There is unfortunately no getting around the equation which says that the calories you hold onto in your body goes up or down depending on the calories you take in (via your diet) vs. the calories you burn off (via daily living and exercise). I do have a confession to make, however: I personally don’t like counting carbohydrates or keeping track of the calories I take in, vs. what I expend during exercise.
However, if you are like me who tends to get confused by reading food labels (different serving sizes, a lot of information to write down, etc.) you should know that there are several easy to use mobile apps which can give you a good estimate of carbohydrates and calories you take in vs. burn off. I’ve downloaded “Lose it!” onto my phone and this gives me an easy estimate of what I eat and what I expend. You might be surprised with some foods. For example a colleague of mine who has diabetes was surprised to learn that most of the calories from eating a healthy salad actually come from what and how much salad dressing you put on the salad. In restaurants, he now asks for the salad dressing to be served separately so he can judge how much to add. There are several tricks like this that you can use to help manage your blood sugar and your caloric intake!
Please see the linked document from the Diabetes Care and Education Practice Group (www.dce.org ) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (www.eatright.org ).
Keywords: glucose, diabetes, carbohydrates, diet, calories, calorie counting,
