Eating High Carbs While Walking/Exercising

[LornVaden]

Good evening all,
I'm 31 years old and I've been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes 2 years ago , and the highest number I got was 277 mg/dl. I was prescribed with Metformin tabs along with Vitamin B pills for treatment. I tried lifting weight last year, but it caused me to have a tingly feeling in my hands sometimes & floaters in my eyes. I started walking daily until I reached 2 hours a day, and I'm on diet most of the time when I'm inactive. But when I walk, I eat anything with high carbs so I won't get low on BG. After I finish walking, I test my BG and I'm always within normal range (130 and below). My question is:
Is it alright if I ate anything with high carbs while walking/exercising or not? Also, any advice to add on my current lifestyle to maximize my BG control to stop the disease from progressing (if it's possible)?
Thank you all for your efforts,

 

[Resurgam]

Why do you think that your BG level would go low when exercising? You aren't taking any medication to lower BG, so you are not in danger of hypos. Just allow your liver to supply the energy required during your walk.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Is it alright if I ate anything with high carbs while walking/exercising or not?

It defeats the object a bit unless you are a thin person that does not need to lose any weight.

 

[dawnmc]

You need to reassess your diet. Please stick around and read this forum. If you want to reduce your sugar levels you need to ditch the rubbish carbs.

 

[Brunneria]

What meds are you on?
And are you testing your blood glucose while exercising, to see if it dips to hypo levels if you don't eat carbs?

Personally, I wouldn't treat a hypo unless I was actually having one.
If i had a history of exercise induced hypos i would eat something slow release before exercise, to prevent a hypo from developing.

 

[miahara]

Hi @LornVaden and welcome. I'm finding it a bit hard to understand what you are saying about high carbs "when you are walking". Do you mean on the days you go walking or during a walk?
Exercise does help reduce BG plus other benefits, but I doubt if it is a major factor in your BG levels, your diet will have a far greater impact.
I think the best way for you to see how diet and exercise impact on your BG is to monitor fairly carefully and note what you've eaten and any exercise periods, you should then be able to draw your own conclusions and adjust your diet accordingly.

 

[Mbaker]

As you are T2 eating high carb is likely the opposite of what your body wants you to do, a bit like an alcoholic drinking spirits to kick the habit. You are relatively young ( compared to me anyway). If I were 31 I would do 30 - 40 minutes of HiiT (with total focus) working every muscle group or use a system such as T25 or P90X and perhaps 20 minutes of HiiT walking or interval running, at strategic times along with adopting LCHF. Your doing great but 2 hours walking presumably a day might be hard to sustain long term. I get a massive benefit from weights so you might want retry this as your base fitness must be great from the walking. Most type 2's who are not on insulin do not get exercise induced hypos, so unless you have had one, it should not cause you a concern.

 

[LornVaden]

Thank you all for the responses. I weigh 68 KG for those who asked, and I'm on a med called Metphor 500, and I was referring to eating while walking.
Basically, I'm asking this because one time right before I go for a walk, I ate a high carb food item, and after 1 hour of walking I tested my BG and it was around 90 mg/dl. I experience low BG sometimes during or after walking for 2 hours without eating anything before or during my walks, so I thought I could prevent low BG if I could eat something high in carbs to prevent it.
I'm sorry if I sound dumb here, but I'm still trying to understand the A B Cs of Diabetes and how to deal with it properly.

 

[LornVaden]

As you are T2 eating high carb is likely the opposite of what your body wants you to do, a bit like an alcoholic drinking spirits to kick the habit. You are relatively young ( compared to me anyway). If I were 31 I would do 30 - 40 minutes of HiiT (with total focus) working every muscle group or use a system such as T25 or P90X and perhaps 20 minutes of HiiT walking or interval running, at strategic times along with adopting LCHF. Your doing great but 2 hours walking presumably a day might be hard to sustain long term. I get a massive benefit from weights so you might want retry this as your base fitness must be great from the walking. Most type 2's who are not on insulin do not get exercise induced hypos, so unless you have had one, it should not cause you a concern.

Thank you for your response. I do want to build muscle and lift weight, but after the floaters appeared in my eyes, it scared the hell out of me, and I read somewhere that it might be a possibility for a retinal detachment. I went to the eye doctor and got my retina checked, and he said it was fine thank God. Plus, it caused me to have a tingly feeling in my hands as a result. So it's a dead end for me if there are no alternative ways to build muscle.
Thankfully, I walk 2 hours a day at least 5 times a week, which is my best choice of weapons to battle high BG.

 

[miahara]

With respect @LornVaden , I don't think walking is really your "best choice of weapons to battle high BG." It will help but in my opinion your diet is the critical factor. Why are you so keen on building muscle? If you are under-weight, then building muscle will help as muscle weighs more than fat, I'm trying to gain weight through exercise but also trying to keep BG under control with low carbs.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Why do you think that 90mg/dl is low? (5mmol/l) It is a normal level and nothing to worry about. You only need to feel concern if it is under 72mg/dl (4mmol/l)