Hoping to gain some knowledge from all your insights into which are the best times of day to do light/moderate exercise - indoor upright bike or walking. Aiming not to stimulate appetite or raise glucose levels. So what is optimum in your experience.
I haven't yet tested before and after exercise just in relation to meals. Thanks to all who contribute to my learning.
As a PT my advice would be a) the time of day that you find you can consistently do some exercise because consistency .i.e getting out of breath for 20 mins 3 x weekly is going to improve your cardiovascular health in general and we know this is important for diabetics b) in relationto burning up some glucose you may find that if you are naturally a little higher in the morning then doing it fasted is a good way to beat the effect of stress hormones that nauturally are higher first thing in the day. Conversely doing exercise just before bed can get you quite wired and disrupt sleep.
c) doing exercise after a meal can gently reduce your blood glucose so a gentle walk after lunch or evening meal could be effective. Equally a gentle cycle ride.
d) I'd add a high intensity session in at least once a week. Protocols vary but the idea is to cycle to a 9/10 effort level for up to 30 seconds with at least 30 seconds recovery (enough time to normalise your breathing!) . As you get fitter your recovery time can be as short as 10 seconds. You should only try this out if you have a good base level of walking/cycling for 6 weeks or so prior i.e. don't try it if you've been highly sedentary for ages or have very high or untreated blood pressure (200/100+ ).
d) Its a great idea to test but be aware you're looking for an overall reduction in insulin and blood glucose levels so should not fret about the spike you may get after doing a high intensity session!
Other good indicators of progress could be notincing its easier to run up a flight of stairs or feeling more energised and in a better mood (short term), reduction in blood pressure, better fasting glucose numbers and hba1c or even needing to stop taking certain medications (medium to long term).
Note that you won't lose weight this way unless you combine it with dietary changes and yes you are right to be concerned about appetite. There's a reason why we get told to go for a walk 'to build up an appetite' which is a great reason to eat well and then go out for a stroll!