My one touch ping pump shows the log of the carbs, insulin, and bg when I upload it to my ezManager but I'm interested in finding a way to write down what I ate, the carbs, bg, and the insulin I took for that meal. I just think it would be neat to log things that way. Does anyone have any tips or have ways of logging? Do you guys use a special notebook?
I loathe logging of any sort. I've had T1 since 1984 and logged a bit at the start and then in 2008 when I got my pump. For a while before that I used the One Touch Ultra Smart but didn't keep track of food or insulin that closely. Lately, I have a CGM and pump and just use those for logging. I like the phone app "Lose It!" to track food on and have done that a bit to play around with it but it's not integrated with any of my diabetes stuff. Two of my high school friends have an amazing log they log *everything* in for their daughter, color-coded highlighters, etc. MrsFriend is a vet and they are both on top of it but I'm not that into it.
Thank you for the reply. I'll download that app. I might try the log and if I can't keep up with it, I'll try logging meals and carbs on my phone.
I log old school in a medium sized notebook I keep on the table where my meter is. I have one page that covers about four weeks and is broken down into columns of "AM, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Bed". I put my blood sugar (before and after for the meals) and the amount of carbs as well as the units of insulin I take. It looks something like this for each entry.
18 (carbs)
85-1.00-102
I use yellow highlighter for highs and blue for lows. So when I look at the page at the end of the four week period it really stands out if there are patterns of highs and lows, as well as how many there are so I can consider tweaking doses.
After that page I then have a page for breakfast, one for lunch, one for dinner and one for corrections. On the meal pages I put the date, what I ate and the carbs. For the corrections I put a letter next to the high on the first page, then next to that letter on the correction page I put the time, blood sugar, correction dose and result. This system works for me and may sound like a lot of work but is automatic for me to do when I sit down to bolus.
Glucosurfer.orgis another cool app that integrates diabetes, food, exercise, etc. and has a really cool interface/ display that will roll it all together. Plus the founder, Holger Schmenken is a member here and hangs around a lot and is very active in providing tips, feedback, support, etc.
Thank you! That is a very neat idea. I love the color coding for highs and lows. Thank you again.
Just looked at the website. Looks like something I'll definitely try :)
I use my android phone to log. Since it is almost alway with me it's the perfect choice for me. I'm way to lazy to write things down. The one thing I really like about logging with the phone is that I can upload it to my PC as an Excel file and print it off for the doctor. I can also use Excel to sort it the way I want it into a nice spreadsheet before I print it. If you don't want to print it you can EMail it directly to your doctor if he willing to let you.
I use the OnTrack android app. I think it comes in an Iphone version also.
Gary
Just checked it out! I like it so far. Thank you!
I have an 8x11 logbook for writing down what I eat, carb counts, blood sugars, insulin does, battery changes for my pump, the whole works. I was diagnosed in 1974, at age 3. I am methodical (lately) with my logbooking.
Using Insulin is new to me. Bolus for last 9 days, and Basel was started a month before that. Ive been using a half sized note book to log all readings, carb counts, units taken, and adjustment units taken, etc. I then transfer all the morning, before meals, and bedtime readings to the Glucose Buddy app I have on my phone. I text my results to my Doctor every Monday, so sending a screen shot of the graph makes it easier. I keep the log book with my Flex Pens, so its easy to record.
What I don't like is the Graph just shows the High, Low, and average each day. I would rather something that did a scatter graph that would distinguish between the different readings... premeal/postmeal, which meal readings.
Since I have everything written down, I can always refer to it. I like the idea I saw in another response to highlight Highs and Lows (although I haven't had a low yet).
I buy the most beautiful stationary I can find, spend ages drawing little columns, then get bored two days later.
Logging is boring stuff....but if you have a smart phone you can use a program called Docs To Go and use Excel for logging your daily activity's and you can create tons of grafts and pie charts if your into that kind of stuff. I run a Excel macro to figure my bolus when I (TAG). This program also sinks with my master file that's on my laptop.
I don't log and my endo stated that a lot of diabetics don't log.
I try it for a few days then find it very annoying, since I test 10-12 times a day and for me what worked yesterday may not work for today.
I did for awhile when eating out every Friday at lunch for work write down what I ate and what I bolused for a particular meal, that worked fairly well for me, but as always every day is different and it is not an exact science.
Thanks for all the replies :) I have come to accept that I can't keep up with logging.
Some of the meters can log for you now, then all you do is connect it to your computer to see what has been going on. It's very handy.
I can never keep up with intensive logging for more than a couple of months at a time either. As big of a geek as I am, entering numbers in my laptop or desktop are just too much of a PITA when it all depends on writing numbers into a logbook just so I can painstakingly keyboard them into some computer program later.
Having a smartphone and an app helps a lot. You still have to punch BG numbers in, but the data you get back is worth the minimal effort. I still fall behind though, but as long as I keep up with the fingersticks and have the BGs entered somewhere, even if it is just in my meter's memory, there is always the opportunity to go back and get the numbers properly logged.
Hi marleneseven -
Wandering around the forum this morning I stumbled over your note and thought maybe the solution I developed for my record-keeping might address your needs. The story, and the software, is available for-the-taking at http://www.weloop.com/HATS.html. If you've thoughts or questions I can assist with drop em a line.