Exercise before or after eating

First of all, intensity is relative, and not measured by speed but by heart rate and relative effort. At my last race I was two hours behind the winner, others were 3 or 4 hourse behind me, all worked just as hard. That's why I'm a firm believer in heart rate monitors to manage training intensity.

As for before/after, depends what you are trying to achieve?

If it's fat burning/weight loss, there is plenty of evidence that fasted (before breakfast) training is more effective as your body is prepared to go into fat burning earlier with a lower level of circulating glucose, but you need to do it at lower intensity to avoid that liver dump. If you are trying to lower a high BG (especially if on insulin) or train for speed, post meal exercise is probabaly better.

Looking bigger picture though, what exercise will do is increase insulin sensitivity and if you keep that up regularly 2 days out of three or similar, then you'll maintain that insulin sensitivity which may help you with both dose and BG management.

I do allot of high intensity varied exercise training and i always eat a large amount; Meal / Big bowl of porridge in the mornings before i exercise. And inject less fast acting before the classes.

I find the exercise burns all the sugar up, i can have high readings before 13+ and very low after 1-2 hrs of training.

claymic said:

Thank for the reply. I am thinking any exercise is better than no exercise. At 18St I bay hardly run marathons or do very high intensity. If I get higher reading before dinner due to exercise, hopefully I get lower one at the 2 hour mark post dinner

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In that case you are at least partially right.

Intensity is all relative, adn is not about speed. What I woudl suggets you do if you do not have a heart rate monitor, is to exercise with a watch. Every now and then, maybe 10 or 20 minutes in, test your heart rate manually. COunt it for 15 secs and multiply by 4. A good guide for low intensity, aerobic training is 180-age, that's where you'll be training yourself to burn fats.

The thing is most people start out trying too hard and it's not as effective long term. Don't worry about speed and even if you need to walk hard rather than run to keep the HR in the right zone, then do that, before long, the walking will reduce and the running increase.

All you are doing by eating and then exercising is to burn off the sugars you've just ingested.

Both strategies (eating before and eating after exercise) are good for performance, fitness, and health. However, how to eat for exercise is dependent on several factors, specifically, how long you exercise, your type of exercise, your exercise experience, and health factors that may play a role in how you process food. Nutrition plays a key role in building fitness, that's for sure.

Whats the best way then... recommended? I usually eat more porridge, cereal, glucose tabs before i exercise but as you say is that a waste of time if im just burning of the carbs and sugar that ive just previously absorbed?

I walk after eating which appears to lower the sugar levels however after tea I do not feel like walking especially bad weath and thats when sugars tend to go high, one wonders if one has to keep doing all this exercise all the time a rest would be good...now and again at least!!!

bonus said:

Whats the best way then... recommended? I usually eat more porridge, cereal, glucose tabs before i exercise but as you say is that a waste of time if im just burning of the carbs and sugar that ive just previously absorbed?

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I'm not saying never exercise after eating, always exercise before eatinmg.

Whart I'm saying is thing about what you are trying to achive overall and with any one session and manage on that basis.

Eating a big meal before exercising could make you sick to your stomach. Exercise helps decrease the appetite, so if you are trying to loose weight you should do it before eating. But, if you are prone to low blood sugars, you will want to eat a light snack before exercising. Because exercise also decreases the blood sugar. (or have a snack available in case you should need it.)

I usually eat at least an hour before doing exercise to make sure i have enough energy / food / sugar in me to do the exercise classes and that it's settled in me. I'm not really one for "topping up" while working out. (unless a sip of lucozade) As then i will feel sick.

To be honest i am sometimes a little worried of going low while I'm doing the exercise classes or workouts as when doing high intensity training i don't really feel the symptoms as much due to the other factors in your body. - high sweating, high heart beat , pushing yourself really hard etc.

Thanks for the replies.

claymic said:

Hi I have read somewhere that if you are on insulin you should exercise after you eat so you start burning sugar. I want to start exercising again because I am putting on so much weight after starting insulin. Btw I am on novomix 30.

At lunchtime i can eat and then go for about 25 mins walk. Testing 2hrs after lunch its usually less than before lunch. I am struggling to exercise after dinner though. We eat quite late so after i just want to chill plus having just eaten i struggle. I used to manage better when doing some exercise as soon I come in from work. But then if I test about 1.5 hrs later before dinner i used to find it higher than the post lunch one.
I do not do mega high intensity as I am very overweight and very unfit.

Should I still try and do something after dinner or should I do it earlier when it is more likely that actually will do more exercise more frequently?

Thanks

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Hi calymic,
You should just exercise when you feel like it.
Really the main consideration for you would be with regards to the insulin you are injecting and whether or not you are injecting with your meals or if you are just taking daily injections.
Exercise and insulin don't mix. When you exercise, any insulin travelling around in the bloodstream can not only cause rapid fall in blood glucose levels, but it also impairs the liver's ability to release glucose into the bloodstream if your bloods go low. Consequently, if you inject with your meals, then you are better off excessing before meal times, whereas if you just take daily injections, then it would be better to exercise a few hours after so that there is less active insulin to drop your BG levels. I hope that makes sense!
If you want more information about what happens to the body when you exercise, you may like to take a look at:
http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Questions_-_What_time_day.html
Because you are injecting insulin, you may also like to take a quick look at the 'type 1 case study' movie too - I think it may help to explain what effects exercise has on blood glucose levels, particularly when you throw insulin into the mix.
Good luck and keep it up - if you have any particular questions and you feel TeamBG may be able to help, feel free to get in touch and we will do all we can.

This is very helpful... I've gone hyperactive/resistive because of steroids, and am wanting to do whatever to help make sure it doesn't stay like this so i can snack on foods again... I have a bad liver and am thinking it's having issues, so maybe getting it to start dumping glucose would be good... and I have to make sure it doesn't pick up glucose after I eat... so I should start doing some exercise before AND after eating... shouldn't take too much though. I could do like... some exercise training with some meat before eating anything that will up my blood sugar, then eat something that can put it up a little and do some cardio stuff =D

Well if you are struggling to do exercise after dinner than avoid it. I suggest to do exercise to do before or after 2 hour from the meal.

sumeet123 said:

If it's fat burning/weight loss, there is plenty of evidence that fasted (before breakfast) training is more effective as your body is prepared to go into fat burning earlier with a lower level of circulating glucose, but you need to do it at lower intensity to avoid that liver dump. If you are trying to lower a high BG (especially if on insulin) or train for speed, post meal exercise is probabaly better.

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@sumeet123 Why have you just copy and pasted a paragraph from @ElyDave 's reply above?