A (2:56)

Okay.

B (2:56)

Yes.

A (2:57)

So I have here a list of a real list of ways people say it. So, okay, so we comb through the Facebook group, we've seen it as wild ass guess, wise arse guess, scientific Wildly amazing guess. Oh, sophisticated wild ass guess. Seriously wild ass guess. Super wild stuff. We all guess. See what end guess. Somewhat accurate guess. That one's kind of good. Yeah. Someone called it freestyling. It's like jazz. Someone said, yeah, Shot in the dark and hope for the best. To me, that should go along. Like, listen to it this way. Shot in the dark and hope for the best. Scientific wild ass guess. See?

B (3:49)

Yeah.

A (3:49)

Yeah. I think if you put them together, it's very lyrical.

B (3:51)

You could.

A (3:51)

Now there's more here, but I went to the Internet. It says that in the diabetes community, swag stands for scientific wild ass guess, referring to an estimate of carbohydrate content when precise information isn't available. This term has been used in various fields, including the US Military, where it denotes a rough estimate based on experience and intuition. So this is what's going on here. Ah, it's been adapted from something else.

B (4:16)

Interesting. Yeah. And as you ask, kind of where and when, I think that I went to diabetes training camp in 2008, and I'm quite sure that's probably the first place that I heard it used. Like, all around. People were definitely guessing at, it's a training camp exercise wise. So we were totally guessing at, well, how do we adjust? How do you adjust for this planned workout? And we were doing it for the meals and everything as well. So if I had to think back, I think that's about where I heard it, which is quite a long time ago. Now.

A (4:55)

The terms broader use dates back to the 1960s in the United States.

B (5:00)

Wow.

A (5:00)

So somebody used it back then. Probably. It says probably in the military.

B (5:05)

The military makes sense.

A (5:06)

Yeah. The origins trace back to the US military in the 1960s, and it was employed to describe a rough estimate. So after I googled it, I then went to ChatGPT and asked and it said that based on it just there's not enough documentation to try to figure out when it was used in the diabetes community first.

B (5:23)

Community.

A (5:24)

Yeah. I mean, I'm sure some of you could dig up some of those old blogs that people wrote and see how far back, but I don't think that's gonna give you a real answer.

B (5:31)

No.

A (5:32)

So when you think of someone saying swag, do you think, please don't do that, please count the carbs, or do you. Do you do it?

B (5:40)

Oh, absolutely, I do it.

A (5:42)

Okay.

B (5:43)

Absolutely. And I think. I think there is a bit of a back to that as well, because I think all estimates in this respect, especially if you are seasoned with diabetes, you're guessing Based on historical information, Right. Not until I would say that my truest swag is when I have traveled someplace and the food is absolutely foreign to me. I have nothing to go back to guessing from. Right. When we went to Peru years ago, I would 100% say that I swagged everything that we ate while we hiked the Inca trail because the food that was being prepared for us, like, I.

A (6:37)

Don'T know what this is.

B (6:38)

I was like, this is great. I'll eat it. It seems to taste fine. I'm not gonna really ask. This looks kind of carby. This looks like protein. We're gonna go with it.

A (6:48)

Now, did that work for you?

B (6:50)

It did, but I also think the benefit was the active time. Right. I mean, just walking and walking and walking and sleeping and walking some more. So I. I think that smoothed out. Whatever was not the best guess for me.

A (7:04)

Which way did you guess? Like, did you guess light or did you try to go for it?

B (7:08)

I did. I guessed lighter only because. And I also judged it based on were we done for the day or did we have more moving to do? Right. First thing in the morning? I guess lighter, more towards the end of the day, getting done, kind of camping in or whatever. It was sort of a. I might not need quite as much now. I also didn't. I mean, this was just a baseline pump that I was using. There was no algorithm. Thankfully, I had a cgm. Thankfully, it kept working for me, but I did the best that I could.

A (7:41)

I realized while you were talking that I've always just attributed swag to carbs, the way you just described. But as you're sitting here talking and I'm thinking about diabetes in a broader sense, I think the entirety of diabetes is a swag.

B (7:56)

Perhaps it's a swag.

A (7:58)

Where should I put my pump? This might work. You know, how does this work? I don't know. Try this. I think that really is, oddly enough, that's leveling up with diabetes. When you're willing to say, I think I have enough information here to make a decision that I don't have all of the information for.

B (8:20)

Correct.

A (8:21)

You know what I mean?

B (8:21)

Yeah, absolutely. And some of the stuff, you might have some information, you know, like when I talk to people, especially newer pump users, I go through the. You should be rotating. You should have a schedule of rotation or a direction of rotation. Right. So that. That doesn't become a complete guess. But then when you have a site that didn't work well or was a bleeder or a gusher or whatever, and Then you're like, well, I was supposed to rotate over here, but maybe it won't work now and then it is completely. Let's just try this site. I have not used it for a while.

A (8:52)

Ye, you know, so it's kind of awesome when you stop and think about it that way. That everything like to really level up again with diabetes, you have to be willing to take your intuition and mix it together with your knowledge and then continue to build. And that's probably why so many people's opinions are varied around diabetes, because their experiences built up their knowledge and now their intuition draws on that. Okay, so the whole thing's a scientific. Which one do you prefer, by the way?

B (9:22)

I've always said scientific. Wide ass gas. That's what I have always used. But again I use the word or the acronym swag. So my brain says wide ass gas.

A (9:35)

You know, on this list here of like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16 that we called together just from one post about swagging, why it's not on it. So I wonder what else is out there that people use that isn't on this list. Other people said, I'm amused by people who did not stick with the acronym. I think of it as accurate guess based on experience with similar foods, nutritional content knowledge, guessing for a dose if you don't know the exact carbs, a massive guess to figure out how much insulin to give for food item pretty much meaning educated guesstimate.

B (10:09)

So anyway, and I like to go back to the one that said guessing on an amount of insulin based on. So I've also done that almost as a swag because sometimes the amount of food on a plate correlates with something that you know inherently takes a certain amount of insulin. Right?

A (10:31)

Yeah.

B (10:31)

There's not really a carb count to it. So you might put something into your pump, you might see what the suggested is according to how many carbs you're now estimating or only to generate a bolus. And then off of that say, no, no, I know I need one unit more or no, no, I need a unit less or whatever it is.

A (10:51)

Well, actually I was thinking I swag juice. I mean in the past, like I'm be like here and then you feel the juice going down in the, in the juice box and stop right there, you're done. How do you know that's enough? Eh, it feels like it's enough. We don't use Skittles, but that would be the idea of like having a handful of Skittles. And just pulling out seven of them. That's a swag. You're like, here, I think these so. All right, cool. Well, I appreciate you doing this with me. I can't believe we're still finding things to add to this.

B (11:15)

No, this was a great one.

A (11:16)

Yeah, Excellent.

B (11:17)

Cool.

A (11:25)

If you or a loved one was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and you're looking for some fresh perspective, the Bold Beginning series from the Juice Box Podcast is a terrific place to stay. Start that series is with myself and Jenny Smith. Jenny is a CDC ES, a registered dietitian, and a type 1 for over 35 years. And in the Bold Beginning series, Jenny and I are going to answer the questions that most people have after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. The series begins at episode 698 in your podcast player. Or you can go to juiceboxpodcast.com and click on Bold Beginnings in the menu. Hey, kids, listen up. You've made it to the end of the podcast. You must have enjoyed it. You know what else you might enjoy? The private Facebook group for the Juice Box Podcast. I know you're thinking, oh, Facebook, Scott, please. But no. Beautiful group, wonderful people, a fantastic community. Juice box podcast, type 1 diabetes on Facebook. Of course, if you have type 2, are you touched by diabetes in any way? You're absolutely welcome. It's a private group, so you'll have to answer a couple of questions before you come in, but make sure you're not a bot or. Or an evildoer. Then you're on your way. You'll be part of the family. I can't thank you enough for listening. Please make sure you're subscribed or following in your audio app. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of the Juice Box Podcast.