiring pump users. Since then, I just pay attention to my body. If I find that my blood sugars are starting to go berserk after a meal, I will weigh and measure for a few days to get myself back on track, using the internet for nutrition info since I don’t eat many packaged foods. Close is good enough for me, especially since I know the CGM will tell me when I’m totally out of whack.