Is MyFitnessPal good for carb counting?

[Bon83]

Hi @Cinderella56 welcome to the forum. The only advice I can give is eat to your meter - use it to guide you as to what you can eat without affecting your BS. We are all individuals and what works for one person will not for somebody else. I seem to be luckier than many on here in that I can eat more 'carby' foods such as bread and potatoes and, through testing, have managed to determine which type suits me best. My average carb intake is about 90g per day which is still relatively low carb and I eat full fat but do not worry too much if I have a higher carb meal than usual. That said I enjoy nothing more than a big plate of salad with either ham, cheese, smoked mackerall or home made scotch egg and some Greek yoghurt with berries for dessert!

I have been looking at this to indeed see what is considered low carb. I don't really think I have ever knowingly eaten high carb even pre t 1 d. Unless I was consuming secret carbs in snacks - probably was lol. When I read some t 1 advice on 30 g plus carbs with a meal I was astonished - the size of the porridge or jacket potato that would have to be is massive! I am currently using my fitness pall to count carbs (is this a good one?). And being truly honest. As I say I was probably having 20 g carbs per meal is this low? I have tried cutting out carbs all together for lunch and having protein - I am struggling to bolus with novo rapid for protein. Protein and fat do seem to push bg up quite quickly. Does this mean I already have some ability to use them for glucose? Does anyone have any tips/advice for protein and fat - I'm into uncharted territory here

 

[azure]

I have been looking at this to indeed see what is considered low carb. I don't really think I have ever knowingly eaten high carb even pre t 1 d. Unless I was consuming secret carbs in snacks - probably was lol. When I read some t 1 advice on 30 g plus carbs with a meal I was astonished - the size of the porridge or jacket potato that would have to be is massive! I am currently using my fitness pall to count carbs (is this a good one?). And being truly honest. As I say I was probably having 20 g carbs per meal is this low? I have tried cutting out carbs all together for lunch and having protein - I am struggling to bolus with novo rapid for protein. Protein and fat do seem to push bg up quite quickly. Does this mean I already have some ability to use them for glucose? Does anyone have any tips/advice for protein and fat - I'm into uncharted territory here

30g carbs of porridge isn't a massive portion nor is 30g carbs of potato. Are you sure you're weighing/calculating correctly? Eg the potato carbs are calculated on raw weight. Although MyFitnessPal is a great app its not specifically for carb counting as Type 1s need, and you might find Carbs and Cals better.

Most Type 1s eat moderate carbs - usually under 200g per day. Some do eat more, some less. You don't need to go very low carb to control Type 1. Type 2 is different.

Protein will push your blood sugar up in the absence of carbs. It's easier to control Type 1 by eating moderate amounts of carbs per day as then protein can usually be ignored. In addition, too much fat can also increase the need for insulin in Type 1s.

 

[Bon83]

Thanks for your help I may try this app instead as it may be better. I have not been weighing potato raw - but I do have a low appetite for porridge and only like a bit . I will try again. I may have been off in calculations it's a terribly complicated process.

 

[azure]

Thanks for your help I may try this app instead as it may be better. I have not been weighing potato raw - but I do have a low appetite for porridge and only like a bit . I will try again. I may have been off in calculations it's a terribly complicated process.

Don't let people overcomplicate it for you The basics are pretty simple

I do recommend a good set of digital scales as they make accuracy/consistency easy.

 

[Bon83]

Don't let people overcomplicate it for you The basics are pretty simple

I do recommend a good set of digital scales as they make accuracy/consistency easy.

Thanks

 

[catapillar]

I do have a low appetite for porridge and only like a bit

1 sachet (which is supposed to be a serving for 1) of oats so simple has 16g of carbs, + 9g of carbs in 180ml of semi skimmed milk = 24g of carbs for a standard serving. I don't think knocking it up to 30g would require a "massive" bowl of porridge.

But there's no need to knock it up to 30g. Or to cut out carbs. Have you done a DAFNE course or looked into carb counting? That might help with how to accurately count the carbs you're consuming, and how to bolus for them.

My fitness pal is fine. Just bear in mind that some of the data is user entered, so whoever filled it in might have not been bothered about carbs or might have made an error. So do do a sense check on what it's telling you (I had some out of the chiller pre made spinach and ricotta sauce the other day, scanned the bar code on the pot for myfitnesspal to tell me how many carbs in it, it told me it had 53g, which didn't sound right, I checked the label and actually it had 5.3g, which is quite a difference when bolusing) And do make sure it's calculating carbs on the right weight or serving size that you are actually having.

 

[Bon83]

1 sachet (which is supposed to be a serving for 1) of oats so simple has 16g of carbs, + 9g of carbs in 180ml of semi skimmed milk = 24g of carbs for a standard serving. I don't think knocking it up to 30g would require a "massive" bowl of porridge.

But there's no need to knock it up to 30g. Or to cut out carbs. Have you done a DAFNE course or looked into carb counting? That might help with how to accurately count the carbs you're consuming, and how to bolus for them.

My fitness pal is fine. Just bear in mind that some of the data is user entered, so whoever filled it in might have not been bothered about carbs or might have made an error. So do do a sense check on what it's telling you (I had some out of the chiller pre made spinach and ricotta sauce the other day, scanned the bar code on the pot for myfitnesspal to tell me how many carbs in it, it told me it had 53g, which didn't sound right, I checked the label and actually it had 5.3g, which is quite a difference when bolusing) And do make sure it's calculating carbs on the right weight or serving size that you are actually having.

I think that I have been getting way off with the weights and calculations of carbs. I have applied to go on the dafne course now but had to wait for a year of diagnosis. I'm trying to teach myself but finding it confusing. Whether things are dry cooked etc

 

[noblehead]

I think that I have been getting way off with the weights and calculations of carbs. I have applied to go on the dafne course now but had to wait for a year of diagnosis. I'm trying to teach myself but finding it confusing. Whether things are dry cooked etc

Whilst you wait to go on the DAFNE course the following should help:

https://www.bertieonline.org.uk/

 

[azure]

I think that I have been getting way off with the weights and calculations of carbs. I have applied to go on the dafne course now but had to wait for a year of diagnosis. I'm trying to teach myself but finding it confusing. Whether things are dry cooked etc

Look at the BERTIE link above

When people struggle with carb counting, I often wish I still had the leaflet my dietician gave me at diagnosis. It was simple and very user-friendly.

Some things are dry weight, some cooked weight. You'll gradually build your own carb database in your brain

 

[zand]

With My fitness pal as well as the user errors that you need to watch out for (which catapillar has already mentioned) , there can also be some entries in accordance with UK nutritional values and some with those for USA. With the USA carb figures you need to take off the amount of fibre. The UK entry is already net carbs so you don't need to do this. Not a problem for me as a diet controlled T2 but for a T1 it could mean taking too much bolus if you look at the entries made by people from The USA by mistake. I usually check with carbs and cals to be sure.

 

[Bon83]

Don't let people overcomplicate it for you The basics are pretty simple

I do recommend a good set of digital scales as they make accuracy/consistency easy.

It certainly makes a big difference weighing the potato raw!

 

[azure]

It certainly makes a big difference weighing the potato raw!

It does Once you get the hang of various food carbs, you'll find it simpler and less of a nuisance