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Snack Before Exercise

Scarlet10

Scarlet10

Well-Known Member
Messages
139
Location
Bridgend
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello

I have just joined the gym and I was wondering what low carb snacks you have before exercise. I am not a couch potato but whenever i start regular exercise I have massive problems with sugar and delayed hypos. I don't want to undo the good work I am doing by eating too much before so any advice would be great.

Thank you
 
There's really no point in having a low carb snack before exercising, unless it's purely just for energy?

If you're sugars drop like mine tend to when exercising then it may be worth having carbs with a low GI before exercising?

You can do the same post exercise if you're typically experiencing delayed hypos after the activity.

Grant
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Scarlet10 said:
Hello

I have just joined the gym and I was wondering what low carb snacks you have before exercise. I am not a couch potato but whenever i start regular exercise I have massive problems with sugar and delayed hypos. I don't want to undo the good work I am doing by eating too much before so any advice would be great.

Thank you
Click to expand...

Have you tried adjusting your insulin?

If your bg is dropping low when exercising then you don't want to be having a low-carb snack to prevent it, eat something like a banana or a flapjack.
 
Ok thanks all. Generally before exercise they are in range so I will try the banana to raise them a little then hopefully when they drop due to exercise they won't drop too low.
 
I am not sure the point of a low carb snack either, you will need some carbs to keep your sugars stable during exercise - before i work out i typically try to eat around 30-45g of moderate GI carbs and then head to the gym - no bolus, and a reduced -60% basal on my pump 2 hours prior.

My work out is about 15 min of mild cardio followed by about 1.5 hours of weights.

Everyone is different so this may not work for you but i usually finish my workout with BS around 5 mmol/l, and no increase following.

Depending on what you are doing and how sensitive you are to carbs you may only need a small amount of carbs, or perhaps sip a sugary drink during your workout to keep them topped up.
 
@Scarlet10 I think the advice so far is great for you.
Something you may want to try is keeping a record of what exercise you do and when your sugars start to drop.
We're all different but for me a hard cardio workout will affect my sugars during and up to 2 hrs after exercise. In this instance I tend to get my sugars right before I start and make allowances for the upcoming few hours.
If I'm hitting the weights I find my sugars will stay fairly stable during my workout but can be affected up to 12 hrs after, knowing this I make sure that I allow for any drops that may occur.
P.S. there is only one rugby team.
Hope I've helped. A Leicester Tiger's Fan. Good luck at the gym.
 
Well done for getting started at the gym. I usually need a banana or 2 oatcakes (with or without jam depending on my BS!) before running. I also need to drastically reduce my insulin - often I need to suspend my pump completely - and have a couple of glucose tablets after each mile I run. Exercising within 2 hours of having short-acting insulin for me tends to cause problems!As others have said, you just need to keep trying things till you find something that works for you.
 
It might be worth asking what you're doing in the gym and for how long. An hour on the treadmill isn't the same as an hour lifting weights. If you're doing higher intensity stuff for a complete hour you're probably going to burn carbs faster than a low GI snack can provide them, when lifting weights low GI might actually be good enough. But as mentioned it really depends on the duration and intensity of your exercise routine. That in combination with your last fast acting insulin shot.
 
When I have been to the gym in the past to just use weights, I do not find I really need to take anything at all or adjust any insulin because I don't use enough energy. If I am doing intense cardio (IE cycling for a few hours), I will not eat anything before because I will get a spike in sugar but I will make sure to eat something small such as a banana or a biscuit of some sort, every 40 mins. I might on occasion eat 3 or 4 jelly babies if the exercise is particularly intense (IE: I am going for it more than normal or I am doing a lot of climbing etc). If it is a run such as a 5km, I do not need anything extra at all because it is only 20-25 mins of exercise and I find that if I go just before a meal and eat my dinner with normal insulin dose, I am ok. I only find I need extra carbs on really intense exercise sessions but mostly on long exercise sessions.

Everybody is completely different though so I guess you need to do some trial and error and figure out what is best for you and your insulin regime and just keep checking bloods before and after.
 
Scarlet10 said:
Hello

I have just joined the gym and I was wondering what low carb snacks you have before exercise. I am not a couch potato but whenever i start regular exercise I have massive problems with sugar and delayed hypos. I don't want to undo the good work I am doing by eating too much before so any advice would be great.

Thank you
Click to expand...
Apple and high protein peanut butter
 
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