8-day Trek - How do I get my energy?

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Pet70

Pet70

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I am Type 2 and in control through diet and exercise only. I am going on an 8-day trek a remote region of the Caucasus. Whilst the remoteness doesn't really bother me, I am slightly worried about long days of walking and keeping up my energy levels, as I can't eat high-energy snacks. Do any of you do this kind of thing and can advise me how best to control my intake and output of energy.

I recently cycled a mountain range for a couple of days and saw my BG go all over the place (never too high or low), but difficult to control through eating more high-carb food without spiking. I was testing my non-diabetic friend at the same time and it was interesting to see how more in control his blood was. Oddly, the harder I cycled (very hard) the higher my BG went!

I've never had an episode of hypoglycemia, so not too worried about that, but I don't want to keep flooding my system with sugar from eating the wrong food/snack.

Look forward to some advice 🙂
 
Not sure if this is helpful because it sounds like you are the exact opposite of me..!
I am on insulin which must skew things a bit anyway but also my reaction in terms of bg to increased load is completely the other way around. But from what I can work out in general terms, the body can take in "new" glucose faster than what was stored and released. (There is a different structure to the molecules but that has gone way over my head from then on).
When the load goes up the body will push out stored energy into the bloodstream.. possibly your system doesn't handle this so well? The problem there is, you take in new energy but you will still get a rush of stored energy on top of that. Perhaps simply eating as normally and as regularly as you do (being out in the wilds will no doubt put a spanner in that set of works..) and working at a lower intensity would work better for you?

I admit to just guessing with no scientific background.. just by observing my own bg in relation to exertion..
Sounds like a great trip coming up.
 
With the high intensity cycling @Pet70, you were probably seeing a burst of glucose released from the liver/muscles in response to anaerobic exercise (eg heavy weight lifting and sprints). Some endurance athletes use this phenomenon to stave off hypoglycaemia at the end of long runs.

In general walking would mostly be aerobic, which by and large lowers blood glucose rather than raises it.

You might find some useful info on Runsweet?
 
Thanks you two! I have heard of the burst of glucose being released due to intense exercise in recent posts. I did put it down to that, but it confuses everything for me in terms of what energy I need over a longer period of time. I guess I will take along muesli bars and snack on them. If they are low-sugar and of the healthy variety I am sure they won't whack me with a spike. Runsweet? Never heard of it. Let me check it out. What I really need to do is learn about how energy is processed in the body of a diabetic. Actually, my knowledge of this condition is really basic :-/
 
The biggest thing I took from reading and asking dumb questions of anyone who would listen.. the glucose in your blood is the energy you will be using, there will be some already in the muscles and in other organs but looking at the blood values you can see it increase and decrease in response to food and effort.. then adjust accordingly, add a little food when you are going a bit low, and it gives you licence to work harder if it is going high.. personally, a small bite of cereal bar will add enough to last 15-30 minutes of high intensity exercise but that will be pushing it towards the end (at the moment about 20% of frusli or a 25% of Stoats oat bar.. I can recomend them on taste but you will have to see what they do to your body!).
Little and often seems to work, little can be surprisingly little, often may not have to be all that often if you are releasing energy from stores..
Use the glucose monitor as a fuel gauge but H isn't a good thing, L can be pretty scary..
 
http://www.runsweet.com/

A significant archive of information about interactions between diabetes and exercise. Not so active as it once was (eg forum) but the information is still good.

I think it was begun by the HCPs who advised Sir Steve Redgrave.

There is also http://excarbs.com/ but I think that is more for insulin users.
 
I like Porridge. Have it nearly every day with no spikes & feel full for hours. Good luck😎
 
Agree with what's been said already. Good luck with it, sounds amazing. I'm guessing you'll want things that are easily carried so in terms of energy sources there are some lower carb bars (carb killa etc) these are not low carb but a bit lower than other cereal type bars. Anything with a slightly slower release would be better even if overall it's not particularly low carb - oat type bars, malt loaf etc. I get the protein cereal bars from Aldi or otherwise go for Frusli's. As for normal food, if your control is good now then I'd suggest similar to what you have now but more of it. If as you mentioned on your recent cycling trip your bg's were a bit wayward but never too high or low (I wish I could say that 😉) then 8 days is not going to make a massive difference to your general control.
 
From my earlier experience pre diagnosis.. life before diabetes still counts!
Adding fat to something equals lower gi. I am guessing your trip won't allow you to carry anything you need to keep refrigerated? The bars mentioned are easy to stash and transport, the carb killas are tasty! Dry porridge is easy to carry and make up with water, also very low sugar chocolate bars if you can keep them below 30 degrees or so (otherwise think of them as chocolate soup and package accordingly).. porridge with the chocolate will give you a decent energy source that is slow to release and you shouldn't need very large quantities of it. What else you are carrying and whatever else you can get on the way I can't guess at .. I am imagining a walking and camping trip that stays away from towns? Sorry if it's a bit of an oat and chocolate obsession, I guess that's saying more about me than anything else!
 
HOBIE said:
I like Porridge. Have it nearly every day with no spikes & feel full for hours. Good luck😎
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I love porridge too and I eat it every day! I stash loads of seeds, nuts and berries in it and slap a massive dollop of yogurt on top! Mmmmm!
 
Matt Cycle said:
Agree with what's been said already. Good luck with it, sounds amazing. I'm guessing you'll want things that are easily carried so in terms of energy sources there are some lower carb bars (carb killa etc) these are not low carb but a bit lower than other cereal type bars. Anything with a slightly slower release would be better even if overall it's not particularly low carb - oat type bars, malt loaf etc. I get the protein cereal bars from Aldi or otherwise go for Frusli's. As for normal food, if your control is good now then I'd suggest similar to what you have now but more of it. If as you mentioned on your recent cycling trip your bg's were a bit wayward but never too high or low (I wish I could say that 😉) then 8 days is not going to make a massive difference to your general control.
Click to expand...
Yep, I think the bars are the way forward because I am thinking more in terms of being out there in the middle of a climb, rather than at meal times. I'll just do what I normally do, and, as you say, eat more of it where that is concerned. Yay!
 
christophe said:
From my earlier experience pre diagnosis.. life before diabetes still counts!
Adding fat to something equals lower gi. I am guessing your trip won't allow you to carry anything you need to keep refrigerated? The bars mentioned are easy to stash and transport, the carb killas are tasty! Dry porridge is easy to carry and make up with water, also very low sugar chocolate bars if you can keep them below 30 degrees or so (otherwise think of them as chocolate soup and package accordingly).. porridge with the chocolate will give you a decent energy source that is slow to release and you shouldn't need very large quantities of it. What else you are carrying and whatever else you can get on the way I can't guess at .. I am imagining a walking and camping trip that stays away from towns? Sorry if it's a bit of an oat and chocolate obsession, I guess that's saying more about me than anything else!
Click to expand...
Well, I think I could live on oats and chocolate for the rest of my life; I eat them every day. The trip is remote, remote, but staying in a couple of villages either end, where I guess veg, meat and dairy will be the dominant food. In fact, it might be easier there than in some parts of the world where you can't find anything that isn't packed with sugar. I will pack a bag of oats in my rucksack and hope the countries earlier on in the trip let me take them through customs!
 
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