i keep my meals between 10 - 30gms of carbs. i don’t eat bread. i try for high protein, with intermitant 1/4 spoons of peanut butter throughout the day ( don’t bolus for the PB). i try to stick with the same or at the least, similar food choices (tuna, eggs, chicken, turkey, large salads) i do need to bolus for proteins, however. by the end of the day, when i read the “daily totals” from my pump, i have used approximately 20 units.
how many carbs do you use per meal, per snack, per day? and how are your A1cs? do you have any suggestions? I am very lean and would like to put on some weight. when i do choose to eat “straight” carbs w/ my meals, i spike terribly. i have thought of doing a dual bolus to account for the spikes (which occur about 3 hours after my meals). i think that this would help me to gain some LBs. currently my A1c is 6.5 and i am proud of that…like i truly earned it!!!
In addition to low carb, I also practice intermittent fasting. I don’t eat between dinner and lunch to allow my body a full cycle of cellular “house cleaning”
For lunch, I eat approx. 20 grams of carb–1/4 cup pasture raised yogurt with a small organic apple with macadamia and pistachio nuts…or a slightly larger apple with organic peanut butter.
Dinner is my large meal–specifically to help my body reduce cortisol levels for good sleep at night. I will have either a casserole with organic animal protein like chicken or turkey with an assortment of vegetables to bring carbs to 20-25 grams of carb (The key is using vegetables for carbs to prevent bg spike for me) Or, I will have a large salad and some type of organic animal protein–chicken, turkey, or pork primarily. Again, I use veggies to maintain carbs for the most part. Sometimes, I will use a gluten free flour product. For example, tonight I am making a chicken pot pie that will be a sauce of chicken bone broth and cream, and I will make little gluten free biscuits to put on top. I call that a treat meal. HA! During colder months, I will make bone broth stews with pasture raised beef and veggies.
I always use organic fats, pasture-raised if they come from an animal source.
When I want a treat, I either have macadamia nuts with stevia sweetened chocolate chips or I’ll make my version of low carb brownies or cookes (I reduce flour–gluten free–by 2/3 with shredded coconut and almond flour, add additional eggs, and sweeten with applesauce (from my orchard) and stevia.
That brings my daily average of carbs to between 45 and 60, and it works really well for me. I started this May when my A1c was 6.8 and last test this month, it was 5.4
I don’t really consider it. I eat less carbs than I used to but am still like 80-160G/ day, sometimes more, which I think is pretty much more than most people who are aiming at low carb diets. That is, of course, still less than the last dietitian I saw recommended, which was something like 240-320.
If you’re at 6.5 A1C, that’s a great result and you shouldn’t worry about eating less carbs to do “better” but maybe work on less fluctuations or crashing out when you have excursions? The other thread where there was quite a bit of discussion of protein might be a good thing to look into. I think that if you go from not counting protein to counting a little bit of protein, it might make a big difference and help you sort of retroactively calculate your rates and ratios more accurately which, in turn, might help you reduce the crashy lows, if that makes sense? Great work on the BG though!!
what crazy kind of dietitian would recommend that you consume 240-320 gms of carbs/day?
which school did she attend? and how on earth would that register as calories/day? i am a
skinny gal, and fortunately do not have to worry about my weight; i am 5’4" and 100 lbs.
i could use to gain about 5-10 lbs. still, if i even try to consume something like oatmeal or whole grain bread or yogurt, i spike. i would love to get some of my calories through plain old carbs. to keep my weight on, i do the “high fat/low carb” diet. i think that that is what keeps my carb count on the low side.
My meals are around 30-45g and I eat two per day and snacks too now which are around 10-15g sometimes lower. I don’t eat any grains/potatoes for various reasons now- a lot of my carbs come from veggies/berries/fruit.
I think this is pretty standard and the number of carbohydrates most people eat. If you look on any nutrition facts label, at least here in Canada, it’ll show the percent of the daily intake that the value makes up. I’m looking at something that’s 22 grams of carbohydrates per serving, and the label says that’s 7% of the daily value for carbohydrates. If 22 grams is 7%, then the other 93% would be about 278 grams, meaning the total daily recommended intake is 300 grams of carbohydrates.
my meals would be lower in carbs, but i have to bolus for everything that i put in my mouth. this includes protein, veggies, fats…you get the picture. but lucky you.
Don’t think because you eat low or no carbs you are helping yourself because your not, your body needs carbs to function properly you just need to find a good balance for your body and stick with it… Ask your doctor
I eat once or twice a day - always at lunch, and sometimes dinner. Usually i keep the carbs to under 40g per meal - but i ate fairly low carb before diagnosis anyway.
I’ve been told that this is too low - but my a1c has been between 5.3 and 5.0 since diagnosis -ok i don’t have the same energy as i remember having a few years ago, but i have other issues - that have led me to become unfit and i’m over 40, so i don’t know if that is because of my diet or just ‘normal’ aging.
I have to bolus (or exercise) for every carb - i usually enter it all into MyFitnessPal (including all meat, veg, cheese etc) and then bolus according to what it tells me. I am learning to count ‘by eye’ - so i know my usual plate of veggies is about 25-30 (it’s a big plate ) but i still get freaked out when faced with heavy carb dishes - i just don’t know how much it is - but experimenting is fun.
you only eat once or twice a day? or do you mean you only eat carbs once or twice a day? everything for me must be counted as a carb, protein included, even simple salads and veggies. i only bolus for about 40 - 60 grams of carbs per day, but i don’t eat that many carbs. its just that i have to give myself insulin for everything i eat, carb or not. but, i am a very hearty eater. still i eat three meals a day and snack between in the afternoon.
I probably generally eat 30-50 per day. Of course there are exceptions when I eat much more… Sometimes I eat almost zero carb… I only count “real” carbs like grains, potatoes, rice, etc. I try to only eat any significant amount of carbs with 1 meal a day.
@Daisy_Mae, have you tested your basal rates and ratios to make sure that you are, in fact, bolusing for protein? (Sorry if this has already been asked in a previous thread.) I know some people have to bolus for a portion of their protein, but it sounds like you’re bolusing for 100% of it? A hundred percent of protein doesn’t break down into glucose, so that doesn’t make sense to me. I’m wondering if part of your bolus may actually be making up for a basal rate that’s too low or making up or a carb or correction ratio that’s too low.
I consider anything under about 80 grams a day to be low carb. I don’t eat low carb right now, since I eat somewhere over 100 grams per day (I haven’t checked on my pump recently), but there was a time when I was eating about 50 to 80 grams per day. I do try to keep the glycemic index of my foods low, as I find this just as important as the number of carbs for my control.
Jen- thats a great question regarding my basal rates. but when i do a fasting test for my basal rates everything works 100%. i am, however, on a very low basal profile. at least i think so (.4/hr…5/h… and the like, totaling 11.6/ day) and my I:C ration is 1:10. my total insulin per day totals around 18 - 20 units. i think that this should be considered low-carb, no?
The amount of insulin you take a day doesn’t always match the amount of carbs. If someone’s blood sugars are running low all day they could eat 300 carbs and not take any insuli. The way to find out if you eat low carb is to count the carbs you eat everyday, then decide for yourself if it’s “low-carb”. I don’t believe there is a magic number, though correct me if I’m wrong. Here’s my example for you:
I woke up this morning and my BG was 65. I ate 2 slices of low-carb bread with butter and a glass of water. That was 17 carbs. My breakfast I:C ratio is 1:15, but I took less than that because my number was low. Yesterday I ate the same thing but took a little more insulin becuase I was around 120 when I woke up. See, exact same amount of carbs but different insulin.
I feel that you’re thinking way to hard about this! Carbs are carbs, read the labels, count them, and that’s how many carbs you eat. When you add insulin to your bolus for protein, sweetener, coffee, whatever, you aren’t adding to your daily carb count.
My 31 day pump average today is 114g but it’s probably really lower than that because I lie to my pump and overstate my carbs for some pesky foods…I’m sure other good pumpers dial in a little windage from time to time for some foods.
I am not sure how many carbs I eat a day, but I make an effort to avoid added sugars, sweets, grains, potatoes, sweet fruits. My basal insulin is now about 35 - 40 units / day. My bolus is typically 6 - 10, sometimes less. I also find I have to dose for protein such as breakfast eggs if I eat them.
I also try to do intermittent fasting and only eat 2 meals most days (I just have a brewed coffee for breakfast with a dash of milk), typically a heavy lunch consisting of protein and veges, and a lighter dinner where I often include a glass of wine or gin with ice and a fresh lemon juice. If I do eat breakfast it will typically be eggs and cheese, maybe some green veges. Sometimes I may cheat on this if eating out (though I can usually get the carbs changed to vegetables) - but have to test much more frequently and dose more than usual bolus.
My latest a1C was 5.4 (higher than my usual 5 or 5.1, but I had a early miscarriage and all the blood sugar joys that very early pregnancy brings - my insulin requirements more than doubled), and insulin requirements are still up a bit compared to before anyway…
@Daisy_Mae, I am curious as to your plan to gain weight, given the low carb count you indicate. How many calories have you added to your standard meal plans in order to gain weight?
I don’t give advice but have wondered if your previously discussed issues with finding good spots for insertion sites would be helped with just a bit more subcutaneous tissue. After all, that is the placement recommended for injections, pump insertions, and cgm sensor insertions.
Best wishes for gaining your target pounds to help that issue.
) but i still get freaked out when faced with heavy carb dishes - i just don’t know how much it is - but experimenting is fun.