Had enough! time for change...

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D_G

D_G

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I have had enough...i hate the fact that i am ill and have to depend on stupid insulin to survive...now i am even more depressed at the fact i am gaining weight because of it and can no longer fit into my jeans and i just feel so crap about the whole thing, i know my health is more important but i am just not used to it :( so have decided i am going to drag myself to the gym 3 times a week starting monday! but i have a few questions:

What level is good to start with pre-workout?

do i have to eat anything before to prevent hypos? and what is the best thing if i do?

Will i have to let the gym know i am diabetic?

Any other gym goers out there?

I was going to post on the exercise board but more people look at this one 🙂 thanks x
 
I've started to jog... im sorting out my mp3 player as I type. I only exercise if my levels are 10 or above but no more than 15 as this will push your levels higher.
 
Exercise and diabetes are things that innvolve quite a bit of trial and error to find out what works for you and how the different types of exercise affect you. Generally, you should be around 7 or above before you start and may then need to eat smallamounts of carbs as you exercise. Don't start exercise if you are above 13 mmol/l as you may end up going even higher.

I have found that I can go for a run of 5 miles without needing extra carbs - after that I need about 10g carbs per mile. You don't need to tell the gym staff you are diabetic, but make sure you have some identification on you that shows that you are (although your gym may have a specific policy about diabetes).

Make sure you have your meter with you and test every half hour to begin with so you can monitor how the activity is affecting you.

If you'd like to know more about exercising as a diabetic, I'd recommend getting hold of a copy of Diabetic Athlete's Handbook by Sheri Colberg. It's not just for 'real' athletes - it gives good explanations of how out bodies react to exercise when we have diabetes so you can work out strategies and understand what is happening 🙂
 
I can't really add too much to what Northerner and Lou have said.

Doing more exercise will undoubtedly improve your overall control and BG levels.

It will be tricky to get your levels right to start with, as Northerner said, it's a matter of trial and error but stick with it. It will be worth it in the long run.

Going to the gym is probably a good way to start as you can do the same workout each time in a controlled environment. This should help you in determining what carbs you need, if any, to cover your workout.

Whilst you may not need to tell the gym that you have diabetes, it's probably a good idea that you do, just in case anything happens.

Let us know how you get on and just shout if you have any questions.

Oh, and the book that Northerner recommended is well worth a read.
 
thanks, i thought it wasn't going to be simple.....nothing is!

Won't eating carbs whilst working out sort of defeat the purpose of my going to the gym? as i wont have burned anything off?

also i read somewhere that whilst there in insulin in your blood stream, your body cant burn fat, anyone know if this is true?

i do want to stable my bs levels but the main objective is to lose weight!
 
hi

i go to the gym twice a week and swiming once a week when i reg with the gym i let them know that i was diabetic and i take a low sugar cereal bar and a bottle of water with me just in case , those days my bs is lower but not perfect.
 
You have to keep your blood sugar high enough so that you don't hypo during exercise, so you may need to 'top up' with carbs during - there's no way out of that, unfortunately. The exercise will, however, increase your metabolic rate so you will continue to burn calories at a faster rate for many hours afterwards so you will still lose weight.

Regarding burning fat - you always need sufficient 'circulating' insulin in order to process the glucose in your blood and feed it to your cells. Insulin is also needed in the process for burning fat and removing ketones from your system (this is why T1s get a build up of ketones and DKA if they don't have enough insulin, like when they are diagnosed or ill, or diabulimic).

Try not to focus too much on losing weight - focus instead on getting fit and strong. Your body will become toned and efficient and you will more than likely lose weight too. Remember though that muscle tissue is denser than fat, so as you build muscle you will not lose weight as quickly - but you will be much happier with your body! 🙂
 
Ah ok thanks for clearning that up for me northe 🙂 i feel alot less confused now!

so maybe i should have like a fairly biggish banana an hour or two before my workout, as thats sort of healthy carbs i guess?? then just keep checking my sugars regularly, i'm not going to go for it full pelt as its been a while since i went so maybe start out with a 30-40 min workout and progress from there (plus i do have a half hour walk back home after)

Well i shall see how it all goes monday and let u guys know as well 🙂

Fingers crossed!!
 
i know a few people who use sports types drinks during a work-out - check a few varieties to see the carb content on them - to keep their levels topped up.
 
www.runsweet.com

Lots more good information on www.runsweet.com - Starting Sports tab clicks to a good, above basic, introduction to the topic.
 
For me the trick was taking it slowly, testing and then building it up slowly. How our levels respond to exercise is so different it's the only way to work out what works for you.
It also took me a lng while to get my head round the difference between burning off calories and glucose. You do need to take on carbs (or reduce insulin if appropriate) for exercise but that doesn't mean that you have to take on the calories that you're burning off. I like to start exercise somewhere between 8 and 10 then take on carbs while exercising, I run and for me it works out at 10g carbs per mile. I tend to use jelly babies or glucose gels as I find them the easiest to have when running.

Some gym membership forms will ask if you're diabetic so you may need to tell them. If it were me I'd probably mention it anyway, particularly when starting out, or at least have some med id on you.

I'd also reccommend the runsweet website, some really good advice on there.
 
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