So this is my story. I guess it belongs better here than lost in exercise/sport where I put it.
I was diagnosed in 2005, weighing just over 15st and with a spot-check BG of 17.
My GP told me to thow away my meter, as the Hb1Ac test was more accurate & useful. I regret accepting that advice now. It?s so obvious that the average that test represents masks all the damaging peaks.
I changed my diet radically to be largely toast, rice, pasta, fruit & veg and homemade fruit & veg juice, and had the nutritionist tell me it was excellent.
I was prescribed metformin & statins, lost some weight with exercise, joined a gym, and watched the Hb1Ac results creep steadily upwards to 7.2%
In July 2011, with the GP about to ?intervene? further, I started looking at the internet and found Blood Sugar 101, Not Medicated Yet, and loraldiabetes.
I applied the Test, Review, Adjust principle to both my food and exercise, and quickly lost more weight and got a September 1Ac of 5.6%
I?ve upped my gym sessions from 3 to 6 per week, and added in a weekly yoga session and some road running. In November I did a 10k race in 52 minutes, which was my best running in about twenty years. This was greatly inspired by Tom Ross's site (Not Medicated Yet).
I closely monitor my fasting and 1 hour post lunch & evening meal readings. I keep spreadsheets to help me monitor trends, by checking the average of the last 20 days of each kind of reading. I also mirror the numbers in spreadsheets for each day of the week, with similar averages. That way I can easily see that ?Thursday night yoga is worth about one point off my Friday FBG? and ?a Friday night curry costs about 1 point on my Saturday FBG?. This all enables me to say I expect my next 1Ac to be about 5.2%.
Any time I get or expect a post-prandial reading over 7.8, I either immediately add in an extra walk or do 10 minutes gentle jogging on the spot.
Everything?s fine for me right now, though I recognise I?m lucky that I can cover the cost of my test strips.
My only concern is that I?ve not been able to find a definitive answer to the question of whether raised BG following exercise is as damaging as raised BG as a result of food. I work on the assumption that it?s not, but I?m still trying to tweak my exercise sessions, my pre- and post-snacks, and extend my warm-down routine to try to limit the length of time the reading stays high.
I?m off now to put in some miles ready for a half-marathon in two weeks?.
I was diagnosed in 2005, weighing just over 15st and with a spot-check BG of 17.
My GP told me to thow away my meter, as the Hb1Ac test was more accurate & useful. I regret accepting that advice now. It?s so obvious that the average that test represents masks all the damaging peaks.
I changed my diet radically to be largely toast, rice, pasta, fruit & veg and homemade fruit & veg juice, and had the nutritionist tell me it was excellent.
I was prescribed metformin & statins, lost some weight with exercise, joined a gym, and watched the Hb1Ac results creep steadily upwards to 7.2%
In July 2011, with the GP about to ?intervene? further, I started looking at the internet and found Blood Sugar 101, Not Medicated Yet, and loraldiabetes.
I applied the Test, Review, Adjust principle to both my food and exercise, and quickly lost more weight and got a September 1Ac of 5.6%
I?ve upped my gym sessions from 3 to 6 per week, and added in a weekly yoga session and some road running. In November I did a 10k race in 52 minutes, which was my best running in about twenty years. This was greatly inspired by Tom Ross's site (Not Medicated Yet).
I closely monitor my fasting and 1 hour post lunch & evening meal readings. I keep spreadsheets to help me monitor trends, by checking the average of the last 20 days of each kind of reading. I also mirror the numbers in spreadsheets for each day of the week, with similar averages. That way I can easily see that ?Thursday night yoga is worth about one point off my Friday FBG? and ?a Friday night curry costs about 1 point on my Saturday FBG?. This all enables me to say I expect my next 1Ac to be about 5.2%.
Any time I get or expect a post-prandial reading over 7.8, I either immediately add in an extra walk or do 10 minutes gentle jogging on the spot.
Everything?s fine for me right now, though I recognise I?m lucky that I can cover the cost of my test strips.
My only concern is that I?ve not been able to find a definitive answer to the question of whether raised BG following exercise is as damaging as raised BG as a result of food. I work on the assumption that it?s not, but I?m still trying to tweak my exercise sessions, my pre- and post-snacks, and extend my warm-down routine to try to limit the length of time the reading stays high.
I?m off now to put in some miles ready for a half-marathon in two weeks?.
