As a recently diagnosed LADA, I started with a journal of BG, insulin dosages and noted changes from stress, illness, exercise and menstruation. I’ve recently gotten Dexcom G6, and I’ve started carb counting using Carb Manager app, and enter event on Dexcom receiver and phone app. It seems easier to just use phone and leave receiver as back up. Myfitnesspal app is another good one for tracking carbs and exercise.
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Welcome @ValidLADA!
It sounds like you’re on a good path for solving some of the complexities that come with a LADA diagnosis. There’s a category here on female T1D and hormones that you might find helpful!
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If you get tired of that one, My Macros+ works really well, and doesn’t mine as much data as some of the others. It also doesn’t market to you, or try to upsell you, which has made me stop using some of the others. I just want to yell as some of the apps: “No, I don’t want to share this info with my friends or you, and I don’t need to set custom goals, I just want to know how many calories I ate and what my macro’s are…”
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I used it for a couple of days, thought it was good, but then I forgot or found myself in social situations where I didn’t want to.
Any suggestions? (can range from: ‘you only need to do this occasionally’ to ‘here’s what I do to make sure I track’).
Thanks!
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I am trying to lose weight, so I track everything most days just because if I don’t I invariably underestimate and over eat and gain weight. My son, uses it one day a week to ensure he is eating enough (He isn’t trying to lose weight) and has a decent macro nutrient mix. If you don’t want to track every day, and you aren’t trying to solve a diabetes issue, it probably isn’t necessary.
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I am trying to lose weight, and do find that the tracking is helpful. I just have to make myself a more habitual user of it.
I don’t unfortunately have any thoughts on how to make yourself more accountable, I have issues with that as well…
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I’m a compulsive note taker and now I need to write everything down due to being of a certain age. But I use Sugarmate for documenting everything. I like their charts and graphs and Watch display. I can email reports and download into Excel spreadsheet.
I recently took a pump break and needed to remember to take my Tresiba. Someone told me about an app for Med reminders and I really like it. It is called Round and is free. Very simple and only for meds.
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I’ve actually started using a habit tracking app called The Fabulous, which, while it has a lot of foibles, has actually helped me develop habits that I’ve wanted to participate in forever (like flossing). I should also add that I’m almost 40, and not particularly app based in my lifestyle. I don’t know if this would actually help with weight loss, but it might help with motivation to do things on a regular basis?
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Or Carb Manager
which free apps do u prefer?
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One thing I’d add to this thread: a lot of the apps mentioned so far (mySugr, Diabetes:M, One Drop) are really “logging” tools: you enter what you ate and they’re great for trend reports and sharing data with your care team.
That’s a different job from “estimation” tools, which are more about figuring out the carb count of something in the first place - a homemade dish, a restaurant meal, whatever doesn’t have a label. Photo-based apps fall into that second bucket.
Worth being clear with yourself about which problem you’re actually trying to solve, since “I don’t know what to log” and “I don’t know how to count what I know I ate” call for different tools, and a lot of people end up using one of each rather than expecting a single app to do both well.
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Good point. I don’t use the logging apps most of the time; I do record to NightScout and TidePool but the first is for my wife (so she can see what is going on) and the second for my endo (same reason). For me I use the original data from xDrip+ and AAPS; normally my question is, “Did I do a bolus for what I just ate?” It’s not long term tracking.
What I’m logging is not what I ate, it’s what I told AAPS I ate. AAPS is good enough that it can deal with small amounts of carbs without being told so I only log big meals (30g or more).
I have tried one food-by-photo app and it really wasn’t good enough for carbs. I can’t remember which one and I seem to have removed it from my 'phone. I’ve also tried Meta/Oakley’s glasses; talk about useless to the point of no return… Meta can’t even read a food label (IRC they whined it was too small to read.)
That’s a pity; estimating food is an ideal AI application. Millions of people across the whole planet do this every day and the data we diabetics record can be verified for correctness from what happens to our BG! It might be a really good project for the whole community; be a part of it and you can go to another country and eat the local food with accurate carbs!
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