Thursday, February 14, 2013

Becoming a Pro Carb Counter


The first thing many people think of when they hear “counting carbs” is diets.  I guess Diabetes does correspond with diets in a way, but not the kind of diet that many people just decide to go on.  Counting carbs is THE key to figuring out how much insulin a Diabetic needs to give in order to “cover” what they eat.  For me, counting carbs is second nature now.  When I eat lunch or dinner I don’t need nutrition labels or nutrition facts, I just sort of guess.  But… my guess is definitely an educated one!  Since having to know the carb content for everything I’ve put in my mouth the last 11 years, I must say, I have become pretty good at it!  The only way to become adept at knowing food nutrition is practicing, and piecing things together. Also knowing which foods are “free” or have zero carbs is a must!  Eggs, meat and cheese are considered free.  There are many other foods that are very low carb.  Free foods are good to know about in the case that you have high blood sugar but are hungry!



For example…

I eat a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple and pretzels for lunch one day.  Here’s the breakdown:










Sandwich 24 carbs
  • ·      Each slice of bread usually has 12-15 carbs
  • ·      Meat is “free”
  • ·      Cheese is “free”
Apple 22 carbs
  • ·     18-25 carbs depending on size
Pretzels 25 carbs
  • ·      Here’s where you have to actually count… 20 pretzels usually have about 25 carbs.  Serving size is also one of those things that you memorize over time!

Voilà!

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