Cycling and Type 2 Diabetes

Not a particularly athletic cyclist but in the summer I was cycling a 50k route at least once a week.
I'm off cycling for a bit due to dodgy knees.

What I have found, after reading a lot about exercising fasted and encouraging ketosis, is that carbs don't seem to help me when I am cycling.
I did a bit of testing and found that if I ate carbs before a ride my BG was still high 2-3 hours later.
If I had protein and fats, or just a cream and butter coffee then I was fine through the ride and my BG was around the 5 mark at the end.
I think my main problem was not drinking enough water during the ride which sometimes made me tired after the first two hours.

I think you have to get into the fat burning zone and then your body just keeps you fueled from onboard reserves.
This doesn't have the "hitting the wall" problem if you mainly metabolise carbs during exercise.
There is quite a bit of information around about ultra endurance athletes who train and compete using fats instead of carbs.

So to answer your original question it may be that sports supplements and drinks and gel bars are not the best way for a T2 to fuel during exercise.

Cheers

LGC

It seems to depend on the exercise.

Endurance seems to work on either ketosis, or carbs.
But you have to commit to it as a lifestyle, and stick with your choice.

I don't do endurance, my sports tend to be sudden impact, and I find I am better on carbs, and 'load up' beforehand, knowing I will use the energy, or eat during, and my BG is still acceptable to me.

Equally, if I do find my BG is higher than I like, I find a small amount of exercise will bring it down quite quickly.

cyclist said:

I will need to eat during rides so will be testing out nutrition sources to ward off cramp etc as well

At least I don't weigh as much as I used to so the hills should be a little easier at least

I've dropped 2 stone plus since I took up cycling again 18 months ago

Tomorrow I will start back on the turbo trainer and test myself pre and post ride to see what the effect on my BG will be

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Hi, I can no longer ride a bike as well I seem to go dizzy but I can do sessions on my home exercise bike three times a day I did tell the Doctor and well he said he thought it was due to my kidneys Yes I was told they was only 40% working, after more tests a month ago well I am now down to only 30% and told not to climb stairs, I have been taken off Metaformin as it is not good for the kidneys I am now on Gliclazide. my BP is very good and well I have lost 12 klos in the last 12 months, ho boy is sure is costly this losing my waist line, I used the wear 48inch trousers as I retain fluid now I am down to 40 inch wait, the Doctor has now told me to stick to keeping the sugar down but ignor the fat and stop loosing weight as well other than my waist I
have vey little fat on me, Mind you I do not drin sweetened drinks only water or green tea and I do have 40g of all-bran for breakfast with 80g of semi skimmed milk, A salad sandwich 250 grams plus 40 g of fruit
for lunch and a hot meal d inner of 450 grams. Well I suppose like the Doctor says I am not doing Bad for almost 84, and I cn still drive my car even f I cannot walk far. bye yours Phyden

I'm picking up this thread here because I've started cycling each and every day and doing about 18 miles since September 2016. (pseudo mimicking Geoff Whitington) I've suffered from neuropathy which gets bad when my numbers are high. When I first started doing these daily rides I found that after about 10-12 miles my feet would feel good. By the time I got home my feet would feel wonderful for the rest of the day. I'd get indoors and eat an apple drink lots of water. I've assumed that my somewhat extreme level of exercise had lowered my glucose levels, so I'd have a peaceful nights sleep. Normally I arrive home close to dusk.

What's happened recently is interesting. I'm about 4 months into this regime and now I felt that my feet feel better after only pedaling only 2-3 miles. Can I personally be improving my insulin resistance? I'm not going to give up on my regime and I'm thinking of getting myself a Recumbent bike to become even more aggressive with less of the issues that come with a conventional upright diamond style bike frame.

I emailed Anthony Whitington www.fixingdad.com to get some feedback about his father's biking habits. Geoff could barely ride about 2-3 miles when he first started his journey, yet within a few months was riding 50+ mile rides. They were strict on his diet too and did 90 minute post prandials to figure out what meals spiked his BGs, then avoided those foods there after.. From the feedback I got its clear to me if I can cycle longer distances with out the pain of a bike seat up my ar*e wrist pain back pain, knee pains I'll soon be getting better insulin sensitivity faster.

I 'm stingy on my test strips so I tested on Friday and today On Friday 13th at 108mg/dl and today 100mg/dl Jan 16th. This 100 mg/dl test is what's caused me to post this progress report..

FWIW, I'm doing no metformin no drugs only vitamin b complexes and such like. No prescribed medications whatsoever..

I'll keep you all posted..

LBB