Counting carbs by weight?

[Isometric]

Hey, I was just flipping through the insulin bible (Using Insulin), and I ran across the appendix that has the carb concentrations of different kinds of food. It seems like a really accurate way to count, but also a little tedious, given that you have to weigh everything on a gram scale. Anyone use this method in some way shape or form? I don't think I would use it for everything - maybe for some of those hard to count foods like popcorn, etc., but I'm curious to know how effective it is.

[duck]

I own a digital scale...it helps when I eat things like sushi. I know how many carbs are in a pound of cooked rice, for example. So I literally took a roll of sushi, dissected it and weighed the rice out. My sushi boluses are much more accurate, LOL.

I sometimes do the same for cereal, etc. It does help, but it also opens the door to pitying yourself for having to do it, LOL.

[Isometric]

Ha! That should be listed as a possible side effect for diabetes in general. :) Better yet, I'd like to start hearing that in all those pharma ads on TV....

"Common side effects include nausea, runny nose, self pity, and drowsiness..."

I think I'll hunt around for a decent scale just to get those popcorn boluses right! :)

[xMenace]

I use mine regularly. I make homemade bread and I can't seem to find carb labels to slap on the bag ;) It's a good practice to follow as it helps your estimation skills - we always need feedback.

[ant hill]

I must get a book on carb counting and also a set of scales as well and disipline in wich I am hopeless at. :(

[REDLAN]

at home I have got into the habit of weighing food. It most definitely makes a difference. I purchased some small digital scales. They are just large enough to put a plate on, and have a a little oblong display which sticks out the side.

Generally I weigh out the big carb hitters - potatoes/rice/pasta/bread/pastries.

Somethings are easy - i.e. a slice of medium bread in the UK is 15g of carbs, a biscuit is almost invariably about 10g, a puppadum is 5g, a tortilla is 20g etc

Constantly weighing my food really helps when I go out to restaurants or round to friends - I've got pretty good at guestimating carb counts of foods.

the really hard one is bread - the carb count can vary very widely depending on how dense the loaf is.

[JediSkipdogg]

I use a scale quite often as I feel it's the most accurate way to measure. The only time I won't is on like crackers where I can count them out or at least estimate the number in my bowl. For most of the stuff I eat on a weekly basis though I can estimate just pouring it in a bowl and be pretty close to the scale.

[Alice]

I haven't read that book...it sounds interesting. I do "eyeball" carbs and look at density, which I guess, is weight-related. I know that a fluffy bread is less carbs than pizza crust or a dumpling. (Dumplings are about the worst carb for me...)

I shouldn't say one is worse than another since I take insulin...but I have to "guess-ti-mate" the density/weight sometimes. Pasta is a dense carb...no air holes, etc., as an example.

[shabbie]

i only really need to weigh the offenders...rice, pasta and potatoes....theres no way i can guess-timate those!

everything else ive got it nailed ;) (pretty much)

[Isometric]

Here's another, semi-related question that sprang up today. I had a sub sandwich from a shop for lunch today. Calorieking.com has that particular sandwich and size listed as having 74g of carb with 12g fiber. I usually follow the guideline that if it's 5g or more of fiber, adjust the count accordingly, so instead of shooting 5U (I use a 1:15 ratio currently), I shot 4U for a "net" carb of 62g. I got a postprandial reading of 153 just a few minutes ago, which is 60-70 points higher than my other after lunch tests recently. Should I ditch the fiber modification?

[Alice]

I never deduct for fiber...espcially at restaurants...there are always "hidden" carbs in restaurant food!

[Isometric]

Maybe that's it - it seems like the fiber thing works alright when I use it on labeled store products, but not so much on fast food or other restaurant items, even when their nutritional info is compiled and listed by a (usually) reliable third party.

[FatCatAnna]

I use mine regularly. I make homemade bread and I can't seem to find carb labels to slap on the bag ;) It's a good practice to follow as it helps your estimation skills - we always need feedback.

I think I'm going to have to get a scale - since I do a "guesstimate" on what my carb count is for the bread I make at home (best bread in the world!!!). My husband also has a program on his PC where if I wasn't so lazy - you input the ingredients of a recipe - and program calculates the nutrition value for you. Because I don't eat many prepared foods - this could be handy. So far with my eyeballing method tho' it seems to work - but again - scale could come in handy.

[ant hill]

Hey Fat Cat Anna, I am the same as you as you look at the food and guess "yeah that much" and bolus and eat.

[kstreeter513]

My husband also has a program on his PC where if I wasn't so lazy - you input the ingredients of a recipe - and program calculates the nutrition value for you. Because I don't eat many prepared foods - this could be handy. So far with my eyeballing method tho' it seems to work - but again - scale could come in handy.


That sounds like a cool program. Can you find out what the name of it is? I eat a lot of homemade food and something like that would be helpful.

[Gary_W]

I have the Salter 1450 diet scales; 1450 different foods programmed in so it does the carb maths for you. I don't weigh everything, but it's really helpful at home and means the instances of me getting it wrong are minimised.

Gary

[JediSurfer]

Sound like a good idea.. Man Ive not weighed anything since the 1980's. I match my carbs to how many my body needs to get by for any given situation.