[joviprochi]

I am going to commit to exercising early in the day, because if I put it off, it doesn't get done.  After all, who wants to exercise after they've gotten spruced up for the day.  replica watches online Till now, AM workouts were late morning, because breakfast had to settle.  What snack would you recommend that would get me through workout, then I could have a mini-breakfast afterwards?  Also, should I take my BS meds with the snack, or wait for the mini-meal?

[joviprochi]

I am going to commit to exercising early in the day, because if I put it off, it doesn't get done.  After all, who wants to exercise after they've gotten spruced up for the day.  replica watches online Till now, AM workouts were late morning, because breakfast had to settle.  What snack would you recommend that would get me through workout, then I could have a mini-breakfast afterwards?  Also, should I take my BS meds with the snack, or wait for the mini-meal?

[coldfingers]

Hi and welcome to the board. What type of meds do you take? I ask because I know how met can affect me and that can affect my doing 'much' if you know what I mean... <blush>

I am trying to think how this would affect me. I can't normally go very long without eating in the morning... Maybe a low carb light breakfast after excercising?

Mary Frances, the other cl on the board will probably have better ideas. She is a diabetic, and retired nurse and far more up on this thing than me. er carb protein bar before? I like the Cinnamon Raison Snack Well bars.... reminds me of a cinnamon bun... Then eat a low

Post anytime! We would love to have you join us! Can you tell us a little about yourself?

[maryfrances40]

Hi and welcome to the board. You have asked a good question. I think this is the first time I have been asked this question!

Normally it is recommended that you eat your breakfast 1 to 3 hours before you exercise as your blood sugar is highest at that time. You need to test your blood sugar before you start exercising. If your BS is less than 100 you need a 15 gram snack before starting to exercise for low intensity activities and 45 grams for high intensity exercise. For a BS of 100-300 only have a snack if over 30-60 minutes of exercise is planned. If your blood sugar is over 300 check for ketones.

If you exercise less than 30 minutes: Check the blood sugar immediately after exercise and 2-4 hours following exercise. If your BS is less than 100 immediately following exercise immediately have a 15 gram snack and test your blood sugar again in 15 minutes to see that your BS has returned to a normal level for you.

If you exercise more than 30 minutes check your BS every 30-60 minutes during exercise. If your BS is less than 100 eat a 15 gram carbo snack. Eating 15-30 grams of carbs every 30 minutes should be sufficient to maintain normal glucose levels during prolonged exercise.

If you are prone to hypoglycemia, you need to either reduce the amount of medication or increase the amount of carbs before or during exercise.

This is one of those times that a box of juice is effective in bringing the BS up but you must also have some complex carbs and protein to prevent your BS from rapidly falling after the effects of the juice wear off. Remember that exercise can effect your BS levels for several hours after you exercise. The reason this occurs is because exercise breaks down insulin resistance and that is a good thing.

The text book that I checked for these recommendations had this to say "It is impossible to provide general recommendations for adjusting nutrition and medication prior to exercise that will apply to all diabetic patients. Ultimately, every patient requires specific adjustments based upon the nature of the activity and based upon prior blood glucose monitoring."

Since I exercise every week and attempt to meet the 150 minutes per week recommendation, let me tell you what I do. I try to wait for 1-2 hours after eating before I exercise and I check my blood sugar before starting and immediately afterwards, especially if I am exercising for more than 30 minutes. I have been known to drop my blood sugar routinely more than 100 points by exercising. If I am especially hot and sweaty and shaky I know that I am heading towards hypoglycemia. I carry glucerna bars in my purse and in my gym bag and I will immediately eat one and drink some extra water. I will test again in 15 minutes and if my blood sugar isn't where it should be I will repeat the above. If it is close to a regular mealtime I will eat my planned meal. One other caution: If my blood sugar isn't above 100, I don't drive my car until it is above 100.

Snacks can be glucerna bars or other diabetic bars, peanut butter and crackers, cheese and crackers, fruit and 1 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 ounce of cheese and a 15 gram fruit, etc. I think you see the pattern: 15 grams of carbs and 1 ounce of protein.

So test and see how you respond to exercise and talk to your physician so that the two of you can develop a plan which works for you and is safe. You may need a few times of testing before and after and anytime you feel like things aren't usual before you really know how you respond to exercise.  

Does this help you? Congratulations on making exercise an important part of your diabetes management.

[auntydoxzz]

Don't know if your situation is close to mine or not. I am still blessed by using diet and exercise and no meds.  Lows are not currently an issue BUT in terms of exercising I will repeat what I have said before and it sort of fits what MaryFrancis says too.

I want to test before I exercise because I have found if my number is under 100, 2 things usually happen.  One when I an done exercising  my numbers have gone up and I don't like that!!  BUT more important is if the number is below 100, I have found exercising very long to be a struggle.   Way too often then when I am near 25-30 minutes...... my energy is crashing.  If I ate something so my energy is either staying or going up....i have been able to work out on the elliptical for as much as 50-60 minutes.   I will confess my mobility is bad..... and so trying to work out faster,walking faster on treadmill, or elliptical is not very doable.  arthritis gets to be a pain if i try to go too fast.  It also makes me happy that if I started with a number of at least 100 my numbers will drop.  I will confess, they are sometimesin the 80's or 90's and I think I can still count on one hand the number of times they have been below 80....so I don't get that concerned.  From what MaryFrances says I maybe am not being as cautious as I should be. When I worked I usually had some single servings of ritz bitz with peanut butter in my van and could eat one of those.guess by now they would be expired!!!

I am also  in a different situation cuz my house as the one way streets require it is about 6 blocks from the Y! If I felt shakey the Y has a whole row of snack machines, that they have worked to get some healthy stuff in, so if I felt shakey I would probably grab something there.

I will end this with my exercise mantra!!!  Exercise will do a number of things.  lowers blood sugar, lowers blood pressure, lowers stress levels, raises our mood levels and can even lower cranky body part ragings.

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