# What is a normal meal vs a complex one, for bolusing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Food & Diet\ **Created:** [March 13, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488 "2020-03-13T03:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lh378](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/lh378/32/601_2.png) [@lh378](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/lh378)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/1 "2020-03-13T03:58:26Z")
Ah…thanks! I’m not sure if this is the correct place about meals and impact on BG. What is considered a normal meal that would behave itself BG wise? as opposed to pizza, Chinese/Japanese food, Burgers and Fries? The latter group are clearly very carby and very fatty. Honestly, some days, I am so puzzled! Does a normal meal composition mean simple bread, not croissant, bread, no butter?Potato; but not mashed potato with lots of butter? As you can tell, I like butter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chris](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/chris/32/382_2.png) [@Chris](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Chris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/2 "2020-03-13T04:06:35Z")
For us a normal meal is a protein like fish, chicken, or steak grilled or roasted simply with a side salad and a vegetable like cauliflower or broccoli. My son tries to stay in the 100-120 carbs a day range. Mostly bread and potato’s and a splurge. When he wants a mash we make cauliflower and celeriac mash. Really lovely stuff. ---
**Author:** ![lh378](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/lh378/32/601_2.png) [@lh378](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/lh378)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/3 "2020-03-13T04:26:23Z")
is that mashed cauliflower and celery? > [@Chris](#): > > mash we make cauliflower and celeriac mash. Really lovely stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chris](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/chris/32/382_2.png) [@Chris](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Chris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/4 "2020-03-13T05:40:11Z")
Celeriac is a really nice lowish carb root. Looks like this: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/fudiabetes/original/2X/d/d8804b44afe5b9e8402f104e7c46d8f35929dc7d.png) And adds a distinctive and pleasant taste to a mash. So Cauliflower and Celery Root (Celeriac) mash. ---
**Author:** ![lh378](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/lh378/32/601_2.png) [@lh378](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/lh378)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/5 "2020-03-18T18:13:19Z")
[quote=“Chris, post:27, topic:1121”] Celeriac is a really nice lowish carb root. Looks like this: [/quote] Hmmmm…I have not seen this at my local stores. ---
**Author:** ![Michel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/michel/32/387_2.png) [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/6 "2020-03-19T07:55:49Z")
> [@lh378](#): > > Does a normal meal composition mean simple bread, not croissant, bread, no butter?Potato; but not mashed potato with lots of butter? For us, a normal meal would be one with a reasonable amount of carbs (for us, up to 60-70, although we typically would have more like 50), protein, and not too much fat (but a reasonable amount is fine). We used olive oil for cooking ( a fairly good amount, but not swimming in oil) and we don’t have butter at the table at home. These meals, in general, are easy to dose, although periodically we somehow find we are way off—not too often though. To be totally clear, none of our meals are low fat. A complex/ hard to dose meal would be one with large amounts of carbs (at least 70 carbs or much more), reasonable proteins AND large amounts of fats, or enormous amounts of proteins and regular amounts of fat. Huge amounts of fat (like cheese on a pizza) added to large amounts of carbs are what makes life difficult for us. For us, lots of mashed potatoes with lots of butter would probably be a complex meal, or if it comes with a large portion of turkey and with sweet stuff alongside it… A single croissant would not make a complex meal for us. But two croissants along with 2 eggs and bacon would likely be a complex meal (although not as bad as two slices of Costco pizza). Large amounts of baked potatoes with loads of butter and a large piece of rich meat would be a challenging meal also. ---
**Author:** ![CatLady](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/catlady/32/36_2.png) [@CatLady](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/CatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/7 "2020-03-20T14:55:58Z")
Indian food: no matter what I eat, I always need more insulin! Last night my husband got a take-away and I consciously measured everything I ate, limited carbs (no rice, only part of a naan, one pakora) and all is well until hour 4…wham! Gah! 🤪 ETA: So after mulling this over, I’d say I under-bolused, needed an extended bolus, and may not have absorbed all the insulin dose I did give. And yes, VERY tasty! ---
**Author:** ![Chris](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/chris/32/382_2.png) [@Chris](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Chris)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/8 "2020-03-20T15:09:49Z")
Hope it was tasty though. ---
**Author:** ![Michel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/michel/32/387_2.png) [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/9 "2020-03-20T23:45:27Z")
> [@CatLady](#): > > Indian food: no matter what I eat, I always need more insulin! Do you think it is because of the oil? ---
**Author:** ![CatLady](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.fudiabetes.org/catlady/32/36_2.png) [@CatLady](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/CatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/what-is-a-normal-meal-vs-a-complex-one-for-bolusing/9488/10 "2020-03-20T23:49:52Z")
Certainly for butter chicken!! 😋 Though last night I had eggplant…