Type 1 Food/snack ideas.. help

Newly diagnosed T1 here, asked a question on here the other day and got some really helpful answers so I’m gonna ask another if that’s cool..

I’m prepared for people to call me out or tell me I’m silly, but 2 days ago I started the Keto diet, been meticulously counting carbs and have been eating around 15-20g carbs a day, but feeling good and want to stick at it consistently (I always give up on diets) my question is basically I tend to do a lot of sports, football, cycling and running.

My diabetic nutritionist told me ideally I’d be between 8mmol - 12mmol before exercise, but over the last 2 days I’ve consistently been hitting between 4.9mmol - 5.6mmol, so I’d need to try and raise my BG before exercise, the problem is, on a low carb diet I’m struggling to find foods that will bring my BG up to my suggested range of between 8-12mmol, any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Circuspony said:

I can't manage low carb and exercise - my BG is too volatile. I tend to eat a cereal bar before exercise which is 15g but I also have glucose tablets on me. That's not even particularly strenuous exercise. Tidying the garden is a nightmare for plummeting BG levels.

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Weird how different peoples bodies work, went on a 50km bike ride on Tuesday and my BG dropped from 8mmol to around 4.5, ate a few sweets to bring it up slightly and it didn’t come down again at all.

NicoleC1971 said:

Adam Brown covers this in his excellent a free e book Bright Spots and Landmines. the gist of which is you can eat carb (the only way to bring bg up via food) to bring you up to the suggested level or adjust your insulin reducing it before an exercise meal if you are going to exercise soon after. When your body is keto adapted and you are taking less insulin anyway you will naturally burn fat for fuel and not find that you get rapid BG drops.
What kind of exercise are you talking about btw? I ask because doing some weights may temporarily raise your blood sugar whereas slow steady stuff will tend to lower bgs!
Note that you may also be able to reduce insulin after too since post exercise drops are normal too.
Whatever you decide its safety first so take your jelly babies to the exercise and if you do go low don't panic and over treat it!

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I’ll take a look at the ebook now cheers! The last 2 days, my meals haven’t warranted any bolus injection (at most my meals have been 4g of carbs) so I’ve only been having my basal injection.

Do you think maybe a good idea would to be just wait a while until my body is Keto adjusted before doing exercise? As I don’t exercise ever day but when I do exercise it tends to be like 2 hours of football or 3-4 hour bike rides.

Yeah I’ll definitely always be prepared and always have jelly babies and some sort of carb with me anyway!

thatdiabeticdude said:

For me, Keto diet is very hard because if you accidentally get low (too much exercise, too much insulin) you need to eat something sweet and you are out of ketosis. Very difficult and even as a non-diabetic, hard to sustain. Tim Ferriss is good to listen to about these things.

Slow/low carb is easier and you can still have something sweet if you get low or need something right before a workout. You know yourself best but I usually see a low in sugar (if any) AFTER my workouts and mostly if its cardio.

I made a video with my top 13 snacks that have little effect on the blood sugar, with some healthier and cleaner than others but most a good option in moderation Hope that can help give you some inspiration:

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See; I’ve not experienced the lows after exercise since I’ve been on the keto diet, my BG levels have been so stable, went on a 3 hour bike ride the other day and checked my BG Every hour and there was literally no change, Same with the hours of football I’ve done this week, no drop, where as before I started keto, I was dropping for like 12 hours after exercise!

thatdiabeticdude said:

That's very interesting! But how do you go about when you eat something and take insulin, or are you Type 2 and do not need insulin? What I mean is sometimes we might get slightly too much insulin in us and get just a slight low, what do you do then? Or are you simply really perfect with making sure you take just enough insulin and all?

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Well for the last 2 weeks I’ve been on less than 10g carbs a day and my BG have just not dropped or risen, except for one occasion and I was already eating out so I just ate like 4 chips and it sorted itself lol

thatdiabeticdude said:

That's very interesting! But how do you go about when you eat something and take insulin, or are you Type 2 and do not need insulin? What I mean is sometimes we might get slightly too much insulin in us and get just a slight low, what do you do then?

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I simply haven’t been eating carbs, so I haven’t been taking bolus insulin, been working for almost 2 weeks now