counting carbs

[fatheroftype1]

im new to the forum im a father of a type 1 diabetic shes 7 she was diagnosed 01/07/07


how do you count carbs when out to eat i have a scale with over a 1000 foods in it i just type in the food weight it and it gives me all the nutrition facts then i enter the carbs in her pump then she eats im asking because i was at a kick off lunch for JDRF and there were 3 type 1s eating at my table and they just ate they were all using a pump they didnt check there sugar didnt enter anything in there pumps i think they checked it after and gave themselves a correction bolus
is this normal that doesnt sound healthy to me

[BrianSCohen]

You can get little pocket books that list the carb content of thousands of foods including menu items from many of the national restaurant chains. I use the one from calorieking, it was very inexpensive, they sold them at my local diabetes education center.

You will never get this stuff perfect eating out. You just the best job you can. There are often stealth carbs in restaurant food and you will just have to deal with it.

[-sammy-]

yeh im scared about when i go out

i cant eat anything because i dont want my sugars to rise or anything and i count my carbs and in some foods it doesnt have a label so i dont bother.

[fatheroftype1]

i use a scale that tells me the carbs i was just thinking maybe theres a better way i really never see anyone pull out a scale like i do the scale works good her numbers are good its just big i cant see how i could be accurate if i didnt weigh the food

[deb wardle]

Hi

it is difficult when eating out unless you have a book with the foods listed. I tend to go for something I would have at home and know roughly what the carb count is. Then it is a matter of testing frequently afterwards.

Deb

[soso]

It's also a situation where the more experience you have counting carbs, testing after different foods, eyeballing portions you tend to manage a little better... It is still a bit of crapshoot though.. I have to be careful to avoid taking too much, as I have a tendency to think there are those stealth carbs hidden in everything!

[ShottleBop]

I tend to avoid carbs when eating out, or limit them to the greens in salads and the like.

[BrianSCohen]

Gosh, I tend to eat pretty low carb, but I try not to stress over this too much. I totally skip all the high carb stuff. My strategy is to select an entree which is suitable and then request specific substitutions of side items. If I can't find a single entree I can eat (which is rare), then I'll skip the restaurant. You would be amazed at the accomodations restaurants will make for you when you explain nicely that you have diabetes and could really use their help finding something you can eat. I substitute great steamed veggie sides all the time for fries and potatoes. Often those joining me are jealous.

[xMenace]

I've had this for over 12,000 days. You can get very used to estimating and doing diabetes math. Those people could have known exactly what they were doing or they could have been very loose like you suspect. You'd have the same opinion of me, but my A1C proves I'm not just sitting there eating.