[Shalyndria]

Posted by portok on 11-26-2004 12:46 PM:


I want to ask you all if you have a certain amount of carb per day?
My doctor said that i have to eat 200 grams of carbs/day, but i feel that this is too much so i only eat 190 grams/day.
I eat 40 grams at breakfast then a snack of 20 grams, at lunch 50 grams then another 20 grams snack, at dinner 40 grams and for the bedtime another 20 grams snack.
I also have 3 shouts of humulin per day before each important meal, in total amount of 40 units.

Thank you for having patience with an unexperienced person in diabetes, but someone who wants to control it in the best way.


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Posted by duck on 11-26-2004 12:54 PM:

I am trying to sort some things about my diet out too, Portok, but I disagree with anyone advising we need a certain amount of carbs per day without qualifying it. Why do you 200 g a day? Are your energy requirements being met by less than 200 g a day? Are you gaining weight at that rate? Losing weight?

And then lifestyle issues come up to: If you were a bodybuilder, 200 g a day may not be sufficient. If you were very sedentary, 200 g a day would be too much. And in my mind, 190 vs. 200 a day is nothing.

What I am trying to sort out with my diet is that I let my food dictate the amount of insulin I take: In other words, I do not plan what I am going to eat, I merely react to what I am going to eat as I decide. I wonder if maybe I should plan more carefully and then reign in my insulin intake (currently averaging between 55-70 units a day).

It's always a challenge with this disease, DO NOT be afraid to ask questions, regardless of how much 'experience' you have with it!

__________________
Minimed 508 Sapphire Blue Insulin Pump...
It changed my life, so I didn't upgrade it!



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Posted by portok on 11-26-2004 01:11 PM:

thank you duck for your response.
For the moment i always eat the same amount of carbs and just adjust the insulin amount when i have highs and lows. I don`t know if this is the right way to do it but it`s the only way i know to do it.
My doc decided that for my life style this amount of carbs is the necesary one, so i just obeid.


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Posted by notme on 11-26-2004 03:05 PM:

portok, How many carbs you eat is a very individual. Everyones carb to insulin ratio is different. If I ate 200 carbs per day, I would gain weight. However, much of this is based on your exercise level, body metabolism and just plain genetics. I generally try to limit my carb intake to about 100 per day. The less carbohydrates I eat, the less insulin I have to take. I have found that when my blood sugar is stable, I have an easier time keeping staying stable. When I am on the rollercoaster, it is hard to get off.

I am currently using about 40 units of insulin per day. I would like to cut that back to 35, but won't be able to do it till a few more pounds come off.


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Posted by Batty on 11-26-2004 04:44 PM:

i really dont understand how any of you know how much carbs you get a day. :|


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Posted by HeatherP on 11-26-2004 05:15 PM:

200 grams of carbs a day sounds like a lot, but as others have said it's an individual thing. I eat mostly less than 100 grams a day.

If you learn how to count carbs, you will be able to add a lot more variety to your diet. It's very easy to do and I think it's something most of us do. Once you learn to do that, you will figure out how many grams of carbs are covered by 1 unit of insulin (this is your carb to ins ratio). Then you can manage your doses accordingly to what you're eating.

Please note that not all carbs are equal: meaning that sometimes one food compared to a different food may have the same grams of carbs but because of what it is and what you ate with it it will be digested differently. For example, some of us can eat potatos with no problem, while others can't. Pasta is something that screws up my blood sugars every time, but others here can tolerate it w/o any problems.

HeatherP

__________________
When life hands you lemons, ask for a bottle of tequila and some salt

[rzrbks]

200!!?? how do y'all stand it?

The CDE and Dietician have me on minimum of 300 carbs during a "Normal day", although I am allowed to cut that to whartever I feel is reasonable for that day or time period based on my physical activity.

[Eri's mom]

Let's see....
Eri's allowed 60g at each major meal, and her snacks are 45g...so, let's see...315g/day...my gosh, that's a lot.

[UCOChick]

200??? **** thats way too many carbs to eat even if you arent diabetic. I am currently supposed to eat at least 60 carbs a day, but most days I dont. Even with the low amount of carbs, My blood sugars are sky high. I'm hoping with the insulin pump that i'm getting next month will help with that, since i dont take much insulin to begin with

[am1977]

Ok...let me do some math here...generally I eat about 50 carbs per meal so that's 150 and then another 30 for an after dinner snack...that's 180, but all in all I would round up to 200. That does sound like a lot, doesn't it :p

[zookeeper671]

Lately, I've been eating about 80 carbs a day, but that's only due to my not being that hungry... unless it's grapefruit. Experiencing some sort of weird grapefruit gluttony.

[koblenz]

I am down to about 160 a day. I was on about 240 a day to gain some of the 30 lbs I lost at diagnosis. I still feel like I am eating a lot, full all the time. I am considering lowering to 140; and lowering insulin too of course.

I agree, it is an individual thing. My CDE is also a dietitian and diabetic. She is skin and bones and she says she eats about 240 a day.

[mark-TN]

I've been eating 30g carbs /day since Sept 2003. This is what works for me to keep my BG's in line, although I understand that this would scare others. You have to find what works for you, and do it under a supportive doctors supervision. My insulin dose reflects my low carb diet. My pump shows the following past 15 day averages: Meal Bolus: (total) 8.95u / day, Basal: 11.14u /day, Total: 20.09u / day, Basal as % TDD: 55.45%.

Mark

[MarkMunday]

I eat about 60g carbs with meals and 20-40g carbs between meals. Which puts me on 80-100g carbs a day. A reduced carb diet and the corresponding reduction in insulin reguired certainly makes managing the control a lot easier.

[bac4uw]

After reading your posts... it has me thinking that I should start restricting myself a bit! I would roughly say that I average between 300 - 330 grams of carbs per day. I can't help it... I love my carbs. For the last five years or so, this has worked for me without too many problems.... though Gatorade, pumpkin pie, and margaritas have certainly been restricted!

[nab486]

do you guys maintain your weight with that many carbs? I keep mine well under 100, usually WAY below 100 and even at that can gain a couple of pounds here and there if I splurge even a little .... do you guys watch calories? I have thought before I wouldn't mind taking more insulin for the extra carbs, but I don't want to gain weight...

[rzrbks]

nab486

do you guys maintain your weight with that many carbs?

Actually, lately, I've been S--L--O--W--L--Y losing weight and I'm still holding at about 275-300 carbs per day.

[bac4uw]

weight gain?... um... tough call. I think due to the timing of when I was diagnosed and other confounding life circumstances (specifically: grad school!), I was destined to gain weight no matter what. Since then I've essentially maintained my weight while eating 300-330 grams of carbs a day. I might not be the right person to listen to on this one though... I'm a fairly active guy with a high metabolizism. As far as calories go, I would make a (somewhat) educated guess that I go through about 2000-2500 calories on a typical day.

[archimeech]

Originally Posted by nab486

do you guys maintain your weight with that many carbs? I keep mine well under 100, usually WAY below 100 and even at that can gain a couple of pounds here and there if I splurge even a little .... do you guys watch calories? I have thought before I wouldn't mind taking more insulin for the extra carbs, but I don't want to gain weight...

If you're keeping everything in check there is no reason you can't adjust what the endo is telling you(within reason) They give you guidelines to follow, but everyone is different.

Hey Nab, I used to have a high school science teacher from Lugoff! She used to say it was the "metaphysical HUB of the Universe!" and then laugh hystericly.

[debaroo]

i eat 30 at breakfast depending on sugar and no morning snack and 60 at lunch and no afternoon snack and 60 for dinner and around 20 at bedtime depending on sugar if sugar is over 10 (sorry i dont know the american scale) then i dont have a snack ....my nurse and i just sortta came up with the carbs seems to be working so far