Les Fractions

Who knew grade six math would come in handy at the ripe old age of 39?

Well, other than my grade six math teacher who assured us that it would.

I was not always stellar in math. In fact, OAC Calculus took two kicks at the can before I got a grade high enough for university application. I was pretty good at multiplication but division came a little slower. I was great at math tricks (ask me to multiply any 2-digit number by 11 and watch how fast I can do it). Math puzzles are fun too...although my skills are a little random in that department. Either I'm really good...or I'm not.

When it comes right down to it, I just really like fiddling with numbers and making them fit nicely into patterns.

I also always make myself do the math in my head before I double check on paper or, gasp!, on my calculator. It's important to keep those wheels greased lest they rust and fall off.

(I just realized that not everyone knows what OAC is. OAC is what we used to call Grade 13, at least in Ontario. Grade 13, something else that kids these days who head off to post-secondary education after Grade 12 also don't know about. Gosheroonies, I am beginning to sound rather dated aren't I?)

Back to the grade six math.

The other night, Doug and I had a very yummy chicken pot pie for dinner. Not homemade this time but from a box. It was warm and delicious....AND had a nutrition label which is always helpful.

Doug had popped the pie into the toaster oven and I was perched on my usual stool sipping wine so I asked him how much of the pie he thought I would eat.

"One third" he responded. "A quarter is not enough and half is too much."

Ok.

I checked the nutrition label. The service size was one quarter of the pie.

So folks, pretend you have diabetes (unless you actually do and then don't worry about pretending) and you need to calculate the number of carbs in your dinner in order to take the correct amount of insulin. No calculators allowed. 

How many carbs in 1/3 of the chicken pot pie? 

If you want to be even more precise, we technically subtract the number of grams of fibre from the number of grams of carbs when we calculate. In other words, 1/4 of the pie is 28 grams of cards - not 30. In this case, it actually made the math a lot easier - at least for me. 

Sure I could pull out my calculator. Sure I could just guesstimate it. 

Instead, I relied on my grade six fractions classes to pull me through. And pull me through they did. Who know all those fraction homework sheets would one day help me calculate how to keep myself safe and healthy? 

I am very glad I paid attention. 

Carb Counting

The other day, Ali over at Insulin and Iron wrote a blog about carbs. Specifically, how many carbs she typically eats in a day.

It got me thinking...and then it made me laugh.

I write a blog called Running on Carbs. I write a lot about running. I don't write much at all about carbs other than the odd vague mention like "I counted my carbs" or "I was low so I had some carbs". Perhaps I should give the Carbs part of my name a little more attention eh?

How many carbs do I consume in a day?

No idea.

I count them by the meal so I can take the correct amount of insulin but I don't count them by the day.

Luckily, I just finished a month of writing down all of my food, exercise, blood sugars and insulin in an attempt to fix some of the patterns I was noticing (lows during the night, highs in the afternoon etc).

So I pulled out my dog-eared log book and did some ol'fashioned math.

Turns out there are some patterns to my eating ummm patterns.

Breakfast in my world doesn't change much. Every morning, after my workout, I enjoy my delicious breakfast shake (nicknamed Gorp) lovingly made by Doug. And half a grapefruit. It is always 40 carbs.

Lunch is typically leftovers from dinner the night before. If there are no leftovers, I normally make a sandwich, toss yogurt into a container and grab a piece or two of fruit.

Looking back over the last month, there seem to be two carb options for lunch. Low carb which is about 15 grams or higher carb which tend to hover between 40-50 grams. Low carb lunches are typically salads with chicken. The carbs tend to either be beans in the salad or a piece of fruit on the side. Higher carb lunches tend to be more casserole-type meals with veggies, pasta or rice and protein.

Dinners have a similar range to lunch. Low carbs meals would typically be salmon with grilled veggies and higher carb meals tend to be pasta-based. They too range from a low of 10-15 to a high of 40-50.

So far, I range from 70 grams on a low day to 140 grams on a high day.

Then there are the mid-morning or mid-afternoon snacks which are often mostly protein (almonds etc) but can just as easily have 20-30 grams in them (trail mix with dried fruit, banana, a few mini chocolate bars etc).

Add in the pre-workout carb boost if my blood sugar isn't in range and that could easily be another 20 carbs.

Oh, and the lows I might get which automatically require a minimum of 15 carbs to address.

So if you have a day when I eat a low amount of carbs but I need to eat before running and I have a mid-morning snack and a low in the afternoon - I could easily eat 130 grams of carbs. On a higher day - I could top 200 grams.

The question is: how am I doing?

I don't count calories. I don't count carbs. I don't worry about fat intake although I do try to keep the sodium down. I don't even know how many calories or carbs I should eat in a day. I just eat what I think is a pretty healthy diet full of fruit, veggies, calcium, iron and other good things. My weight is stable and my blood sugars behave as well as anyone with type 1 diabetes can expect. I have the energy I need to live an active life, run or swim for long periods of time and still stay up on Sunday nights to watch Downton Abbey.

Methinks I'm doing just fine.