We have to remember that Diabetes Management is a long game.

It's about averages and smoothing out the highs and lows over weeks/months.

We always focus on individual numbers but its Time In Range is what will help us manage over the long run.

For a best outcome we should pick a range (with the help of our Doc) that will provide us our best long term outcome. For myself that is 4.0-8.0 (72-144).

If we can stay in our range at least 70% of the time (international standard) it is estimated that we will delay complications for about 10 years. If you can manage to stay in range 90% of the time or better, you protect yourself as well as you can from the nasty side of Diabetes.

Ok, enough of the math - how do I use it.

I shoot for 95% T.I.R. over the YEAR

That means 365 (days) X 5% or about 18 days "A Year" I can colour outside the lines and not do much damage at all provided that I'm very vigilant the rest of the time.

Now sometimes we "ooooops" and have a bad day unintentionally so to account for those I try for no more than 1 day a month when I "purposely" eat something that I know is likely to take me out of range for a few hours.

So if you are "good" and stay in range most of the time then deciding that Christmas, New Years, a Birthday or two, Thanksgiving etc will be your "days off" (without going totally wild - you don't want to see a 17/300 on the meter) then you can eat a few things you know you shouldn't and NOT worry too much about that "individual" number.

However, if you are not really controlled well and are constantly battling to keep your numbers where they should be, then even during the holidays you should be careful.

The only thing you have to guard against is getting complacent. Because since we don't get immediate feed back - sure our meter yells at us, but nothing hurts - not like touching a hot burner on the stove (if it did everyone would be super controlled).

So NO - don't feel bad when I eat 4 slices of Pizza on my Wife's Birthday or maybe eat that Roll at Christmas Dinner and eat the Mashed Potato with New Years dinner. And I DON'T WORRY about my NUMBERS on those days (at least that's what I tell myself)

We still have to LIVE "once in a while", just don't Live so much and so often that we Kill ourselves 😁

Diabetes is a syndrome so there are no real hard and fast answers to anything including fbg. I find there is a correlation between overeating and fbgs (whether that overeating included a lot of carbs or not). But that’s only my experience.

I also find that a high fbg can (and I stress “can”) influence the rest of the day. Again this is my own experiences and with diabetes many if not most peoples’ experiences are different hence my (sometimes) irritation with simplistic doctors who should know better.

Time in range is fine if you can afford continuous glucose monitoring. I don’t use CGM so I do a simple average of my blood glucose over the week ie average of my fbgs, average of my day bgs excluding fbgs and average of all bgs including fbgs. Now that won’t give as good as picture as using CGM but CGM is also said not to be very accurate so it’s horses for courses.

Doctors recommend that everyone should not exceed a certain level of bgs but again they are not allowing the fact that there are people who can manage higher bgs than others and of course there are those that can only function on the lower end of bgs. Again we’re all different. At the beginning I used to obsess with bgs but now I just check with my body. I *know* when my bgs are too high because I get neuropathy in my feet, candida in unmentionable places, cramps and my body temperature rises in the night to the extent that I have to throw off blankets even in the middle of winter!

I shoot for around 9.0 (162) and much of the time I get below that and sometimes above that especially at Christmas! However this Christmas I’ve gone low carb for most of the time but still have elevated bgs for the simple fact that I’ve ate more than I usually eat.

I have to keep on stressing that these are my personal experiences and unlike many doctors I wouldn’t dream of telling people what they should aim for. Each person is different so they must find their own level that is healthy and safe.

Is it any wonder we have so much non compliance from diabetics when you look at the one-size-fits-all attitude that some/many doctors have? In the eyes of many diabetics they lose credibility. As I keep banging on, we diabetics have to educate ourselves if we are to manage this condition successfully.

Yes, the initial blood sugar readings, will be all over, but, stick to your meds, exercise, and, food intake; I use 130 carbs max, daily; the readings will, eventually, level out, after a few weeks; not to panic . You will indulge , over your food intake, at times, but, that's alright, as long, as you don't make it a habit. My doctor told me, I needed a food break, once in a while, maybe once, or, twice monthly, not more than that. I followed her (Doctor) advice, and, am doing ok. Don't let Diabetes control you, YOU control it. We cannot give up. All the best, have a good 2023.

The bs number I go to sleep with definitely has an impact on my fbg and if my fbs is high, then it will be more difficult to control my sugars throughout the day.

The lIver is heavilly implicated but there are so many other factors(at least for me) ,stress, getting enough sleep, keeping my weight under control, making sure to get daily exercise, meditating etc.

You are lucky that you are just a beginner on the diabetes journey , which if you watch yourself stil gives you the possiblity fo remission.

Being diabetic for over twenty years, I am in the Henry camp where I only can tolerate very small amounts of carbs over the course of the day

For someone who was on the edge of prediabetic when diagnosed, you still produce lots of insulin and as long as you stay in the 100-130 carbs per day, things are good and an occasional excursion is not bad.

For those of us with a more advanced diabetic journey, we are quite limited in our carb loading. If I have even a few more carbs than my meter allows me I am way above the good range.