For a while now I have been wanting (and kind of needing) to lose about 10 to 15 pounds, but am just not succeeding. I try to cut back on food, drink water, and exercise, but am struggling. The major problem is when I workout, I almost always go low and have to eat/drink sugary foods… Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Plus, I tend to feel so shaky that I scarf down every food in sight. Also, I have tried almost everything that I can do to try to avoid a low from exercising, but nothing usually works. (Examples: Eating and not covering all the food so that I start my workout with a high BG, eating protein, snacking and sucking on hard candy while working out, etc.). So, long story short, if anyone has any ideas on how I can lose 10-15 pounds (in about 1.5 months or so (8 pounds in 4 weeks would be AMAZING)) and how to avoid low blood sugars while exercising, please share.
I work out 6 days a week and I manage my blood sugar a few different ways during exercise. My blood sugar is usually high at the start of my work out and will drop, especially if I am running. During my runs I eat a Gatorade energy chew every 2-3 miles which helps and I am able to maintain a steady blood sugar that way. I usually get very hungry after my workouts, so I will have a protein shake with unsweetened almond/ coconut milk and that fills me up. Give it a shot!
Than you, I will!
Are you on a pump or insulin shots?
I had the same problem as you. I always had been a person who does cardio- running, kickboxing, etc. However, with frequent lows, my mom and I decided to start looking for different workouts. We read a few books and talked to my endocrinologist. He recommended Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution. Bernstein has had T1 for 60 years, and says that anaerobic exercise works better for diabetics. It may be a hard transition (it was for me), but lifting weights, taking long walks/slow jogs actually prevented frequent lows.
Some things I enjoy:
Pure Barre/ Barre Method- over a year of taking these classes and only a few lows
Yoga- either fast paced or slow
Hiking/Biking
I used to struggle with this as well, I am a Zumba Instructor and while I love lifting weights and anaerobic exercise, I love doing aerobic exercise! For me it was really a matter of lowering insulin dosages and not taking a bolus/eating a meal immediately before exercise. It took a long time to learn how my body reacts to certain exercise and what/how to time the eating before exercise. I still screw up sometimes with lows or highs (as does everyone else!) but I do much better than I used too. Also I recently got the Dexcom CGM and it is amazing for catching lows during exercise.