Managing Gestational Diabetes with the Keto Diet Week 25.4 weeks

Today is Monday, February 14th. I'm 25 weeks and 4 days pregnant and have been using the Keto diet to help manage my gestational diabetes over the last 3-4 weeks. I’ve been using my bullet journal to keep track of my numbers and the Carb Manager phone AP to keep track of my macros, (Fat, Carbs, Protein), calories, and track my weight.

Reflection of Last week:

I had high fasting numbers last week in the morning for a few days in a row. That's when I noticed I'm having too many total carbs and really they were all coming from sugar alcohol in “keto-friendly” foods like keto ice cream or Lilys peanut butter cups. I realized I was comforting myself with these foods because I really was craving SUGAR! But the truth was I can’t really include these in my diet, my fasting spikes if total carbs are too high and these items do have high TOTAL carbs (even if the net carbs are low).

By Wednesday last week, I dropped down to 50-55 total carbs (22-25 net) carbs and my fasting numbers stabilized. That was until Superbowl Sunday. I didn't measure my food exactly and I ate about 2800 calories total- about 800 more than I need. My fasting this morning was 106.

My midwife is advising me that 70-80% of my numbers need to be in the safe range consistently. The evidence for insulin therapy is when 30% of values are out of range. I know you were asking me about that. That would mean if you were consistent> 95 about 2-3x per week. And just being 96 or something isn’t enough, 100 or more 2-3x a week would evoke concern.

Intention for this week:

Based on the information I’ve been gathering over the last few weeks, this week I am planning on keeping to 50 total carbs or less and 22-25 net carbs.

Lastly, I purchased a VERI glucose continuous glucose monitor that arrives today and I'm excited about seeing the data from the next 28 days. I'll share some updates on that.

READ MORE ABOUT MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE MANAGING GESTATIONAL DIABETeS WITH THE KETO DIET