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Counting Carbs

Laconic

Well-Known Member
Messages
140
Let’s just say your targeting 20 grams and under of carbs a day, could you have 30 one day and only 10 the next and vice verse, if you’ve had too many one day cut back the next, and if your under limit you can relax a bit the next day....
 
You could try it, but the proof would be to see how your blood sugars react.
 
I'd be wary - it would be a good idea to cut back after a high carb day - but for me it can take some time to get back into balance, and it can be difficult to resist the temptation, so that it is a real battle to get back to where I was.
 
The aim should be to lower and to stabilise your Blood Glucose . So it is advisable to use a Blood Glucose Meter to test the effect of your meals - before the meal and then 2hrs after first bite.

We are all different, so your reaction to certain carbs may be slightly different to that with other carbs. Thus a total Carb count target need to be based upon your meter readings.
As we say 'Eat to your Meter'.

When I find I have overdone the Carbs (usually at dinner not lunch or breakfast), I often just skip breakfast the next day = Intermittent Fasting.
 
Petal55 said:
Hi I’m new here
How many carbs should I roughly eat per meal . I’m type 2
Click to expand...
Depends.. what was your HbA1c that led to diagnosis?
I aim for as few a possible usually managing about 10-20g of carbs per day.
 
Petal55 said:
Hi I’m new here
How many carbs should I roughly eat per meal . I’m type 2
Click to expand...
Hello @Petal55 ,

Depends entirely on what your blood sugars are doing... For me, I average between 10 and 20 grams per day. (Usually spread out over 1 or 2 meals. Only eat 3 times on the weekend, maybe. Still within that amount of carbs). Others feel alright on 40 grams a day, or 80. You could eat to your meter: Test before a meal and 2 hours afterwards, if you go up no more than 2.0 mmol/l or less, you've nailed it.

https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help.
Good luck,
Jo
 
bulkbiker said:
Depends.. what was your HbA1c that led to diagnosis?
I aim for as few a possible usually managing about 10-20g of carbs per day.
Click to expand...

It was very high my reading have been in the teens I’ve been having 30-40 carbs a meal I have been weighing portions too
I walk 4 miles every day but levels still high
 
Resurgam said:
Please add details to your profile, so we can see what type you are, and the medication you are taking, if any. The advice is different.
Click to expand...

I’m type 2 I take 850mg metformin twice a day
160mg of Gliclazide twice a day 1 Atorvastatin in the morning only
 
Petal55 said:
It was very high my reading have been in the teens I’ve been having 30-40 carbs a meal I have been weighing portions too
I walk 4 miles every day but levels still high
Click to expand...

Hi. I find it really depends on what those carbs are and what time of day. I just can’t have any carbs in the morning or I’m high all day. If I do have some Keto bread (2-3g) it is ok in the afternoon. Again I can’t have carby things in the evening or my FBG is high in the morning. Also eating say 10g of normal bread would have a very different result for me than say having 10g of carbs from green veg. Another thing, absolutely no snacking if I’m running higher than I’d like as that does make a difference.

It’s been interesting realising all this from testing A LOT and help from the amazing members here. Just as I think I have everything under control, I get a bad few days for no apparent reason. It can be a challenge but try to relax as you will probably find there are good days and bad days. Remember, every individual body is different.
 
To control my numbers without medication I have a maximum of 40 carbs a day.
The carbs are all from low carb foods, 10 percent maximum other than the chocolate, and I have only one square at a time, and not every day, of 95 percent cocoa from Lidl.
 
I've found that I can tolerate around a maximum of 50g carbs a day, so aim to keep (often well) below that. I've eaten and enjoyed a low carb/ketogenic diet since diagnosis over six and a half years ago. My only diabetic medication was metformin, which I've not needed for the last three years.

Using my meter (initially setting myself target ranges) and testing mainly pre and post meals showed me what I could/could not eat to reduce and keep glucose down to low pre-diabetic levels. Since I started testing I've seen a regular pattern with highest levels early morning reducing to lowest before evening meals.

Now in general any higher glucose levels are due to things such as illlness, pain, some medications (e.g. statins which I've refused to take, steroids), stress, etc, and not by what I eat.
 
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