Diabetic Recipes
millenium_nyati's
What kinds of exercises, hobbies, or activities do you enjoy doing and what kinds of things do you do to navigate around blood sugar issues? This was my random thought of the day so far, so I thought I would share it with you guys and see if you would tell me your stories in return.
Personally, one of my most favorite passions is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am training about 5 times a week or so, it makes me feel great and I love it. But one thing about Jiu Jitsu is that it's very intense and it's difficult to find the balance between having good sugars and being able to participate fully, say for example, like any non-diabetic person would.
One of the things I have come to learn and appreciate is early morning workouts. I find that I avoid the most problems and have my best workouts if I train bright and early. I can wake up and check my sugar, which is usually good because I make sure it's good before bed, and then not take any Lantus or Novolog until after I'm done with my session. Ideally this will help me avoid any extreme ups or downs due to any insulin, (or lack of), that I may have circulating in my body at the time. If you are a person taking multiple daily injections then you might know what I'm talking about.
Do you guys who use pumps still have difficulties with high and low sugars when doing your favorite activities? Are their any other type 1's out there who practice mixed martial arts too? When does your schedule allow for your favorite type of exercise? What kinds of steps do you take to prevent problems?
Let me know what you guys do or anything else you want to add.
Thank you. -Andy
Andy,
Up until a month ago, I had been lifting weights 4-5 times a week early in the morning before I would go to work. Recently I switched to working out in the afternoon and I have found that the afternoon routine works better for controlling my blood sugar levels. Morning workouts seem to raise my blood sugar-- even when taking insulin to match my bowl of cereal while accounting for the strenuous activity to come. In the afternoon, I go bolus-free with a small snack before I workout and my blood sugars remain relatively stable. Of course, when you throw cardio (yuck) into the mix then things get even more complicated. My doctor keeps telling me I should do more cardio. I think I do all right-- I can curl 115 lbs and squat 365 lbs. Take that, doc!
-Kirk
Sounds good Kirk. Thanks for the comment and the exercise routine tips. Everyone should just do what works for them and basically just stick with it and make small adjustments here and there. experiementing is good too. And as for those numbers on the bench and squat, I would be curious to see if any other person out there with diabetes can beat you?? I HAVE YET to meet another person with diabetes who is as strong as you big fella! Thanks for the comment Kirk :) Keep up the great work!
I'm not a guy,Andy, but I'll chime it here.
I love to squaredance. An evening of dancing, at the level and intensity that I dance, is the cardiac equivilent to a 5 mile jog. I also line dance in between 'tips' or squaredance sets, as we call them, so that burns some calories.
I use MDI therapy and am soon switching to a pump. I'm not type 1 or 2....we don't know what happened, but I make only a small amount of my own insulin and it doesn't work. I'm average height and weight and healthy other than the big D.
I usually take my Novolog to match my supper carbs....start dancing about 7, a quick BS test at 8 and a small, non bolused snack, and then finish up about 9:30. I take 7 units of Levemir at 9 p.m. (I take 5 more units in the morning...it doesn't last 24 hours for me). My numbers stay around 100- 120 usually while dancing, but sometimes I shake like a leaf and only a couple of glucose tabs will stop the shaking. The big problem is the high I get after dancing....sometimes up to 200. What a pain! Then, about midnight, I'm very low. My doc says it's all the glucose dumped in for the exercise that I have no insulin to cover. She doesn't want me correcting for this because I'll hit a big low in the middle of the night ( we tried it). I'm frustrated but I keep on anyway because I know I need the exercise.
I'm average height and weight for my age. On the rare days I don't dance, I do a cardio workout tape. I have to do as you do and pick my time VERY carefully....as in, when there is NO NOVOLOG on board. Otherwise, I get a lovely 45 in the middle of the workout.
Sometimes I'm so frustrated at the exercise/ insulin thing! We need to exercise for our health and heart, but the darn blood sugar drops make it so hard!!
What is the answer??? And how in the world am I going to learn to titrate a pump around my crazy dancing hobby??
Frustrated Mousie
Mousie...THANK you very much for the comment and your specifics for the activity you do. That sounds wonderful and like something you really get a lot of enjoyment out of. Hopefully you can continue trying to get around those low's. And let us know how your transition to the pump works with the "Boot Skootin Boogy"! YE-HAW :) -Andy
Hi Andy,
I have type 1 and exercise probably 4-5 times a week but only ever manage it in the evenings. The thing that really caught my eye about your post is the bjj. My husband is a brown belt in bjj and teaches classes over here in the uk. Although I don't take his classes-I have sat in on a few. His classes are intense but I'm guessing your talking about the sparring when you say your lows are affecting your sport. As far as I know, these 'fights' are relatively short. If you were competing, could you not stock up on juice or glucose tabs and run slightly high before your fight? I doubt you would then drop low during the fight (but of course could do afterwards).
I've noticed with my own training that my body has kind of gotten used to the exercise and doesn't drop dramatically. I'm still pushing my self further, but compared to the severe lows and highs I used to experience at the start, they are usually much better behaved. I don't know whether anyone else has noticed this?
Thank you Tasha for your reply. That is awesome about your husband's accomplishment in BJJ. Belts are very hard to acheive and usually take years to accomplish. I "roll" no-gi, but originally trained in gi for the first 6 months or so. I would like to think of myself as a blue belt equivalant, but since I only roll no-gi I am not ranked by belt. As for competition things have usually worked out well. I have competed twice and done pretty good with my sugars :) And for the last part of your comment I haven't noticed my body really "getting used to" the exercise I do. If your ok with taking a suggestion than I would say that you may try different different types of activities at varying levels of intensity to avoid platues. However, with diabetes patterns are always nice and so is getting any kind of exercise we can get. Thanks so much for your comment Tasha and I hope you continue your dedication towards exercise. Please re-respond if you have anything to say regarding my comment about your exercise patterns. -Andy
Andy-
just remembered a conversation at my last doctors app. where the doctor asked the med student why I was saying I needed a higher insulin to carb. ratio first thing in the morning. The student didn't know and he explained that everybody naturally releases cortisol to get them ready for the day ahead. This cortisol interferes with the insulin working on the glucose meaning the glucose stays in the blood-therefore elevating blood sugar. If this is happening, it might explain why you find it better to exercise first thing in the morning. Your blood sugars are higher so you can work out more before going low.
As for my body 'getting used' to the exercise. I think it's more because my sugars weren't stable before I started my current regime. The exercise has helped my contol, and now they don't ping pong about before, during and after. They obviously still drop (and wierdly sometimes rise) but it's more predictable.
I've noticed from reading everyones blogs, that over there in the States, exercise seems to be pushed as a major part of controlling not only type 2 but type 1. I've been type 1 for nearly 18 years, and I don't remember any of my doctors over here in the UK discussing exercise as part of my control. Over the last couple of years I've noticed that exercise plays a huge role in controlling and stabilising my sugars. In fact, if I don't exercise for a couple of weeks, my averages rise.
Hope the cortisol comment helps :)
tasha
Thank you Tasha. Good info your sharing there. I am aware of the natural process that takes place in the morning with the release of the hormones. And as far as exercise goes, it was a little shocking to me to hear that the doctors over there weren't talking about exercise. I am glad that you still found out for yourself! Exercise is wonderful. It affects so many aspects of ones life. Thanks for your comments. -Andy
Hey Andy,
Over the past couple months I started doing a lot of running and it has wreaked havoc on my sugars. I always work out in the evening, so I started off by taking a lower carb ratio at dinner and working out about an hour afterwards. This didn't work- maybe it was the type of carbs I ate for dinner- but I could either spike up at the beginning of my run or go low during it, have to stop, and then have a high sugar later that night. And if for some reason I was late getting to the gym, then my sugar would be too high. So, I resigned to taking my normal carb ratio and having more juice during my run, which isn't ideal because its taking in extra calories just to burn some off, but it works better.
However, I'm still getting some unexpected highs, which my doctor explained could be caused by weight lifting (I usually do 20-30 min of weights after my run) or adrenaline if I'm pushing myself particularly hard. The problem is, when I am pushing myself, I can't feel whether my sugar is lower or higher as I'd normally be able to, and I also don't want to have to slow down and check my sugar more than necessary- I usually check once, about 1/2 hr in. (I do always wear a med alert though, and most of the time am at the gym with someone who knows I am diabetic.)
My doctor is pushing for me to get a pump, and says situations like this would be easier to manage with it, but I'm much more comfortable with taking multiple injections. I'm hoping that after a while my body will get used to the routine and things will even out, but I'm still making compromises and trying to figure out the best plan of attack. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Jvoss6, have you ever tried giving your insulin a little bit more time to peak or absorb before you work out? You mentioned working out an hour after eating/injecting. I dont ever workout until the insulin in my body has had time to peak and almost be out of my system before gettin started. Cause, like you said, it's no fun drinking or eating something when that defeats the whole purpose of you working out in the first place! thanks. -Andy