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During which types of exercise and/or physical activities do you feel most confident in your ability to maintain comfortable blood glucose levels? Select all that apply!
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I’m pretty confidant because even before I counted net grams carb and having Dexcom 6, I’d hiked to Lake 22 (easy) & gone over Valhalla Pass (difficult), easily climbed Mt Si’s haystack twice, and Mt Adams and traversed crevasses on Mt Rainier, and after all that now have Dexcom 6. I’ve weight lifted since age 15, achieved Dr. Cooper’s weekly 30 aerobic points by swimming and jogging, credits to my father and brother. Did you know 90 year old women in parts of Russia and Ukraine grow gardens? Kale, Mustard Greens, Collards are really easy to grow.. Use straw, not hay, as mulch to discourage slugs, snail#.
My 98 yr old mother-in-law mows her own yard with a non-power mower. Just saying…….
I remember it was Cooper’s 5BX or 10BX booklet. That started me exercising in 1971. I keep detailed records of walking distance. Have walked around world once (in total miles, not actually) and and half way to doing it again. 🎶
I am going to continue all activities and exercise that I want to do. Not letting diabetes rule my life. I like biking, hiking, walking, resistance training, yard work, and more. I do wear a Dexcom g6 and carry carbs. I take the usual precautions but I am willing to take risks that add enjoyment to my life.
Totally agree!!
Me also… Except now I am 90 years old and that is what stopped me.. I am just all used up!!
*as long as I’m wearing sunblock/UPF clothing, or I’m not in the sun at all. Sunlight raises my glucose and causes insulin resistance. Summers are difficult, but it happens even in winter. My Drs have no explanation.
strange!!!
I have exercised my entire life….I am 61! I am not of afraid of any kind of exercise. I am always prepared!
I am on a Dexcom and CIQ. I find the exercise mode plus only covering half the carbs and juicing as needed works for low level activity like walking and yard work, or putting up Christmas lights, which is a 4 day project with a lot of moving ladders and climbing ladders.
This is one of the more difficult, but most interesting questions to answer. I’ve considered myself to be an athlete my entire life (since a child of age 7). Until recently, I’ve always struggled to maintain a comfortable blood glucose level while exercising. My most frequent exercise is running. But, I often bike and walk. Over the years, I’ve done many sports. I always carried lots of juices, honey, granola bars, fresh fruit, etc. In the past 30 years gastroparesis has further complicated my ability to maintain my blood sugar levels. Within the past year, with the advice of my Endocrinologist, I discovered THE MISSING LINK, *protein*. I started drinking V8 Protein drinks, as well as eating eggbeaters, and greek yogurt, which is high in protein. I now am able to maintain comfortable glucose levels throughout all of my runs, bike rides, walks, etc. The protein keeps my blood sugars from dropping off a cliff while I’m working out, or working in the yard. I feel like I have a new lease on life, and the ability to do activities that I used to limit because of drastic blood sugar drops.
Things used to be different and I danced and hiked, but no more.
The only one I didn’t check that I do is long arduous hikes. It is difficult to get it right. I haven’t done one since I have had Control iQ. Most of my long walks now are on a beach or in town. As soon as I start doing inclines my bs will drop quickly so I have to of course premeditate and prepare accordingly. Reduce basal insulin before or eat carbs. I find the timing of it to be difficult.
Any exercise will help lower my blood sugar. I do a variety of them, like a stationary bike, walking, playing pickle ball, stretching depending on time and opportunity. Of course, for anything I do I have to figure out how it affects my sugar levels. But whatever I do helps.
much the same for me..
It took almost the entire season last year to manage cross country for our son. Practices are very different from meets! He just started a new season, and we are hopeful.
He figure skates on Saturday mornings. Lesson followed by practice, then 45 minutes of off-ice training. Impact happens hours later!
I answered “None” because I didn’t know which ones I was most confident in. However, I can surely say I am least confident when swimming.
As the G6 has taught me, I can’t predict how my BG levels will act during the same exercise. Sometimes it drops over a 100 within 3 miles of a walk, sometimes it climbs over 50 on the same span. Almost always it climbs over 50 after the end of exercise. The endo at OHSU just shrugs and says’ “Oh well – that’s just the way it goes”. Pretty frustrating
If your BG is over 250 at the start of exercise the exercise will actually increase your BG.
Still find the need to ‘carb up’ even with walking or gardening. Usually eat 1/2 of a fiber/protein bar prior to my walk to keep bg in a good range when exercise is completed
Me too. I can do exercise but I need to carb up to do it. But gardening, like mowing the lawn is the worst for me.
Raking leaves and pulling weeds really seem to lower my blood sugar which seems weird since both of those activities seem so mild, but just like a short walk, my blood sugar can really get lowered quickly.
Walking (it’s hilly where I live), cycling, yoga, household chores and gardening – although gardening seems to be a more vigorous activity for me – I’ve gotten figured out over the post year or so, but then, like all things related to diabetes, it changed. Easier to re-establish than it was to establish though.
I play ice hockey (goalie) and I have figure out that I actually need to take 2 units 10 minutes before I start playing and I have a nice flat line when I do.
Elliptical
I put none. I’m able to go low (and sometimes high) taking a shower! I suspect that if I exercised more, I wouldn’t be so brittle, but at 82 it’s 10 minute chair Pilates for me
If I know I’m going to be doing most of those things, I eat well enough in advance to do them. Under exercise surprises are sometimes problematic.
Most exercise drives me low. Even ControlIQ in exercise mode doesn’t prevent it. Always need to bring snacks. I read somewhere that those who do not exercise often are more prone to lows during exercise. Guilty! I work long hours at my desk. Need to make a point to exercise more and have carbs at the ready.
rowing on a machine
Racquet Ball was my other choice. However, I never started Playing with a Glucose number less than 150.mg/dl or over 200mg/dl.
I try to not have more than .5 unit of active IOB. I also have a profile I call golf. It is set to .1 unit/hr. I have the sensitivity set to 250 so it won’t bolus. It really has helped during golfing and while doing cardio. This works for me. I’m 68 and work out frequently.
With Loop, I use custom overrides to temporarily adjust my insulin needs for different types of activities/situations. For instance, if I’m going kayaking or hiking, I click the corresponding override, which decreases my overall insulin needs to 80% and raises my target correction range for five hours. This feature usually keeps me in range, avoiding a low. However, it’s all about timing – remembering to click my override 30-60 min before the activity. Examples of other overrides: site change, stressed, sick, conference, run, hot/cold.
I go to a weekly low impact exercise class at the senior center. It is great.
Cardio and strength training seems to lose my glucose levels so I usually like having a carb/protein snack like a low sugar protein bar or an apple prior to exercise just to raise it a bit as it will drop during exercising
Other: Gentle stretching, tai chi movements, and low impact free style dancing to various kinds of music that I enjoy listening to.
sounds very good to me !!!
I put “other” as I am never positive that I am going to keep my sugar levels at a comfortable level. However, since I use a cgm and of course always have carbs with me, I can usually avoid going below 70 but I am never positive that I won’t go below 70. I almost always have to eat carbs to achieve that which is discouraging. Maybe I should have selected all of them?
I answered “other” because it depends. (And I don’t do yoga, Pilates, aerobics or dancing.) I can do strenuous farm work or a 5-mile hike with no variables (100% in target range) but then drop precipitously during a moderate walk. It’s more planning ahead with slow acting carbs, with some slow acting carbs along the way if the activity is of a long duration, plus fast acting carbs if I see I’m about to drop. Plus a reduction of basal to almost zero.
The question is phrased correctly, but ask the wrong question. What Your question will give you is a generic answer, that won’t help with the fundamental problem. You don’t care whether I golf, practice Tai Chi Chuan, or some variety of HIIT activity. You need to ask better grouping of questions, weight bearing vs. aerobic, Because the specific choices offered now won’t provide you a good pattern to work from
It seems like I have tried everything: exercise mode, eating before exercising, suspending insulin/taking pump off altogether.. no matter what form of exercise I do, I drop low.
At first I thought this was a trick question! I have trouble with any physical activity and keeping an adequate blood glucose level if I’m not constantly feeding it but I have figured out how to do all the activities I enjoy. It just takes a lot of work and planning.