carbohydrate counting  
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                              resources 
                                                     
                                                     
                                                     
                                                   Do the best you can to consider the sources of carbs in your meals – with a little practice, 
                       e                                   you can get ‘close enough’ to the actual carb content of a food. If you are new to carb 
                                                    |  counting, have faith that with more practice, it will get easier and part of your routine. 
                       d                           Remember that carb counting is often about your best guesstimate, so try not to aim for 
                       i g                           
                       u                                   perfection. Don’t expect a book, app, or website to have the perfect answer – carb 
                         n                                 counting (or carb guessing!) is much more of an art than a science.  No one is an expert. 
                         i                                                                                                                                                              
                       g                           Check your blood sugars. A lot. It’s the only way to see how your carb guessing is 
                       l                                   working for you.  Check before and 2 hours after to see how close your guess is. 
                                                     
                       a nt                        Learn from setbacks – be prepared for next time with a more accurate carb count for 
                       v u                                 anything that you’ve had difficulty with before. 
                                                     
                       i                           Speak to your diabetes educator about troubleshooting for certain foods, such as high 
                       v o                                 fat/high carb meals (pizza, lasagna, fast food), beans & legumes, and high protein meals. 
                       r c                                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                   3| smartphone apps 
                       u                      1|  books 
                         e                           
                       s                             
                         t                     Calorie King. Calorie Fat & Carbohydrate                                                                                           iPhone 
                       |                                                                                                                                                             My Fitness Pal                                                                           Free 
                         a                          Counter. (2012). 
                         r                                                                                                                                                           Calorie King Calorie Counter                                                             Free 
                       s                             
                                               Health Canada. Nutrient Value of Some                                                                                                LoseIt!                                                                                  Free 
                       e                             
                         d                          Common Foods (booklet).  PDF is available                                                                                       
                       t                             
                         y                          online or by contacting Health Canada: 
                       e                                                                                                                                                           Android 
                                                    (613) 954-5995 or publications@hc-sc.gc.ca 
                       b h                                                                                                                                                           Diabetes GPS                                                                             Free 
                                                     
                       a o                     Netzer, Corinne.  The Complete Book of                                                                                               My Fitness Pal                                                                           Free 
                                                     
                       i                            Food Counts: The Book That Counts It All,                                                                                        LoseIt!                                                                                  Free 
                         b                            th
                                                    9  Ed. (2011).                                                                                                                  
                       d r                                                                                                                                                         Blackberry 
                                               Scheiner, Gary. The Ultimate Guide to 
                         a                                                                                                                                                           My Fitness Pal                                                                           Free 
                                                     
                         c                          Accurate Carb Counting: Featuring the                                                                                            Calorie Counter by FatSecret                                                             Free 
                                                     
                                                    Tools and Techniques Used by the Experts.                                                                                        Fast Food Calorie Counter         $4.99 
                                                     
                         |                          (2006) 
                                                     
                                                     
                         s                           
                                                     
                         e                    2|websites                                                                                                                              4| food scales 
                                                     
                                              Do your homework – search online for 
what                     c                                                                                                                                                            Using food scales to measure your food 
                                                     
                         r                    nutrition information from your favourite                                                                                               not only gives you a weight, but can 
                                                     
about                                         restaurants.  Many will have the information                                                                                            also give you a precise value for the 
                         u                           
                                              listed online or available as a booklet when                                                                                            carb content.  Scales will give you a full 
                                                     
                         o                    you walk in.                                                                                                                            reading of the calories, carbohydrates, 
alcohol?                                                                                                                                                                              fat, and protein for any food in its 
                                               Diabetes Source www.DiabetesSource.ca  
                         s                                                                                                                                                            database.  The most common used one 
                                                     
                         e                     Calorie King www.calorieking.com                                                                                                      is a Salter Scale ($70-100) and can be 
                                                     
                         r                     Dietitians of Canada eaTracker                                                                                                        purchased from many online retailers.  
                                                    www.eatracker.ca 
                                               President’s Choice food products. 
                                                    www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline