new to blood sugar testing

4 is gold
you could have had a liver dump of glucose because of the exercise. I'd get a bus next time. you may not be pre-diabetic, ask the Dr to do an A1c that measures an average for the last 3 months

IBS responds well to LCHF diet, which is also good for BG
https://www.google.com.au/#q=ibs+lchf

A brisk walk can have the effect of raising your BG

You can measure at 1 hour and then at 2

The 1 hour measurement could be the 'peak' of the spike (if any) from the food you have eaten
2 hours is generally accepted as being the time when the effect should have worn off

Your fasting of 4 could have been a rogue reading. We all get them. Try again tomorrow. If it was a true reading, then very well done. It was perfect.

Porridge is a danger food. Most of us can't manage it, some can. Only your meter will tell you if you can. The rise between before and 2 hours should be under 2mmol/l at most, preferably under 1.5mmol/l.

You will soon get the hang of it, but unless you can sort out how to do regular consistent 2 hour tests, it may be difficult.
If you can't go very long between eating, test immediately before your next food. This will serve as an "after" test and a "before" test, but do make a note of how long it was after your first bite of your first meal, and try to keep this gap consistent. This way you can keep sensible records and make some judgements as to whether your meal was a good one or not. Beware though. Everyone will spike at about an hour to 90 minutes after a meal with some carbs, even non-diabetics. The trick is to be on the way back down at 2 hours.

Another point is that the smaller the gap between food/meals, the less time your levels have to come down again and the higher they will be when you eat again, and consequently the higher they will be after this snack. In these cases it is best to snack on a food that contains no carbs, such as a piece of cheese.

If you want to understand the way diabetes works and the best times to test, check out Jenny Ruhl's book Diabetes 101. There's another brilliant book, Dr Bernstein's Complete Diabetes Solution, but it is hardcore reading. Ruhl's book is more accessible in my opinion, but both are packed to the brim with really, really good advice. It's also advice that the NHS is very unlikely to give you without huge amounts of prompting.

T2's can have a high morning reading and is lower during the day. you also had a low carb breakfast, so you didn't spike up your BG
turn your pen number down, till you need to milk a drop of blood, you could be stabbing too deep..also use the side of your finger pads not the front

sansevieria said:

Is it common for sugar levels to be lower after eating, or have I have a wonky reading? My pre-breakfast result this morning was 5.9, and two hours after breakfast it's 5.5 - I made a paleo/pretend porridge thing with almond flour, which I thought would be good carb-wise but good enough to lower my sugars seems a little odd? Is this just a case of testing more regularly and working out a more consistent result from that? My finger ends up too sore to do it multiple times everyday

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The human body wants to run at 4.8. If your body still produces insulin, it will try to get to that level. your breakfast was low in carbohydrate, so your body was able to lower your slightly elevated blood sugars despite the meal. To all intensive purposes it looks like you are managing well, and eating the right kinds of meals. Keep up the good work