#1893 Bolus 4 - Summer
A listener asked how to bolus for a summer barbecue. Scott and Jenny break down the loaded plate — hidden-sugar sides, fat-heavy meats, pool time — and why your best beats nothing.
Bolus 4 - Summer
Cold Open & Sponsors 0:00
Welcome back, friends, to another episode of the Juice Box podcast. We got a note online and said, could you guys do a bowl of sport for summer for barbecues? And here we are. While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming old with insulin.
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Humidity, New Orleans & the Barbecue Request 2:13
Hippie. Cool.
Jennifer, it is summertime, I know, because I walked outside and it felt like I was swimming. So I just got back from New Orleans, which is a very humid place that I will probably never visit again because of the humidity. But I think the humidity has chased me home to New Jersey. I imagine you are, in the middle of it where you live as well. Is that right?
Yeah. We have had a fair amount of humidity the past few days. We've actually had some pretty nasty, like, thunderstorms and stuff. So it's you know, that comes through, and then it sort of pulls down. And this morning, we're sort of sitting at a very breezy cooler seventies, which is lovely
Very nice.
Compared to how it's been. I have, however, been in New Orleans in June twice.
Oh gosh.
And it is like, I love the city. Mhmm. I really do. I it's a fantastic, just fun vibe type of place. Fabulous food.
Oh, I had a, a shrimp po'boy that was it was just excellent, honestly, and the best Cubano sandwich I've ever had in my life Oh. While I was down there. Yeah. May
The la actually, it's funny. The last time I was down there, I also had a shrimp po'boy sandwich. So good. My husband and I had gone to listen to a jazz band at a place that also was, a restaurant, and that was what I was hungry for.
And it was Yeah. They somehow toasted that roll, but didn't make it greasy. Because around here, they mess it up all the time. Anyway, my point is when this weather arrives.
Yes.
Soda, hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecues, watermelon, potato chips, and the rest.
All the things.
Well, we got we got a note online and said, could you guys do a bolus for for summer for barbecues? And here we are. I want to, tell you what I'm gonna be doing today while we're picking this drum. I'm trying to make these easier on me. Create a little thing that is not online, but it's something I can use personally.
It's it's a kinda plain language search for foods, for carbs, and it goes to a little website run by the government called the Agricultural Research Service. It's the USDA. And they use something called the FNDDS. It's a database that provides the nutrient values for foods and beverages reported in what we eat in America, the dietary intake component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. So I have a little thing here where I can look one up, pick a size, add it to a plate.
It adds it up. And then for ease for our conversation, it actually then throws it into my estimator so that I can have my mind a little more on the conversation.
The Loaded Plate Problem 4:52
Yeah. Which but I think that that brings actually a really good point to begin with. When you attend something like a cookout or barbecue, whatever you call it in your region Mhmm. Right, You do end up with a variety of different things on your plate at one time.
Yep.
Right? Nobody just puts the burger on their plate without the chips and the potato salad and the coleslaw and, you know, the watermelon, like you and whatever else. You know? Lemon bars, it all ends up coming out, and you slop it on your plate. And then most people just start eating.
Right? Because sometimes they just eat multiple things on a fork at a time, and I'm like, can you really taste it? But that's beside
the point. A little bit of each?
He hit a little bit of each. I'm not that kind of an eater. I like single things. I don't like combinations like that.
Really? You don't ever mix this and that to get a different flavor?
No. If I want it together, I'm gonna make a soup, or I'm gonna make a casserole, which I don't do very often. I'd like things
Simple. Like, so you
can Separate.
You wouldn't you wouldn't mix, like, two jelly beans to get a different flavor?
Oh Alright. Well, I have done that. I I have to say that I've done something like that. But food is just like, one has one texture and, like, consistency, and another one is supposed to be I don't know. I don't like those things together.
I just don't.
We don't usually say stuff like that. That was interesting.
It's it's I don't know. And I like, I I've gone to many, many cookouts over the years.
Sure.
Right? And just I I guess I like the flavor of the thing that's there, and I don't wanna mess it up by Okay. Mixing it. Like, yeah, like, potato salad
she's making. We've we've we've hit a nerve for Jenny. She's not putting potato salad with a bite of a hotdog in case you're wondering. No. Okay.
No.
I don't like potato salad either.
Evaluate the Day: Activity, Swimming & Unknowns 6:52
I I listen. You know I'm not a mayonnaise person. So No. So what are we gonna do here? We have to think about the food.
We have to think about where I mean, this may be more than anything is evaluate yourself situation. Right? Like, where where are we at and what's gonna be happening as far as activity? How long is this day gonna be? Is there gonna be a number of different eating opportunities, which, you know, I always kinda think of a barbecue as I would still get ahead, stay ahead, but then use the opportunity for more food to help me be a little more aggressive in less so you know what I mean?
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Swimming or any activity, you know, you think about, I don't know, if you're a bocce ball player, if you're a lawn dart, if you are
Volleyball. Yeah.
You know, volleyball outside, if you're a spike ball. God, my boys love spike ball.
Okay.
I think it's the coolest game. But any of these things or the beanbag toss, you know, whatever a cornhole or whatever people call it wherever you are. Yeah. Right? But there's active time is the purp the point.
Swimming being, I think, a little bit more when you have an insulin pump or when you use insulin because that's a navigation of possibly even removing it for the tube pump.
You know? Or losing connection to the CGM and your algorithm and everything else. Yeah.
Mhmm. So there is there is variability in this on top of that mixed plate of all the things that you've thrown together and the counting. Right? Yeah. The counting becomes a really difficult thing to do because most times cookouts are, let's say, at least three different families getting together.
Somebody brings something. Somebody brings another thing. You don't necessarily know what went into those other things because who knows?
Sneaky Sides: The Coleslaw Problem 11:19
It could be as simple too. It's like, I've seen sides come one way, and then as a simple example, another person will bring it, but they throw raisins all over it. And now there's a thing that Jenny, listen. I don't know. You're from Wisconsin.
Don't act like this stuff doesn't exist where you're from. I see
everything. Does.
I've been there. I know what's happened. You guys don't decry anything.
Yeah. Rice pudding. Rice pudding and bread pudding. Like, jam But imagine if there's, like, a said raisins.
Sorry. No. But if there's, like, a little salad. Right? And then but raisins are, like, prob like, you know, sugar.
Yes. And then you throw them on there, and you don't think twice because when you ate the salad, normally, it's this and then it's there. Also, I I have a a list of, like, 10 common staples, sides, and desserts from a barbecue, and every one of the sides is a concoction. The staples are are easy. They're usually you know, they're gonna be protein probably.
Or simple like a bun, which has a label, or you can guesstimate because you've read the label for a bun already. Yeah. You're right. The concoctions are I think about cole slaw, for example. Mhmm.
I love cole slaw. Mhmm. But when I started looking for my own recipes versus looking at my mom's recipe, there are many recipes that you wouldn't really know that there was sugar added.
Oh, okay.
So it looks like a very unassuming vegetable with fat. Mhmm. Right? Whereas it could have sugar added to it depending on what the flavor, I guess, profile you were looking for from that recipe.
Right.
And you would never guess that the coleslaw has
I I have to tell you, I'm I'm using Chatty PT right now today. So, you know, your mileage may vary, of course. But I I just got stunned to see that a cup of coleslaw could have 20 to 32 carbs in it and 14 to 24 grams of sugar. I never I I know it's not a thing. I not I would not have expected that.
How about that? Yeah.
So but as you said, concoctions, a 100%, you're correct. Someone's concoction could have been their grandma Sue's best recipe for something or another, and all they're doing is following the recipe. And they don't have diabetes, so they bring it, and they put it down. You think, oh, good. Cole slaw.
Like, that's a kind of almost not a freebie, but, gosh, that's really low carb. I could have a half a plate of that and
I swear I wouldn't I wouldn't have guessed it. The the one that I know is sneaky sneaky is, like, baked beans.
Oh, yeah.
There's a ton of sugar in baked beans. Right? And a lot of people will throw, like, kobasi into it or something like that to if you're gonna get a bunch
of fat.
Yeah. Bacon, you're gonna put your fat on top of all that. Hey. And I wanna apologize to you.
Oh. Why?
Top-10 Desserts & Lemon Bars 14:05
Top 10 desserts. Number 10 was lemon bars. When you said lemon bars earlier, I was like, what kind of a, like, crazy, like, hole was lemon bars? Like, it's not a thing I would ever think of. But
Lemon bars have been at every family function I have ever been to, even even nonfamily, even the neighbors. Really? Yeah. You know, I grew up on Lake Michigan, and we always had our neighbors had a charter fishing. Yeah.
And they always did a trout boil in the middle of summer. And lemon like, there were probably three different types of lemon bars at this party.
I'm assuming that's all sugar.
Oh, it's a good amount of
sugar. I'm gonna make them and bring them to something because I'm gonna be like, I've never made these before. I don't know what they are, here. Because I've never seen them at one thing ever.
And you don't wanna make them when it's really, really humid outside. So just as an like, I'm sure recipes will never tell you this. This is my grandma's recipe. But her recipe specifically states to not make them when it's humid outside because something happens with the way that it gets cooked, and they they they will they taste funky. They they end up tasting like rancid.
Oh, okay. Gotta keep them cool. Okay.
You gotta yeah.
There's a tip you didn't know you were getting today. Keep your lemon bars refrigerated. I wonder what's in that. That's just neither here nor there. I I actually did a a quick look at peach cobbler, and my god, like, it's got all the carbs in it.
Yeah.
Under-Bolusing & Chasing Highs 15:29
So so are we gonna run into this situation where what do you think happens more commonly? Is that no one realizes that a cup of peach cobbler has somewhere between sixty and ninety carbs in it, and they under bolus for it, get real high, and then try to crush the high, and that's how they end up low? Or do you like, I guess I
think it's I think it could be a bunch of variables that or the high creates enough where they're frustrated, but then they get active and they didn't remember that they were gonna get active. Or gosh. It's just like, gosh. Let's go play a basketball game, you know, in the driveway right now. Yeah.
And I just took three units to correct this high. I didn't know who I was gonna play. And keeping all of that clear when you're just trying to enjoy time with friends and family
Yeah.
It's it's difficult. I will a 100% agree with the frustration around this type of planning. And in general, you can I would say do the best that you can
Mhmm?
With the foods that you know that you're gonna eat. Kids I think kids tend to be maybe a little easier because easier in the realm of the food because they often have more consistent food preferences.
Yeah.
You go to a party and you can say, well, my child is gonna want the potato chips. They're gonna want a hot dog. They're gonna want maybe some carrot sticks with ranch dressing and probably the watermelon. Right? And then they'll like a dessert.
That's fairly simple comparative to an adult who sees the smorgasbord and is like, god. I haven't had that in forever. Baked beans, man, when was the last time I had bee and it all was on the plate.
That is what happened. Right? Yeah. It's I haven't seen this forever. And then before you know it, then you're you realize why those paper plate companies make those ads that are like, look.
It holds up even when it gets wet. So what they really mean is when your sorry ass load overloads it with food, this thing's not gonna break. Oh, I see. I never thought of it that way. I'll tell you, just did something.
This is just me doing something here, but I wanna tell people because it's kind of interesting. Right? So I just said to chat GPT, I'd like to know I just said, nutrition details for coleslaw. Gave me a little breakdown. And then I all I said was peach cobbler next, and it gave me the breakdown for that one.
It it it estimated the carbs in peach cobbler between sixty and ninety. Right? And then I went to this this thing I built that is just pinging the f that serve it's the f n d d, the the agricultural thing from the from the government. Right? And they use they basically use surveys, like, to like, for items that it it's not like, it's not how do I mean this?
It's not like it's not like Heinz ketchup one tablespoon. We know because it's on the label. It's I just typed in peach cobbler. That's it.
Mhmm.
And I went down to the surveyed peach cobbler. I picked a cup, and it's guessing the total carbs at 82.4. And 4.3 fiber, 41 grams sugar, 5.6 protein, twenty one seven fat. And the CHACHEBT guess was 60 to 90 carbs, 40 to 70 sugar, two to six fiber, 12 to 24 fat, 48 protein. I mean, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
But if you're
But it gives you a ballpark.
Yeah. And if you're really lost, Jenny, this is way better than, oh, I don't know, 20. Yeah. Because, you know, isn't that people's number? It's 20 or 40.
Right? People go 20 or 40? Thanks. Yeah. This is the look of Jenny's face.
Funny.
“It’s Always 45 Carbs” & the 15-Gram Era 19:17
Yeah. She's just like, I've I've helped so many people. I this is exactly what they do. Arden has a go to. Her go to for a meal that she's not sure is 45.
Yeah.
She just goes, it's 45 cars. It's never 45 cars. Which is
interesting from her perspective because she was so very little that she doesn't really have a background base for the for the consideration of 15 as a carb. Right? Yeah. My education when I started out was truly the where each carbohydrate was 15 grams.
Okay. So
you used slice of bread was 15. An apple was 15. Your cup of milk was 12, but, technically, it was rounded to 15. So it was really kind of portion based on putting all the carbs in one food group and saying 15 is a single serving of a carbohydrate food. So it's interesting that hers is 45 when in her brain, she probably mathematically is subconsciously even figuring out, like, how much food
Yeah.
That is. I see her
do 45 with a 20 follow-up if it doesn't work. That's sort of how she does it. Hey. Do you think that that 15 back then I don't wanna talk to about, like, you're old. But, like, back when you were doing it, do you think that was accurate, or was it just the that was the ballpark of the day?
It it was the best accuracy that you could get based on a consistent meal plan type of idea. Mhmm. So you were given truly what is sliding scale insulin. Right? I was using our insulin, not rapid insulin.
Our insulin was taken twice a day, mixed along with an intermediate acting insulin that had a peak and then flowed down. Right?
Yeah.
So my our insulin's purpose was to cover a certain amount at a mealtime. So I had very specific, I mean, I could tell you I had two starches, a fruit, of two one to two vegetables because, you know, they were free, and I could eat as many cucumbers as I possibly would.
Let's go.
I think I've told you the cucumber story before. And then I had two proteins and two fats.
Okay.
Like, those so I was portioned at each meal because of the dose of insulin that I was being told to take, and it was supposed to cover that. So I think that 15 was a good enough estimate to get you to be consistent with a single portion of a food is about this many grams of carb. And I still remember when I started actually counting carbs. That visit with my dietitian was it was super exciting. Like, I could finally, like, take insulin for what I wanted to eat, not what my thing told me I was supposed to be
Where’s the Fat? Hot Dogs & Burgers 22:19
eating. Okay. Jenny, is there a lot of fat in a hot dog?
Depends what kind of hot dog you eat.
Beef hot dog?
Beef, pork, whatever kind. I you know, they're more homemade Yeah. And depending on the leanness of the meat that it's made with. But in general, hot dogs, sausages tend to have a fair amount of fat in them.
Why did I not think of that?
Even hamburgers. Hamburgers could depending on the lean, you know, quality of the ground beef that you're using.
Yeah.
I mean, who doesn't want? I don't I don't eat beef. So but I don't want it. But people want a juicy burger.
Where do
you think the juice comes from?
Oh, the juice is the fat. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's why people yell at me when I, like I mop the fat out of food when I'm cooking it, everyone's like, stop.
And I'm like, no. Yeah. I won't
be In college, I used to take a napkin when we go to the pizza place. I'd take a napkin and, like, lay it on the top of the pizza. Oh, I can't all of the pizza.
Jenny. People really don't like it when people do that. Don't don't.
Well, Jenny did that. And I am alive to prove that clearly it made a difference.
Building the Plate 23:28
I gotta be honest with you. I would a 100% do that. I just threw a plate together of a pizza cobbler, a hot dog, tortilla chips, and let me give it a bun too. Hold on a second.
And what about, like, a bean salad or
Okay.
Baked beans?
Oh, yeah. Okay. Let's do that too. Hot dog bun. Let me just throw a bun on here.
Just gonna use roll white hot dog bun. One hot dog bun at the plate. People are gonna be jealous of this thing. It's pretty great. What'd you say?
Baked beans?
Baked beans.
Alright. Hold on a second. Baked beans. You wanna use tops? You know that company?
I don't Bushes?
You know bushes? Bushes. Well, there you go. Bushes. Half a cup sound good to you?
Sure. Sounds good.
Add to the plate. Let's look at the plate.
I'm trying to think of something else that would be
Well, wait. But think think we'll add something. But first, 4.4 ounces of baked beans, one white hot dog bun, an ounce of tortilla chips, one hot dog, and 8.8 ounces of peach cobbler. Top of your head, how many carbs are we at?
I'm missing something. And so I've got the baked beans and the bun and the peach cobbler.
Mhmm.
What else was on the plate?
A roll and a hot dog. Yeah. The tortilla chips?
Oh, the tortilla chips. Yes. Because you didn't do a roll and a hot dog bun, did you?
I did. No. I did. One a hot dog bun. Yep.
Not a
roll.
So the hot dog bun, the hot dog, the chips, baked baked beans, and the cobbler.
I'm gonna say one I'm gonna say one fifty. And I'm going
Jenny, you're a genius. I this has 153.4.
Woo hoo.
Yeah.
I'm pretty good.
I swear to god. Like, I I thank god this is a job. I don't know what you would do. What what you were gonna add something else. What else did you say?
Oh, I was gonna say some type of, like, a vegetable. Right? Which, again,
would fun. God. Give me
Why not? For fun. And, you know, to to make, I guess, proof in what might not be considered, let's throw in some coleslaw, like, half a cup of coleslaw.
Okay. Well, first, I'm gonna do one thing for me. I'm gonna do a deviled egg. Oh my god. Love it.
Eat oh my god. I love deviled
egg. I do I am a deviled egg person. I I enjoy this. Okay. Hold on a sec.
Cole slaw, Stone Mills, Jenkins, Hans Kissel, rice. They're Walmart store's brand. Let's do Walmart. Okay? Should
we do
half a cup or one ounce?
Let's do a half a cup.
Half a cup. Add to the plate. You said one other thing. What'd you say? I cut you off when I started talking about deviled eggs, Or were you just gonna
say I was I was just gonna say some type of vegetable, like, like carrot sticks and dip or something. But, again, that's not very much, carbohydrate. It's okay. You might have a carrot. Coleslaw.
Well, hold on. For you might have a carrot. Raw carrot, one single serving bag is 2.8 ounces.
Great.
Okay. And
we Must be the baby carrots.
I think so. That put the plate up to a 176.4.
Mhmm.
So now
Right? So now you're counting 20 grams for something when really
Yeah. You're like twenty forty five. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And then the lady, you're like, I'm 300. Diabetes is stupid. But die but let me say this. Diabetes is stupid. But It is.
Yeah. Correct.
Yes. It's
stupid. So I'm gonna send this over to the estimator
Oh.
Just to give it a little look. Why don't you give me
And that was just carbohydrate. We didn't even take into consideration this isn't terribly high protein meal. Honestly, it's just the hot dog part of it. Right?
And then has the protein as 33, the fat is 73, and the carbs is one seventy six.
But look at look at the fat.
Yeah. I know. Oh, that's what I'm saying. But but give me a car give me a carb ratio. Give me a carb ratio of a 15 year old boy.
Running the Numbers: Ratio, Target & Pre-Bolus 27:36
Top of your head.
Oh my god. Could be, like, a one to five or a one to seven.
Let's go seven.
I mean
What would his sensitivity be?
It could be really resistant. Could be 30. I would say 30 or 40.
I will say 40. What do you what what are we gonna target on a day like this at the barbecue? You wanna target, like I mean, I would I always just target 80. I I'm just gonna be honest. But, like, what what what do you think most people are out You there
know, as the when this question came in, it also included the consideration for the active time. Right? Considering all
the exercise yard games, boating. Yeah. Yeah. Right.
All the things to the picture. So if you're really aiming with all of this food in the picture picture and the insulin that would go along with it, I would say aiming for a one twenty would be a safe place to aim. Okay. Still a healthy number. It's not high.
Mhmm.
And it allows you enough wiggle room if and when blood sugar is dropping
Yeah.
Especially if it's dropping fast that you can catch that easier.
I'm gonna make the current BG one twenty just to kinda keep all things equal. I'm not gonna put insulin on board. I'm gonna say there's a stable arrow. Okay. This
I'm gonna plug my computer in because it's gonna die.
Go ahead. Go plug your computer in. So the the the the little app that I made for myself actually caps insulin at twenty five units. It won't let it
It caps insulin?
Yeah. At twenty yeah. It won't let it go over. So I'm gonna have to, like I'm gonna move the cap to a hundred just so I can, like, so I can get its answer. Oh my god.
Yeah. So it says, the the initial bolus would be about 25.1 units. Mhmm. And it's looking for a wave, like a Warsaw bolus over eight hours of 5.64. The theoretical requirement, it believes, to be 30.78.
And it would like to see a twelve minute pre bolus. Only twelve? Jenny's like, for a year. So but but well, all within the the guides of Sure. Yeah.
Yeah. So I think that if you know, I mean, you could run a bunch of different ratios through here in sensitivities to give people a different idea, but I'm just a like, listen. I made this there's this thing on my website, and I it's just there it's there for your education. Like, what I think about that is you can see that, put in what your carb ratio is. I mean, say you're, you know, one to 10 and your sensitivity is it's easier.
You're I don't know. It moves you 70 points. Right?
Right.
And then redo it again. That changing it to one to ten and seventy takes the initial down to 17.6, and the extension still is eight hours, but 3.94, 21.55. I find that to be just an an interesting way to understand how the insulin works. Even if you just, like, said, okay. Well, I'm just gonna take, you know, I'm gonna take the fat down to 50 just to get an idea, and all of a sudden another unit comes off.
And then, you know, like, blah blah blah. Right? It's an interesting way to learn about it is my point.
I think in the in this context too, this whole idea of a day out, cookout, active time, running around the yard, doing a whole bunch of things. Right? And even in this context, I think many adults are going to be a little bit more active too. So not just considering kids activity, but adult activity. Right.
You may be maybe you have you're having a pool party. I guarantee you're probably gonna be in and out of the pool. Mhmm. Or maybe you've got a a volleyball, or maybe you are awesome and you've got sand volleyball right in your backyard.
That'd be awesome. Whatever you need. That would be awesome.
Right? So I think in both context of of ages, it's appropriate to consider that extra amount for fat. Mhmm. That it's telling you to potentially extend over the course of several hours. Could you knowing what you know historically helps about your
I feel like I know what you're gonna say, but go
ahead. Impact with fat Yeah. And your impact with activity. Could you potentially bolus for the food and then let the active time that you know is coming possibly
hit enough
to cover the rest Yeah. You may do that. It may work out totally fine.
Right.
Again, historical view is always helpful to be able to say what were.
But this is just it's listen. We call it a we call it a barbecue, but this is also taking a kid out to the park and snacks and whatever. But it's an interesting it's an interesting mix of a lot of carbs and a lot of movement at the same time.
Mhmm.
Because I think you're I'm a 100% right. There's a high chance you're not gonna need nearly all this insulin.
Pool Time vs. Your CGM 32:33
Correct.
Yeah. And and so if it's your first time, then count it, understand it, be ready for it. But Jenny makes a a great point. Like, hit the carbs, see what happens, maybe the activity will make up the rest of it. Also, I I think I wanna say again, water blocks Bluetooth.
You jump in the pool, your CGM stops being a valuable part of your decision making process. Yes. And that is where a lot of problems pop up for people.
Mhmm.
Because there are you a lot of you are gonna be accustomed to, oh, the algorithm will, like, take away this or do that or it won't bolus or it won't basil for a while because of this. Not if you're in the pool. It's just gonna happen. You know?
Correct. So I I think building into this not only the idea around awareness of what you're actually eating and using a tool even in this case to possibly look some things up that may be out of the ordinary for you.
Yeah.
And then consider the active time, knowing what you know about activity and food and how that's hit you in the past can be beneficial. But then building in a safety parameter to be able to say, well, how often should I actually get myself out of the pool or get myself my son or my daughter or child out of the pool to actually do a finger stick, quite honestly.
Yeah. Now you gotta you just it it it hits you real fast too when
it happens.
Like, especially those little kids, it just you tank out of nowhere. And that's where that's where this becomes even more interesting and why somebody probably asked about it. Because the I would imagine what I see happen is that the fear overwhelms the reality of the carbs. And everyone's probably erring on the side of caution and then running into higher blood sugars later and Mhmm. Being just, I mean, it it just Jenny, do you know you don't have and I I hope you never do, but you don't have a kid with type one.
The Barbecue From Hell — and Doing Your Best 34:31
But No. You get up in the morning, 08:00. It's July 4. You gotta pack everybody up. You already wanna just you just wanna go back to bed already.
And then you gotta drive an hour and a half to your sister in law's house. You know you hate her. And then and then and they got a pool and their one kid is weird, hits the dog and you're like and it's a thousand degrees outside. You drag your ass there and you drag all the shit out of the car and then you look over, your mother-in-law is looking at you and she hasn't liked you in twenty five years. You feel it.
And and and then the kids say, I don't know how they run around and then your brother-in-law is talking and he's blowing smoke in your face. You're like, oh my god. What's happening? I just wanna get out of here. And then you eat the coleslaw and the thing and the kid and then he's disconnected from the blah blah blah.
And then the afternoon happens, everyone plays music you don't like. That happens too. You're sweating, nuts are sticking to your leg, Jenny. Then you climb your ass back, you finally go in the pool because you're like, alright, I'll be a person for a second. Dad, dad, oh, okay.
Back out of the pool again. This has my pod fell off. This is happening. He hit me. Blah blah blah.
It's 08:30 at night. Couple of people light some fireworks, almost kill three of your nieces and nephews. You drag your ass back into your car. You drive in the hour home. Your wife is yelling at you the entire time.
You say, and this is a quote from me, I didn't even wanna go to this. And then and then you get home and spend six hours with a low blood sugar overnight. Yeah. It's exhausting. It really is just terrible.
So I don't listen. Yeah. For me to be honest for the first time, I don't know what you should do. Like, I can tell you what the carbs are and the fat is and what the math would tell you, but then there's the rest of it. I don't know.
Some of you are gonna be more or less active than others. Some of you are using automated systems. Some just do your best. Get out there. Swing your hands.
Hope for the best. That's all. I don't know what
you said.
You know?
No. I think that's a great it's a great point, honestly. It's you do the best that you can in a situation like this.
Mhmm.
And even if it is the best that you counted 20 grams when really it was 50 grams, well, at least you counted something and you put it in.
Right? Something. Yeah.
Some something that I actually thought of as you were talking about what I'm
I thought you were gonna say it. As you talked about your nuts sticking to your leg, I thought you were gonna say, but go ahead. Keep going.
Well, you know, it depends. Your breasts can stick to your body too. I just think it can go both ways for these people. You
know when you lift them up and you just wipe underneath and keep going. Yeah. There
you go. Make it fair. But I was thinking about the fact that, one, this scenario sounds like it's something you have clearly lived through, and this is
I was just thinking, I hope my sister-in-law doesn't hear this.
At all. And I'm so sorry that you've had nastiness like that. I certainly have as well. So it's Yeah. Yeah.
Cover the Carbs, Pack the Go-Bag 37:25
Just you. But in all of it, I was thinking back to the consideration of that bolus. And what made me take pause in terms of the possible highs is that while you may not be considering the fat
Mhmm.
At all, you have under covered the carbs. So if the best thing that you can do is just count and consider the carbohydrate part of this, then consider it almost fully.
Okay.
Because if you're not thinking about the fat or the protein or the six plates of the barbecue meat that your child loves to eat, then at least you've covered the carbs and the activity factor, like I said before. It may hit well enough on the rest of that Mhmm. Without the undercovered initial carbs creating a stable two fifty or 300 that now even the activity isn't hitting because it was so completely undercovered.
Yeah.
Does that make sense?
It does. And nothing we talked about here wouldn't work for an adult either. Right?
Right.
Yeah. Also, I'll tell you a personal preference. I'd like a nice new site on before something like this. Like, I don't wanna I don't I don't say change the site and leave because sometimes a new site doesn't go well. But I love the the site the day before so it's working really well on a day like this.
I try to plan stuff around that, like, you know, bring extra supplies. Listen. I swear. I from running that Facebook group, most of y'all do not bring supplies with you. You have to Right.
Please bring supplies with you. You are just gonna find yourself online going cons I'm I'm in Biloxi. Does somebody have a CGM? Like, they're no. They don't.
And and bring one with you. Okay? Bring
it. Everyone should have a t one d to go bag.
Yeah. And I don't be Yeah.
Parked next to your door. It goes with you out the door. You don't remove things from it unless you literally have to remove something from it.
And then you replace it.
And then you replace it, and it comes back home with you.
Insulin pumps, Dexcoms, Libres. Have please have a glucagon with you. Batteries, chargers, Drinks. Literally That is is stuff for low blood sugars. And then, of course, you know, take it to the you know, when you get to the house, put it somewhere air conditioned.
And, of course, you'll leave and forget it and have to turn around and come back and get it. So that's a 100% gonna happen too, Jenny. Not that that's happened to me 10 times, but wait. Where's your bag? Where's your it's okay.
It's okay. We'll go back.
It's only two hours away.
Right? It's fine. It's okay. I'm gonna have to go go put a password on this little tool that I made for myself so nobody, like, digs around the website and finds it because Oh. I don't know if it's a thing.
I want no. No. If it's a thing, I'm I mean, it works great, but I don't just go to the Just
send it to me. I wanna try it.
Yeah. He's like, oh, great. Yeah. Everyone of those things, yeah. Sure.
The two of you keep it. You I mean, you can go to the website for the USDA. I think it's searchable. But point being listen. It's a it's a it's an AI world.
They have a API. Go ask your favorite, you know, chatbot, whatever. You know, does the USDA have a carb lookup API, and can you build a little tool for me so I can blah blah blah? You'll have it in five seconds. I'm not a genius about this.
It's not it's just not that hard anymore.
It's not that hard.
The world's opening up, Jenny. Okay. Thank you. Go to your party.
No. Thank you.
Please don't blow your fingers off, and don't drink and drive. And that's all I got for you. Bye.
Sounds good. Thank you.
A huge thanks to US Med for sponsoring this episode of the juice box podcast. Don't forget, usmed.com/juicebox. This is where we get our diabetes supplies from. You can as well. Use the link or call (888) 721-1514.
Use the link or call the number, get your free benefits checked so that you can start getting your diabetes supplies the way we do from US Med. Today's episode of the Juice Box podcast was sponsored by the new Tandem Mobi system and Control IQ Plus technology. Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out. Alright, guys.
I'm out of here. Do me a favor. If you need or want anything that is sold by one of the sponsors, please use my links. When you do that, you are supporting the production of this podcast, helping to keep it free and plentiful, and you're just helping me out. I pay my electric bill with this money.
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I'll be back very soon with another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
- Cookout sides are sneakier than they look. The “concoctions” — coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad — often hide added sugar you’d never guess. When you don’t know what went into grandma’s recipe, a quick lookup (a chatbot or the USDA food database) beats a blind “20 or 40.”
- A loaded barbecue plate adds up fast. Scott and Jenny built one realistic plate — hot dog and bun, chips, baked beans, peach cobbler, coleslaw, a deviled egg — and it landed around 175g of carbs with a heavy load of fat. Counting something close beats eyeballing it low.
- Cover the carbs first. If you only get one thing right, get the carbs — fully, not halfway. Under-covering them is what strands you at a stubborn high that even a day of activity won’t pull down. Fat and protein matter, but the carbs are the floor.
- Let the activity do some work. Pools, yard games, and a long active day can mean you need noticeably less insulin than the math suggests. Reasonable play: bolus for the food, aim a little higher (around 120) for wiggle room, and let movement help — remembering water blocks Bluetooth, so your CGM and algorithm go dark in the pool.
- Pack the bag and forgive yourself. Everyone should have a grab-and-go T1D bag by the door — pump and CGM supplies, glucagon, fast sugar, chargers — and yes, you’ll still forget it sometimes. As Scott put it after all the math: do your best, get out there, and hope for the best. A barbecue is carbs and chaos at once; perfect isn’t the goal.
- US Med — Where Scott’s family gets diabetes supplies — an episode sponsor. Or call (888) 721-1514.
- Tandem Mobi — The compact pump with Control-IQ+ technology — an episode sponsor.
- USDA FoodData Central — The free government food & nutrient database Scott uses to look up carb estimates for unlabeled foods.
- Diabetes Pro Tip Series — The fundamentals behind this episode — pre-bolusing, fat and protein, and settings.
- After Dark Collection — The stories no one else talks about — referenced in the intro.
