exercise and control

Geordie_P said:

Hi friends,
I was watching tv with my kids and accepted a little piece of cake and some pork jerky (which will have some sugar in it). I know that's not optimal, but it was tiny amounts. I did a quick test (probably about 1hr after eating) and was 8.9. That's a bit higher than I'd expected, so I went outside and jumped rope for 3 minutes, then 3 minute rest- for three sets. Then I walked for about 10 minutes to cool down. My next blood test, within an hour of the previous one, was 5.1.
The drop was better than I'd been expecting, and I would really like to investigate the effects of exercise.
Could any other diabetics and pre-D out there post up some of their findings RE exercise?
I've heard it raises some people's BG, and I've heard it can improve insulin response. If anyone out there has any numbers, advice or anecdotes on this subject, I'd love to hear it!

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I've been doing all sorts of experiments for the last 3-4 months to a general background of losing weight.

One thing I noticed, when I went through a phase of attempted weight maintenance via lots-of-food-but-lots-of-exercise, eating 4,000 calories a day and up to 300g carbs a day, was that, provided I had the carbs just before I went on a very fast 1-hour walk up and down some small hills with a heavy rucksack on, I could get non-diabetic numbers 2 hours after I started eating.

But I also noticed that my morning fasting levels crept up over those days, to the point I wasn't happy with. Also, the ability to lower bg levels with immediate exercise eventually diminished drastically.

I've since realised, from a similar "phase" but this time much less carbs, that it may be all to do with whether or not I am losing weight through calorie restriction. When losing weight, I have an image of my liver being emptied of glycogen and fat. In that state, I can use exercise to burn off lots of carbs to control spikes, however, when I do that, I am also liable to get carried away with calories and stop losing weight, probably even start gaining weight, so the effect eventually disappears.

I will be doing one more experiment: once I get consistent good fasting readings through calorie restriction again (and I have plenty more weight to lose), I'm going to try the carbs-then-exercise thing again, this time making damned sure I'm still overall in significant energy deficit. It may seem a silly experiment, but I'd really like to get a feel for how my body behaves in certain circumstances. I'm hoping to be a lot more active in 2018 so it's good to know these things.

The impact exercise has on BG depends ...
It depends on what exercise you do, how fit you are at that exercise, how long you do it for, when you do it, ...

Generally, short interval or resistance exercise increases Bg and long cardio exercise decreases BG.
There may also be longer term affects of reduced BG over the next 24 hours.

For example, for me
- running for 30 minutes and my BG plummets
- walking for hours has no impact
- climbing for an hour and my BG rockets
These are all after work.
Any exercise before breakfast and my BG rises.

I think I read a study which showed that the ability to use exercise to regulate bgl decreases over time. So ten minutes might drop it when you start but you would eventually need 15 minutes to get the same result., and so on. It did not seem to be connected to weight loss. I have dreadful brain fog but I will have a look round to find it, if any one is interested

I find the breakfast thing very interesting. I do 18_6 IF, so never have breakfast. My fbgl is usually high 5s and 6s. If I exercise as soon as I get up it always rises. If I wait a few hours it drops. So nothing to do with food. ( when I say exercise I mean walking up hills and sometimes swimming. I am not terribly active)

I am also going to do a few personal experiments to see the effect of exercise on my personal levels.

Thanks for starting this thread, very interesting. I would really like it if we could post results as we go?

I hope to be increasingly active this year and have just signed up for the 1000 mile challenge. So I am going to start a dreaded spreadsheet of results!

Kentoldlady1 said:

I hope to be increasingly active this year and have just signed up for the 1000 mile challenge. So I am going to start a dreaded spreadsheet of results!

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Have you signed up through the UK site for £12? You have now motivated me to think about it. I currently walk for an hour most evenings but this sounds like making it into more of a challenge as I would have a target to reach.

archersuz said:

Have you signed up through the UK site for £12? You have now motivated me to think about it. I currently walk for an hour most evenings but this sounds like making it into more of a challenge as I would have a target to reach.

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No, no £12.00 for me. I am too much of a cheap date. There are other, not official.sites and I have signed up.with that. Tbh, it is really just me, my oh and a few friends and family that are doing it. We have all told each other that we are doing it and none of us wil.want to be the first to drop out.

I need something to aim for. Lots of people can just keep.going, and I really admire that. But I am very weak willed and at the first hint of rain and a delicious cake and I am in front of the tv!!

Signing up for something with others makes me a bit ashamed to quit. I am very shallow.

Kentoldlady1 said:

No, no £12.00 for me. I am too much of a cheap date. There are other, not official.sites and I have signed up.with that. Tbh, it is really just me, my oh and a few friends and family that are doing it. We have all told each other that we are doing it and none of us wil.want to be the first to drop out.

I need something to aim for. Lots of people can just keep.going, and I really admire that. But I am very weak willed and at the first hint of rain and a delicious cake and I am in front of the tv!!

Signing up for something with others makes me a bit ashamed to quit. I am very shallow.

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My son has suggested we do the 'couch to 5k' programme. I have just started (tonight) logging my evening walks using runkeeper.

Exercise was one of the first diabetes reversal tools I came across. On a static quality bike (I was lucky to get one of my wife's cast off Lifecycle machines) I was able to go from 8's to 4's for blood glucose.

Exercise enables glucose to be taken up without insulin via GLUT4 receptors. Walking after meals should reduce the post meal spike, so is protective. I have found that walking with ankle and arm weights increases my calorie burn by around 20%.

I have increased muscle mass to try to burn more resting calories, as muscle uses more energy than fat. It sounds obvious but exercise helps maintain body weight, improves fitness and aids mental well being. It is far better to get diet and or fasting right rather than over train, as exercise is only circa 20% of the equation. A balance of resistance / weight and cardio is desirable, but if I had to choose a ratio I would do 70% weights 30% cardio.

As a T1 now, morning anything, including a showe raises me. After about 2pm a little floor mopping or a short slow to moderate walk CAN lower me but not always as long as I do it within an hour of injecting

When I was T 2 a slow to moderate 15 min walk after meals almost always helped.