Snacks during long (48 miles) walk

[scraynes]

Hi All,

I’m very new to T2 diabetes, and prior to becoming aware signed up to complete a 48 mile charity walk. So far I’ve been walking up to 20 miles at a time and have noticed that as my diet and exercise has progressed that my BG is reducing when out walking, often approaching 4. I’m using a dexcom one, to help me learn about the effects of various foods on my BG.

What sort of snacks are people using to keep their energy up, whilst avoiding simple carbs to keep going during extended exercise.

Welcome your ideas, at the moment I’m thinking unsalted nuts.

Thanks in advance

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

Hi @scraynes 🙂

Are you taking any medication for your diabetes? The reason I ask is that there are a couple that can push your BG below 4 in some circumstances. If you're not taking one of those then hitting 4 mmol/L during exercise is probably nothing to worry about - the majority of the medications prescribed for Type 2 will not ordinarily cause dangerously low BG levels (unless you maybe do something extreme like trying to run a marathon on an empty stomach).

As to what snacks you can eat it probably depends on the severity of your diabetes. In my specific case I can eat pretty much anything so long as I go for a long walk starting 30 to 45 minutes after eating - the more carbs I eat the longer the walk needs to be to keep my BG low. That very probably doesn't apply to everyone. In practise I do keep my carb intake quite low as I can't spend hours every day walking off lots of high-carb meals. Nuts are ideal for me as my BG doesn't rise much unless I eat a lot of them at once, even without the walk. For me at least nuts are a very slow-release food.

If you still have the Dexcom One and you have some time before the big 48 mile walk I would suggest maybe doing a few experiments, if you would prefer to eat something more carb-heavy than nuts. You might find that so long as you're moving while digestion is underway the exercise may cancel out the BG spike from a given food that would otherwise occur if you ate the same food without exercising.

Best of luck on the big day!

 

[Inka]

Welcome @scraynes 🙂 Do you take any medication for your diabetes? If not, 4 would be a normal blood sugar reading. Having said that, you might still want to take some snacks for energy. I’d take a selection.

If you are on glucose-lowering meds, you’ll need more planning and thought, especially if you’re on insulin.

 

[scraynes]

Thanks both,

I’m not on any medication which is how I hope to keep it. Things seem to be going well so far with diet and exercise. Received my latest HBA1c today which was 51, down from 101 2 months ago!

I’ve noticed that walking seems to be great at controlling BG, but also the right level of exercise for weight control.

I’ve been using the CGM for 10 days just to experiment with different foods, and have discovered that over night oats with homemade natural yogurt has no effect, which is great. One more breakfast to the list. Banana is a no go for me, even greenish one.

But the main issue was that I noticed that even having eaten before going for a walk, that soon after setting off, BG drop rapidly towards 4, but then tends to sit there for the remainder of the walk.

At the moment I plan to snack on nuts during the walk, but wondering if there is anything more interesting. I’d like to avoid the protein bars, simple to avoid the processing and sugar which seems to be needed to hold them together.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Inka]

But the main issue was that I noticed that even having eaten before going for a walk, that soon after setting off, BG drop rapidly towards 4, but then tends to sit there for the remainder of the walk.

That’s not a problem. That’s normal. In your position, I’d just take a few top up snacks of various kinds and see how you go - more to give you energy for your walk. Your blood sugar seems to be controlling itself well. The range on the CGM is more for people on insulin. A blood sugar of 4 would be worrying for me on a walk because I know the insulin could drop me further, down towards a hypo and, in the worst case scenario, seizure and unconsciousness. It’s the external insulin that’s the issue as it can’t be switched off. For you, you’d just be concerned about normal exhaustion, if you get what I mean.

Good luck with your walk 🙂