I exercise raising my blood sugar levels?

TooManyCrisps

Well-Known Member
Messages
535
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, I already posted this is Diabetes Type 2 discussion but someone suggested I repost it in this forum as I would get good advice here

I am newly diagnosed (6 weeks ago), after a random blood test gave a reading of 18 followed by an HbA1C of 97. GP suggested I try to lose some weight (BMI of 27) and retest the HbA1C in 3 months before considering meds.

Since then I have researched on here, and stuck to a LCHF diet. I have also increased my exercise levels. I used to do 3 or 4 hours of classes at my gym per week, but now am trying to do 7 or 8. I eat as soon as i come home from work and then go to the gym.

After advice on here, I bought a meter which arrived a week ago, and have been testing to try to identify which foods are pushing my bs levels up. On Monday I was horrified to find that my reading jumped from 5.3 before dinner to 8.7 2 hours after, I then tested again after 3 hours and the reading was 10. A similar thing happened throughout the week, although the spikes weren't as high - 8s and 9s though. However, these readings were all taken after exercise. So on Monday, the 2 hour reading was after I had done an hour's HIIT class, and I followed that by an hours kettlebell class, which is when I got the reading of 10.

Fridays are a bit different as I do a class on the way home from work and then eat later. So yesterday, my post lunch readings were 6.8 (1 hour) and 6.1 (2 hours). I then tested immediately before going to the gym, which was 4 hours after lunch, and my reading was 5.6. I did an hour of circuit training, tested straight afterwards and my reading was 7.1. After another hour it had risen to 8.7 despite me not eating. I then ate dinner (which by chance was the same dinner as on Monday). 1 hour after dinner my reading was 8.6 and after 2 hours it was 6.7. So my readings were lower after eating than they were after exercising and not eating.....

So it looks as though the high readings I had earlier in the week were possibly affected by the exercise. I'm now concerned that, despite my hard work with the diet, my readings will be high because of the exercise. And i won't be able to work out how the food itself is really affecting me.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I'm reluctant to stop exercising. I could change the intensity and see if that made a difference? If anyone has some useful advice, I'd love to hear it. Everything I've read so far stresses that diet and exercise together are the way forward.
 
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Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I had the same thing happen and surprisingly I found that if I ate a small snack ( a few nuts or 2 or 3 olives) that were VLC and no protein but rather more fat right after it was enough to elicit an insulin response to start bringing BG down. I have a friend who does that after tennis and it work beautifully for her as a T2. Doesn't work for me now though
 
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mfactor

Well-Known Member
Messages
389
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Eating a few carbs before I worked out worked for me (slice toast), I found the advice after searching the web for hours, I was getting 10s and over and adding the few carbs took them down to 7 and 8s after lifting........

Secondly don't train to absolute failure when lifting , leave a bit in the tank.....(1 or 2 reps)


And thirdly get in and get out 1 hour max , 45 mins better.....



Lifting can be done , just has to be a bit sensible :)



And carry on with LCHF , I have been doing it for a while and now 2 stone lighter and now not in the diabetic range and can now train how I wish with no spikes ..................
 
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TheMewster

Newbie
Messages
1
I'm Type 1 and compete in both cycling and canoe slalom. I find that training on the bike (long duration, aerobic) drops my levels, whereas canoe slalom (anaerobic, high intensity, short duration) pushes them up for a couple of hours, then they tend to drop afterwards. So if I were to do two hours of cycling I'd probably be taking on 30-50g of carbs an hour just to maintain my levels, whereas a two hour slalom training session on whitewater I'd have no carbs and come off the water with levels higher than I started, but knowing that they'd drop a couple of hours later.
 
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IZ THE LEG END

Well-Known Member
Messages
169
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Diabetes!!!
Hi, I already posted this is Diabetes Type 2 discussion but someone suggested I repost it in this forum as I would get good advice here

I am newly diagnosed (6 weeks ago), after a random blood test gave a reading of 18 followed by an HbA1C of 97. GP suggested I try to lose some weight (BMI of 27) and retest the HbA1C in 3 months before considering meds.

Since then I have researched on here, and stuck to a LCHF diet. I have also increased my exercise levels. I used to do 3 or 4 hours of classes at my gym per week, but now am trying to do 7 or 8. I eat as soon as i come home from work and then go to the gym.

After advice on here, I bought a meter which arrived a week ago, and have been testing to try to identify which foods are pushing my bs levels up. On Monday I was horrified to find that my reading jumped from 5.3 before dinner to 8.7 2 hours after, I then tested again after 3 hours and the reading was 10. A similar thing happened throughout the week, although the spikes weren't as high - 8s and 9s though. However, these readings were all taken after exercise. So on Monday, the 2 hour reading was after I had done an hour's HIIT class, and I followed that by an hours kettlebell class, which is when I got the reading of 10.

Fridays are a bit different as I do a class on the way home from work and then eat later. So yesterday, my post lunch readings were 6.8 (1 hour) and 6.1 (2 hours). I then tested immediately before going to the gym, which was 4 hours after lunch, and my reading was 5.6. I did an hour of circuit training, tested straight afterwards and my reading was 7.1. After another hour it had risen to 8.7 despite me not eating. I then ate dinner (which by chance was the same dinner as on Monday). 1 hour after dinner my reading was 8.6 and after 2 hours it was 6.7. So my readings were lower after eating than they were after exercising and not eating.....

So it looks as though the high readings I had earlier in the week were possibly affected by the exercise. I'm now concerned that, despite my hard work with the diet, my readings will be high because of the exercise. And i won't be able to work out how the food itself is really affecting me.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I'm reluctant to stop exercising. I could change the intensity and see if that made a difference? If anyone has some useful advice, I'd love to hear it. Everything I've read so far stresses that diet and exercise together are the way forward.
Your more than likely going anaerobic. As you can see by @TheMewster post above (great by the way!)

Perhaps try training to heart rate this may help. I'm not really an expert on these zones but @ElyDave may be able to point you in a better direction with this area of training.

Good luck
 
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S

Samblease73

Guest
A good proportion of the sugar in your blood is emitted by your liver. It does this in response to hormone triggers, for example when exercising your body is telling your liver to release some stored glucose so you have some energy to perform the task. If your liver releases more sugar than you actually need during the exercise this will of course cause your readings to go up. This will normally be quite short lived though, as when you go into recovery after exercise your muscles will start to demand the sugar in your bloodstream to replenish the depleted glycogen caused by exercising. This then causes your blood sugar to drop - quite dramatically sometimes!
 
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zicksi101

Well-Known Member
Messages
113
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Read this to understand what the likely effect of exercise will be on your blood sugar: http://runsweet.com/HeartRate.html

All I can tell you is what I've done as a type 1 diabetic and the results I see as an individual. With high intensity training, there is indeed an increase in my post exercise blood glucose, unless I take insulin for it.

However, during the night and into the next day, something happens which is not clearly documented in the manual: I have to reduce my insulin due to the insulin sensitivity improvement I get from exercise where the intensity is greater than 85%. It's like an investment: yes I do have to bolus for a post-anaerobic exercise spike, but for every additional unit of insulin I have to take, I then need to reduce it by 2u later.

I therefore do not suggest that you avoid exercise which raises your blood sugar.

I find that all exercise, aerobic or anaerobic, improves my insulin sensitivity and results in a reduced total daily dose of insulin. The exercise I do is mostly aerobic because I'm a distance runner, and need endurance to keep going, but really the best exercise for you will be what you wish to keep doing.

Dr Bernstein actually advocates strenuous, anaerobic exercise such as weight lifting for his type 2 patients to reduce insulin resistance. Yes it does increase blood sugar temporarily, but it also reduces insulin resistance, which is the cause of type 2 diabetes.
 

FADM2

Active Member
Messages
31
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
ur A1C would be a better measuring tool for BG level instead of random readings- due to liver releasing glucose in blood.
 

walnut_face

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,748
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
6.2 on waking 2 cups black coffee a 5km run in a PB time and an hour later BG 8.1 :wacky:
 

Bebo321

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,001
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
You may find this movie helpful - 2 mins in approx it covers how and why exercise helps manage blood glucose levels.