Food Diary

[VanDamage]

How many of you guys/girls keep a food diary and how does it work? i just looked at another thread and someone said to do it.i never though of it and let me have your ideas please cause im haveing a **** of a time with being off the honeymoon period.

[dacruzer]

try this link...www.fitday.com....I use this to log my food intake and activities. It will show you at a glance what you need to know.

[seacomp]

A diabetic food diary is both less and more than it seems. It's less because all you really need to record is the time and number of carbs for everything you eat (and maybe) the amount of meat, if it's a lot.
It's more because you also want to record anything else besides food that will effect your BG, such as exercise or sickness. Of course, you are also recording when and how much insulin, or other medication you take, and your BG readings.
The food diary is thus really a BG diary it shows all the inputs to your BG, and the resultant output in terms of your BG reading.
Better diabetes' doctors will ask/insist that you kept one, at least while your treatment is being organized.
You can kept one and use it to adjust your own treatment by yourself, as much as you are comfortable with that or forced to do so.

[liz32]

I'm too lazy...lol...I only start recording for clinic and if I'm trying out something new.
Liz

[kgm0612]

I log my BS, carb intake, the foods that I ate, how many units I bolused, and any exercise I did in a daily planner that I carry around with me. This way I know what foods I did well with and what foods to avoid.

Karen

[HollyB]

If you're bolusing according to set I:C ratios and correction factors, what is actually gained by recording the amount of each bolus? I started trying to do that and it made me crazy (Aaron will sometimes have three different boluses for one meal), and in the end I looked at the weeks' worth of inputs and thought, "What am I ever going to do with this, knowing that Aaron took 5.4 units for xx carbs? If I know he took 1:17 than isn't the actual dose irrelevant?" So I have only started recording insulin doses if we try something different, like a temp basal, combo bolus, or different I:C ratio. Otherwise I just don't see the benefit?

[Jan2306]

I don't go anywhere without my food and exercise diary. It only takes a few seconds to record and it's great for tracking what meals work, trends over time on my ratios - all kinds of things. I use The Pocket Food & Exercise Diary and also carry around the accompanying Calorie, Fat & Carb Counter which has everthing from basic index to ethnic food categories. My CDE recommended it and I take it everywhere. You can find it at www.calorieking.com.

[poodlebone]

I belong to Calorie King, which has an online Food diary that I love. I like that I can enter weird amounts of foods and it will calculate my entire meal for me. Carbs, fiber, fat, protein, sodium, calcium, whatever other nutrients you set it up for. I like that I can create custom recipes or meals and it will calculate everything for those as well.

I also write down the basics in my Minimed pump log book. I write down what I eat but not quantities, usually. I record my BG readings, total net carbs for any meals/snacks, boluses, exercise, any changes I make to my settings and any other notes that might affect my readings. It might sound like a lot of work but it takes seconds to jot down each thing.

Record keeping has been an enormous help in (1) losing weight and (2) getting better control and (3) showing my CDE what's been going on at a glance.