Tools to use

There have been several tools that have made this life change easier.  First and foremost, read the labels of everything!  I am unconcerned with the amount of fat and cholesterol in anything.  I don't even look at those numbers.  I am concerned solely with the calories and the carbs.  It's only because I try to stay under 1200 calories a day that I'm even concerned with the calories.

It's the carbs that count.  According to Dr. William Davis, author of "Wheat Belly," someone seeking to reverse pre-diabetes or diabetes should try to keep to under 30 carbs per day.

Carbs appear in strange places.  An example:  Philadelphia cream cheese has 100 calories and one carb per ounce.  Philadelphia fat free cream cheese has 30 calories and 2 carbs.  Philadelphia 1/3 Fat cream cheese has 70 calories and no carbs.   So even though the fat free has less "fat" than the others, it is NOT the best selection due to having twice as many carbs.  The carbs come from fillers.  The best selection is the 1/3 Fat.  It has less calories and no carbs.

There are other instances of "fat free" foods that include fillers that add carbs to something that shouldn't have carbs.  The only way to know is to read, read, read the labels.

A kitchen gadget that I can't live without is my digital scale.  There is no way that I can eyeball how many ounces of turkey I'm slicing.  Mine zeros out, allowing me to weigh my ingredients as I prepare a dish.  Place a dish on the scale, zero it out.  Place another ingredient in the bowl, read the weight, then zero it out.  Without removing the bowl, I can add another ingredient, see the weight of the new ingredient, and then zero it out, and on.

Measuring cups and spoons are also a necessity.  When my favorite "lite" blue cheese dressing says two tablespoons are 70 calories and one carb, they're not talking about soup spoons.  I use a measuring spoon to ensure that I am indeed getting only one carb.

The other invaluable tool I've been using is my Day-Timer notebook.  On the individual calender day slots, I've been keeping track of my blood pressure, blood sugar four times a day, and foods I've eaten with corresponding calories and carbs.  I just cannot accurately carry in my head the numbers of carbs I've eaten in a day.  By the time dinnertime rolls around, I need to know exactly how many carbs I have available for the day.

I also keep a running list of those foods that I use most often in the Notes section of my Day-Timer.  I'm just not that adventurous of an eater.  I tend to like to eat similar combinations of food each day.  Once I look up how many carbs are in a food, I don't want to have to do that research again.  So I'm keeping a running total so that I can just reference my list when totaling up calories and carbs each day.

For homemade recipes, I total up the calories and carbs in each ingredient, add them together, and divide by the number of servings it makes.  It's tedious at first, but I jot the numbers down and never have to do it again for that particular recipe.

I find my calorie and carb information online on a couple of different sites:

www.acaloriecounter.com
www.livestrong.com
www.caloriecount.about.com
www.myfitnesspal.com

It's also helpful to note that all restaurant chains have nutrition menus online.  I google the restaurant, go to their nutrition section, and determine what will work for me.  I have done this both at home before going out and also from my Android phone while seated at the restaurant.  There are even apps for this purpose.

I hope this information has been helpful.