[davef]

Originally Posted by dlife

David, that's a neat approach. I'd like to follow that too, eating by the meter. Your a1c is fantastic. Kudos to you )

All I can say is that it's what I learned here on the forums and has certainly worked for me. When I was DX'ed I was initially told to test morning and night (just twice a day). After joining here I spoke to my Doctor and explained that I really didn't see what I would gain or learn from so little testing, he completely agreed with me and wrote a new script for more test strips. I tend to test:

Morning for FBG
Before Lunch
2 Hours after Lunch
Before driving home (or anytime I drive)
Before dinner (unless I eat shortly after arriving home)
2 Hours after dinner
Before Bed

Some days (now that I understand how most of my meals work for me) I don't test as much. I always test after eating out, eating something new or eating something I normally avoid. It's easy to avoid testing when you know you have eaten something that does not work for you, but do test as it will remind you why you avoid certain things.

For example last night we brought the children to see Madagascar 2 (which is really funny) and then as a last Holiday treat we all went to TGI Friday's for dinner. I ordered a burger but got them to hold the bun, I hardly touched the fries but "treated" myself to done onion rings (supposedly to share but I know I ate most of them). I tested 2 hours PP and was at 169 (9.4) So now I know to either avoid the onion rings or to only have very very few.

I have certainly found that eating by the meter allows me to eat more "normally", be in control of my diet without too much trouble, control my numbers and either lose or at least maintain my weight.

Give yourself time to learn, if you slip, then pick yourself up and put the slip behind you, mark it down as a lesson learned and move on.