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Can you suggest good places to eat out where I can do a "carb ratio test"?

DisFanJen

Well-Known Member
Messages
144
Location
Lovely, Lovely, Wales
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
So I've got my numbers under control at home, with home cooking and the occasional 6" subway, and while keeping my carbs from going too high, I'm not ultra low carbing (around 90g - 110g a day on average) and not taking loads of insulin to compensate (around 3 - 6U depending on the meal plus a measly 4U basal).

However I'm on a cruise in July and while I'm told they'll be able to tell me all the carbs in my food, I doubt they'll be making special low carb veggie meals for me.

So I want to do a "carb ratio test" before I get on the ship as I think I'm dialled in however I tend to eat similar levels of carbs daily.

Basically I want to go to a place that I can be fairly sure the carbs they are telling me are accurate and use my carb ration to adjust to the numbers and see how it goes so I can fine tune and be good for the cruise.

Anyone got any recommendations for places that display their carb numbers and do good veggie food? Preferably chains that are everywhere, or places in the Bristol or SE Wales areas.
 
Well a buffet may replicate the cruise experience but possibly not these days?
Carbs and Cals and World Foods provide great visual guides to carbs for commonly eaten restaurant foods; I imagine you will be offered a good variety depending on which port you're in.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carbs-Cals-World-Foods-management/dp/1908261250

Remember that a higher fat content will slow down absorption of the carbs so that's worth experimenting with too in terms of bolus timing.
Hope you get a good idea of your ratios whilst remembering it is an art rather than a science.
 
I use carbs & cals now and swear by it. However my circumstances have changed (found out just after posting this first post) as it seems I’ve got my HBA1c right down (36) so the consultant wants me to stop the bolas as they think I might be able to return to pills only…
 
DisFanJen said:
I’ve got my HBA1c right down (36) so the consultant wants me to stop the bolas as they think I might be able to return to pills only…
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That's a great result. So you're T2? Am thinking that means you may have to restrict the carbs a bit on the cruise? Sometimes there are advantages to being on insulin because you can inject for your carbs.... (Speaking with my T1 hat on, not as an insulin resistant T2).
 

Yes I’m T2 and the fact that Fact wasn’t lost on me. I’m already down below 100 grams of carbs and I don’t want to go Keto.
 
bulkbiker said:
Any particular reason why not?

Has put many of our T2 into remission.
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Basically I tried once and as a vegetarian it became way too restrictive.

I’m not stupid enough to think I can just live and eat normally, I not a person who thinks eat what you want and up the insulin, but I do want a certain level of flexibility.

Back when I was on pills only I didn’t do well with control, finally leading to my DKA, however once on insulin I had everything locked in.

It’s been 24 hours and already I’m in the bad old days of needing to pee more often, having an upset stomach, and last night I had leg cramps. It’s not like I’m eating that many carbs and I don’t want to go back to all those issues again.
 

Have you had a cpeptide test to see how much insulin you are still producing? Although new T2s typically overproduce insulin, my understanding is that long term T2s can end up insulin deficient. It may be that you just need a bit of help in the insulin department. What pills are you on? Some of them work by making you pee out the sugar, while others are renowned for stomach issues, at least in the beginning.

The good news is that if you find that the pills don't agree with you, you've got insulin to fall back on because you know it works.
 

I don’t think it’s a test the GP, cate team have done but I’m not 100% sure. You know the NHS, you have to push to find out anything from them.

As to my reaction, everything was fine last night. Only up once and no cramps. So maybe the first night was just a reaction to losing the bolas.

I do like that I have the option to fall back on the bolas if needed, but So far it looks like I might just have to tweak the basal a bit and use metformin.
 
DisFanJen said:
Don’t get me wrong, if it reaches the point of my life or eating meat I’ll chow down on the hind leg of a donkey, but I’m not there yet.
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Never tried donkey... but a meat heavy diet has helped lots over come T2.

Keto can be tweaked to vegetarian though

www.dietdoctor.com has a relatively large vegetarian section. There's quite a lot of free info there but you have to hunt around for it a bit.
 

Have you tried contacting the cruise company to see if you can get an idea of the menu rotation? If you have a rough idea of what the meals on offer, you might find it easier to conduct experiments at home, where you can have higher control over your portions.
 

Yeah, I tried that and they told me to go to customer services once I’m on board.
 
I'd suggest buying a libre sensor for the cruise. It will show you immediately if you are taking on too many carbs . I am sure there will be hidden carbs, the drinks are notorious, but there will be options for you to choose. Be aware portions will be huge
 
DisFanJen said:
Yeah, I tried that and they told me to go to customer services once I’m on board.
Click to expand...

That seems particularly unhelpful Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume there aren't a huge number of variables (Season and uncharacteristic unavailability not withstanding).
 

I was given a Libre sensor and the thing was terrible. The numbers were way off of my BG numbers, and not in a way that could be attributed to lag.

As to carbs, yes, huge portions but I’ve learnt portion control so that’s not an issue.
 

I asked for a C-Peptide blood test but it was like getting Blood Out Of A Stone! They took my blood but did not put in on ice, which, if they don't , it wont work. So I asked again, and still they said it was not necessary. I asked again, and they did a test using urine. This showed at the time, that I was still producing a fair amount of insulin....
 
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