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Type 1 Diabetic, Exercising?

type1harley

type1harley

Well-Known Member
Messages
65
Location
England, United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
People who say things like "You're Diabetic? Did you eat too much sugar?"
Hello everyone,
I have been told by my diabetic nurses that before exercise I should drink lucozade.
However, I will drink more calories than I burn.

I would like to know what to do before exercise that keeps my levels up but isn't calorific.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Less qa insulin with meal prior if possible will help reduce the carbs needed to stop/treat hypo. But, if too long a gap between meal and exercise could result being to high prior to excercise.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Much as Brett says a reduced insulin dose and extra carbs depending on the duration of the exercise.
 
What nobody has mentioned yet is measure, measure, measure.

Until you know how your body responds to exercise, measure BG before, every half hour during, and afterwards, maybe half hourly afterwards for a while as well.

Always carry QA and slower release carbs and eat as required during exercise. I try and keep my BG above 5, nearer 5.5 if I can.

The dose reduction is probably a good idea if you are exercising within about 2-3 hours of eating.
 
Some exercise pushes it up, some down. Like Dave says, the only way you will find out is to test and act accordingly.
 
type1harley said:
Hello everyone,
I have been told by my diabetic nurses that before exercise I should drink lucozade.
However, I will drink more calories than I burn.

I would like to know what to do before exercise that keeps my levels up but isn't calorific.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

The advice given by the nurse is a safety first approach to preventing a hypo. Depending on the exercise blood sugars will rise or fall. Therefore from experience you will learn how you can prepare for exercise with prior meals and dosing.

However the idea that you are drinking what you burn may not be strictly true. You may burn the equivalent of what you have consumed initially, however exercise will have cause your basal metabolic rate to be raised, burning more calories at rest after exercise. Ideally if you are exercising you will want to be structuring your intake of food around providing energy for exercise and recovery from exercise.

If you can detail what exercise you are doing, what your goals are and what your normal food intake and bg are like then I can provide a more detailed answer.
 
I found the following useful information, explained in an easy to understand way. The guys says he needs about 60g of carbs per hour, I need about 45-50. So say I ate a banana at the start that was say 30 grams, and the rest in glucose tabs during the exercise. If I do more than an hour I'll use energy drinks and make sure I know how many carbs they are delivering. If I did half an hour of cardio, using a banana for fuel, say a large banana is 30g of carbs, it's 122 cals, I'd expect to burn far more in 30 mins of exercise.

http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Case_Study.html
 
I'm recently diagnosed, and find I need about 35g of carbs for half an hour of cardio (approx 6k run). The bit I find tricky is keeping my BG within a range after exercise. It's all too easy to hypo several hours afterwards, and my BG levels drop hard and fast.

I'm going to try some really slow release carbs after my next run, and see how that goes
 
type1harley said:
Hello everyone,
I have been told by my diabetic nurses that before exercise I should drink lucozade.
However, I will drink more calories than I burn.

I would like to know what to do before exercise that keeps my levels up but isn't calorific.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

Hi there,
Great you want to get yourself fitter!
Unfortunately, it's not good advice to drink lucozade before exercise, as this will spike your bloods before you even begin. Low GI carb much better. This does depend however on what sort of exercise you will be doing. If your exercise is high intensity, then your blood glucose levels will naturally rise anyway as you exercise. Moderate endurance exercise however will lower your blood glucose levels.
Additionally, you may want to consider reducing your basal - insulin and exercise are not happy bedfellows!
Take a look at http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Basics.html for some basic advice.
Www.runsweet.com is also an excellent resource.
Consider joining the sporty diabetic type 1's Facebook group too - loads of support around exercise there.
Take on board all the other advice posted here - all good!
 
JRW said:
I found the following useful information, explained in an easy to understand way. The guys says he needs about 60g of carbs per hour, I need about 45-50. So say I ate a banana at the start that was say 30 grams, and the rest in glucose tabs during the exercise. If I do more than an hour I'll use energy drinks and make sure I know how many carbs they are delivering. If I did half an hour of cardio, using a banana for fuel, say a large banana is 30g of carbs, it's 122 cals, I'd expect to burn far more in 30 mins of exercise.

http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Case_Study.html
Click to expand...

Glad you found this video useful - you'll have to join in with a TeamBG event sometime!
 
Adamski said:
I'm recently diagnosed, and find I need about 35g of carbs for half an hour of cardio (approx 6k run). The bit I find tricky is keeping my BG within a range after exercise. It's all too easy to hypo several hours afterwards, and my BG levels drop hard and fast.

I'm going to try some really slow release carbs after my next run, and see how that goes
Click to expand...

Hey there,

Couple of questions -
Are you reducing your basal at all on days that you exercise? (Not sure if you inject or infuse)
Are you reducing any of your bolusing with your meals before or after exercise?
What are your BG readings before exercise.
What are your BG readings after?

Sorry for the questions - just want to understand what you currently do before offering any advice!
ElyDave will no doubt have quality input on this - the running oracle!
 
Bebo321 said:
Hey there,

Couple of questions -
Are you reducing your basal at all on days that you exercise? (Not sure if you inject or infuse)
Are you reducing any of your bolusing with your meals before or after exercise?
What are your BG readings before exercise.
What are your BG readings after?

Sorry for the questions - just want to understand what you currently do before offering any advice!
ElyDave will no doubt have quality input on this - the running oracle!
Click to expand...

I'm still tying to regain some of the weight I lost before being diagnosed, so I've maintained normal basal and bolus injections, but have had additional carbs (without insulin) to cover the exercise.

Readings before, during and after have mostly been ok, with the odd low during/after some runs. It seems to be 8 hours after that I get a sudden drop in blood sugar....o_O
 
Adamski said:
I'm still tying to regain some of the weight I lost before being diagnosed, so I've maintained normal basal and bolus injections, but have had additional carbs (without insulin) to cover the exercise.

Readings before, during and after have mostly been ok, with the odd low during/after some runs. It seems to be 8 hours after that I get a sudden drop in blood sugar....o_O
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I'd be interested to see what others say about this.
If you'd said that you get a BG rise during or after your run, I would put that down to you liver kicking out glucose, which can happen with an elevated heart rate. As a consequence of this, not only your muscles but also a depleted liver have to re-stock with glucose post run. Because of this it can leave you more susceptible to a hypo in the hours afterwards.

Okay, so if it's not that, then potentially your 35g of carb isn't replenishing your muscles' energy stores adequately. Your idea to use slower acting carbs may help in the hours after exercise, but in the 30min window after exercising your body (and all the GLUT4 receptors in your muscles) are primed to replenish with glucose. Your body will actually recover quicker if you use a decent recovery drink at this point.

When you exercise, your body becomes more sensitive to insulin - the GLUT4 receptors (basically transporters that enable glucose to enter cells without the need for insulin) are stimulated ready for action. This extra sensitivity can last for 24hrs or more. Consequently I wonder if your low in the hours (8hrs) following exercise is due to your increased insulin sensitivity, and actually you could reduce your nighttime basal to reflect this added sensitivity.

It will be a case of making small adjustments, and testing to see what works. You should be able to get your regime pretty well fine tuned, to the point where the unexpected is at least a rare event.
Keep up the good work - you may like to join the Sporty diabetic type 1's Facebook group too.
 
Did my first 10k since being diagnosed today. Decent pace at 47m 40s. Managed to keep my BG reasonably level, starting at 7, and finishing up at 7.9.

Now the wait to see if I have a crash later. I've eaten some wholemeal bread and hope that the slow release carbs will keep my BG levels up :)
 
Me personally.

I do a range of exercise classes and personal workouts. Varied amounts of times.

I usually make sure my levels are higher than they usually are when beginning exercise, 10+ ; eat something to raise them before i start. I can do a 1 hour circuit, HIT or boxercise class, then do 3k row and maybe some weights after. I push myself hard, and test within 30 min after finishing, usually im between 4-10mmol . i can feel hypo a couple of hours after and then eat something.
 
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