Carb Counting Archives • Page 3 of 9 • D-Mom Blog

June 8, 2012 by Leighann

{Food} Calorie Free Cookies

Q and I were at the mall and I stopped into a bakery to ask for a donation for a fundraiser we were working on. Of course they had an entire case of elaborately decorated cookies and Q wanted one for her afternoon snack.

Since it was a chain bakery, I thought they might just have nutrition information for the sweets we selected.

When I asked, the woman said with a smile that I was supposed to appreciate, but did not, “I baked these without calories.”

I replied, “I actually need the carb count. I mean I actually really do need the carb count, not the calories.”

Most people assume when I ask for the information that I need it for myself and that I’m on a diet (which I should be!) or that I need calories. But people with diabetes have a much easier time figuring out how much insulin to give themselves (or their child) if they could just see the label.

People are well-meaning, as is illustrated by this woman’s comment, but they just don’t get it.

May 30, 2012 by Leighann

{Our Story} I’m Not Worried

On a Monday morning I dropped Q at her school and was en route to my son’s school when my phone rang, the caller ID revealing it was Q’s classroom teacher.

I had literally dropped her off not fifteen minutes before. When we turned onto the street behind the school where parents can slow down and shove their child out (AKA car line), I had asked Q what her CGM said. High 200’s with two arrows up. Thank you, pancake breakfast.

So that her CGM alarmed a quarter of an hour later alerting a blood sugar above 300, I was not in the least bit surprised. Or worried.

But it’s in our 504 plan that we be called with high or low blood sugars, so the teacher was absolutely correct to call.

I told her it was just her breakfast spiking and that if she was still in the 300’s when the nurse checks her at 9:30 am, we’ll deal with it.

9:30 came and went and the phone didn’t ring.

At her last endo appointment I showed the doctor two and a half weeks of CGM graphs indicating a quick spike and even quicker drop, which often resulted in lows usually minutes before the nurse’s mid-morning check.

(And this is not medical advice, but) the doctor suggested we consistently pre-bolus for breakfast and reduce her morning basal rate. She said the insulin was peaking after the carbs and the basal was pulling her too far down.

So we have been pre-bolusing and I can see on the CGM graphs that the spike is less. She still sometimes has those lows when things aren’t matched up well and she still occasionally gets a spike, like this day. But I can definitely see an improvement.

Perfect overnight blood sugar.

Kabam! Post- oatmeal blood sugar spike. A finger stick when the CGM said 327 actually revealed that she was 213. So the spike isn't quite as crazy as the CGM would have us believe or she was already on the way back down. That's why we always treat based on a fingerstick, not the CGM reading.

(These two graphs were not the school morning I describe above, but you can see how a perfectly good blood sugar can spike dramatically. She actually went low after this meal because as the insulin peaked she was outside roller blading.)

Medtronic Disclosure

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May 15, 2012 by Leighann

{D-Blog Week} One Great Thing

Living with diabetes (or caring for someone who lives with it) sure does take a lot of work, and it’s easy to be hard on ourselves if we aren’t “perfect”. But today it’s time to give ourselves some much deserved credit. Tell us about just one diabetes thing you (or your loved one) does spectacularly! Fasting blood sugar checks, oral meds sorted and ready, something always on hand to treat a low, or anything that you do for diabetes. Nothing is too big or too small to celebrate doing well!

My Great Thing

I was going to say that I am a good multi tasker, but I just received an e-mail saying that I forgot to attach the document I said I was attaching. That’s what I get for attempting to send an important, time-sensitive e-mail while trying to quiz Q on her multiplication flashcards.

The one thing that I am usually great at is SWAGing. SWAG is an acronym for “scientific wild ass guess.” I’m really good at estimating carb counts on the fly.

As an example, on Sunday I made Q lunch and took it to her to eat on the patio. I forgot to look at the box for the carbs and I thought to myself that it was probably 26 carbs. When I returned to the kitchen and looked at the package, I saw that it was 27 carbs.

Yep, totally rocked that carb count!

But here’s the thing: If we are at a party or out to eat and I get it totally wrong, I don’t beat myself up about it. I just check her blood sugar and give more insulin if I underestimated. It’s not the end of the world.

Q’s Great Thing

I said to Q, “If someone were to ask you what aspect of diabetes care you totally rock, what would you say?” She answered “Checking my finger.”

Not only does she check her own blood sugar (except while she’s sleeping!), but she has starting giving herself insulin for her snacks using the OmniPod’s PDM. She is even becoming Quick Draw McGraw when it comes to the CGM* receiver. When I ask her to hand it to me to calibrate it, she says she can do it herself. Her fingers move with lightening speed touching this button and that, scrolling up and down.

I can’t imagine how good she’ll be at texting when she gets her own phone someday!

Quick Draw McGraw

iBGStar Blood Glucose Meter Sugar Medical Diabetes Supply Bag

Read more “One Great Thing” posts from members of the DOC who are participating in D-Blog week.

{Snack} Pineapple

Pineapples were on sale at the grocer so I threw one in my cart. Well, I didn’t really throw it, I placed it into the cart nicely.

One afternoon I cut it up and was going to portion it out. I like to do the math and measurements once because it saves work later.

I was about to grab my iPhone and pull up The CalorieKing app when I noticed the tag and turned it over, happily surprised to see the nutrition info. I look up the carb counts of fresh produce often since produce normally does not come with packaging.

I considered it quite fortuitous that not only was a serving 14 grams of carbs, perfect for an afternoon snack, but that a serving size was 100 grams.

Thank you pineapple growers of America!

Pineapple

All images are copyright D-Mom Blog and D-Mom Media and may not be copied or reproduced without express written permission.

January 6, 2012 by Leighann

{Dining Out} Cracker Barrel

Q and I have a tradition that actually started at her diagnosis. Every evening during the long drive back home from the endocrinologist, we stop at Denny’s and have breakfast for dinner.

It’s so entrenched in our routine that I actually have mentioned it several times in Kids First, Diabetes Second.

We recently switched to a different endocrinology practice that is a little closer to home, but still an hour and a half away. When we hit the highway after our most recent visit, Q asked if we could stop at Denny’s. I don’t know that they have a location on our new route and I need to look it up before our next visit.

So there is a moderately sized town about halfway home and I pulled off at the exit with the most restaurants. I named some choices and we decided on Cracker Barrel.

Image from CrackerBarrel.com

As we ordered our dinner I asked the waitress, who we would learn was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, if she could bring us the nutritional info. I like to look at it before the meal comes so that I can eat and not let my food get cold while I’m looking up carbs or trying to research it on my phone. After we had our meals, she brought us a paper and said it only had the allergy info.

The waitress said she thought Cracker Barrel is very “diabetic friendly” which made me chuckle to myself. (It’s a lot of high carb fried food, biscuits, apple butter, etc.) She said Q’s fried shrimp was just under 2 carbs because of the breading and hush puppy, and that the fried apples were 2 carbs.

I asked if she meant two carbs or two carb exchanges. She said “carbs.” This was clearly not right. I could see it being two exchanges. An exchange is about 15 carbs.

So I used my phone to go to Cracker Barrel’s website. They are a national chain and should have the info on their site, right?

Uh, no.

In fact this is what they say deeply buried on an FAQ page:

Here at Cracker Barrel, we pride ourselves on using recipes and ingredients that are genuine and of the highest quality available. We strive to prepare and present these food items to you in a way that upholds those authentic traditions of days gone by.

Cracker Barrel certainly understands the health-conscious concerns that some of our guests have. While we are currently unable to provide exact calorie or fat content information for our entire menu, the following choices may help you in your selection. You can get very specific nutritional information on some select dishes at both weightwatchers.com and healthydiningfinder.com

(And they didn’t link to those two sites, either.)

“Health-conscious”? No, my child needs insulin based on the number of carbs she consumes to live! It’s not a matter of watching her (tiny) waist line.

Even if their portion sizes or recipes vary slightly by location, I would have liked an estimate to go off of.

So I tried CalorieKing and a couple of internet searches and didn’t have much luck. I’m doing all of this while trying to have a hot meal and I’m sure the other diners all thought I was rude for typing away on my phone instead of interacting with my daughter…another reason why I like to see it before the meal comes!

I had pre-bolused for 30 carbs, actually while demonstrating to the waitress how insulin pumps work. I followed up with another 30 carbs as an estimation, having no experience with Cracker Barrel’s menu.

Q started the meal with a perfect blood sugar of 125. An hour after her Cracker Barrel meal, her blood sugar eclipsed 300!

It took several boluses and multiple overnight blood sugar checks to get her below 200.

I want to know how a national restaurant chain thinks it’s at all acceptable NOT to provide nutritional information for its guests.

Guess what restaurant won’t become our new routine.

{Food} Counting Down to Christmas

My kids love the anticipation of Christmas and what’s a better way to help them count down than with an advent calendar.

What’s that you say? You wouldn’t dare load your child up with the high carb candies that come in most advent calendars.

The advent calendars I picked up this year ($1.99 each at Walgreens, FTW!) have teeny, tiny chocolates that only have 2 carbs each.

All the fun, none of the bolus!

Seriously. Anything under 5 carbs is considered a free food and can be given without corresponding insulin. Of course if Q eats her daily nibble of Christmas chocolate as her dinner dessert I’ll tack on the two carbs.

But this is one holiday indulgence she can enjoy without giving a second thought to managing her diabetes.