My Fitness Pal

[Icequeen55]

Just completed my first diary on MFP. Stunned to see I've consumed 225g of carbs today, this is with me cutting well down on my usual carb intake. I have a long way to go to get to grips with low carb eating. Was in Tesco and I'm sure the pastries were waving at me.

 

[mo53]

Hello @Icequeen55 and welcome. My fitness pal is brilliant but it definetly keeps you on your toes. Have you had the information for new members. @daisy1 please could you post the new person information please. Thank you.

 

[nomoredonuts]

Hi fellow newbie!
I've just had a quick look at this app and the reviews seem to be generally good. I'm at the early stages like you and there's an awful lot of information buzzing round in my head. I wonder if MFP is fairly intuitive to set up and use, since I don't want to be struggling to log stuff, then get behind etc
Can you post updates how you get on with it and I'll have another think?

 

[smallerjo]

Myfittnesspal is great been using it for just over a year I have lost over 100 lbs and my latest Hba1c was 30

 

[Icequeen55]

I've managed to link it to my Fitbit so going to try and earn some extra calories. I usually manage 10,000 steps a day walking the dogs so hope to get a bit of kudos for that.

 

[muzza3]

Hi @Icequeen55

I have stared using it this week. It is great to track carbs with. Is a bit clunky but as you build up your history easier to select foods. Certainly better my spreadsheet

 

[Pipp]

I find MFP over estimates the calorie expendature for exercise. Tend not to take much notice of that.
Also, for food, it is fine if you use branded foods as you can scan in the bar code. If creating a recipe, cooking from scratch it can be more tricky. Also, you need to weigh foods and put in accurate measures, not 'guestimates' if you want accurate record of calories consumed.

 

[daisy1]

Hello @Icequeen55 and welcome. My fitness pal is brilliant but it definetly keeps you on your toes. Have you had the information for new members. @daisy1 please could you post the new person information please. Thank you.

@Icequeen55

Hello Icequeen55 and welcome to the forum Here is the information, mentioned above, which we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.