how many carbs a day when low carbing

Hi ronnie, well done for taking action and I am glad you are seeing some results.

When I started low carbing I too started at 150gms a day. It did lower my readings a little but not enough so I experimented by reducing some of the amounts I was eating each day. I found that I needed to reduce to below 50gms in order to get into the 5s this also had the added bonus that I lost weight as well. I wouldn't suggest you cut your carbs drastically in just one step but it may be worth trying small cuts in carbs with an associated increase in fats as I found that by doing it that way I didn't feel hungry. It's all very much a case of eating to your meter readings and not pushing yourself to the point that you are unhappy with the effect your diet has on you.

I am sure one of the more experienced members will be alone soon to give you more advise and encouragement but in the mean time maybe if you gave a rough idea of what you are eating in a normal day someone may be able to tweak what you are eating to make all your efforts more productive.

Well done for deciding to take control, best way in my view. I am an ULC (ultra low carber) and eat less than 20g of carbs a day.

Low carbing does usually show results fairly Quickly.
Dr. Bernstein recommends 30grams per day. divided up as 6 for beakfast, 12 for Lunch and 12 for dinner.
I aim for this, but as you can guess, on those figures, I often miss, but never as much as 150 in a day. However it's a good start
Hana

Hi Ronnie

It's great you are trying to do this yourself well done!

At 150g you are doing just over half the normal daily allowance which is a great place to start and where many of us would recommend you start from. The knack is to reduce the carbs that do the most to raise levels so obviously sugar (sugar in tea and coffee, biscuits, cakes, all pretty obvious). Not quite so obvious is the sugar in fruit juice and just fruit in general. Next the five big ones to attack are rice, pasta, breads, cereal and potatoes. Cutting those down by a decent amount will give you probably the most benefit as most people eat more of those than sugary things yet they do roughly the same damage to blood levels. If you cut them down then make sure you replace them with extra meat, cheese, eggs, fish and especially veg. By replacing those starchy carbs with veg you are simply replacing some carbs with better lower carb ones. On any of the starchy ones you can't give up straight way swap from white rice to brown basmati rice, white pasta to brown or tri coloured pasta and white bread to wholemeal or even better a brand called Burgen soya bread.

What you are ultimately looking to do is get 2 hour post meal readings less than 8 on your meter then you will be in safe levels for the vast majority of the time. If you have been running "high" for a while you may find that very difficult for a while so in the meantime try and get the 2 hour reading not to be more than 2 bigger than where it was before you ate.

Can't really tell you a grams per day figure to aim at as it varies person to person. For me I had to go right down to 60g / day but others do ok near where you are. That's why the meter is so important as it will guide you to what's right for you.

I try and do a very low carb breakfast so something like an omlette or even occasionally bacon and egg or yoghurt and a few "berries" and also a low carb lunch then save most of my "quota" for my main meal at night. I find that helps a lot because the insulin you produce works better in the afternoons and evenings. Never understood why but it just does.

Do you take any meds for T2? On a low carb diet Metformin is usually fine with no side effects and is also beneficial for your heart. Why not ask the doc about it. Its not a magic pill and will oly reduce your levels by 1 or 2 but really does help stop spikes like your 14 you got.


Keep asking questions.

ronnie794 said:

hi xyzzy i have not been diagnosed but my bg have been off for a couple of months now, but nobody seemed to think it was a big deal .
so i took a action myself .

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Apologies when I saw 14 I made the assumption which was very wrong of me. I should have looked at your details. My advice now changes . Go see the doc and get some tests done or were the blood tests you had done for db diagnosis? If you hit a 14 that is a concern. It is more of a concern if you are say less than 40, not overweight or have been losing weight unexpectedly as that could indicate T1 or T1.5 (LADA) which will need to be identified as quickly as possible. Are you getting any other classic symptoms such as having to make trips to the loo in the night or thrush or changes in your vision?