Diabetes and Exercise | | Lifestyle

In this lil series for National Diabetes Awareness Month I'm going to post weekly about an aspect of my condition, this one's about exercise!

I love to run and for a regular person without diabetes they have to make sure they're well hydrated and fuelled and dressed appropriately etc etc. Obviously I still have to consider all those things but when you have diabetes you also have to factor in how the exercise you're partaking in will affect your blood sugars. It means preparing way ahead of exercise and taking precautions afterwards too. 

Different forms of exercise can affect blood sugars differently. For example, running as it's cardio lowers my blood sugar, which means prior to running I let my sugars run slightly higher than average so it accommodates for the later low I may experience. I do this by either reducing the amount of insulin given for the last meal I ate or I eat something light in carbs without insulin before the run (like a few pieces of dried mango or half a banana). However different things work for different people. How my blood sugar reacts to running may be different to someone else with type 1. I know what works for me and what doesn't. You just have to find your way of managing it around exercise. 

For me, it also depends on how long my run is. A longer run typically will lower my blood sugars dramatically. I've had a few experiences during a run where I've had to stop because the low has already happened. I always take my bank card (put it in my phone case) and plan my route around a location where there's somewhere to buy some emergency sugar (in the form of fruit or sweets). Sometimes depending on the route location and length/duration of the run I take some snacks - a tiny kid's box of raisins are perfect. But I think when my distances start getting even longer I'll have to invest in a bum bag to take supplies with me.

Not only do I have to consider what might happen during the run I have to think about afterwards. Running can affect my blood sugars for the 24 hours after, which means I have to eat the right amount of carbohydrate with my next meal and keep a very close eye on my levels. If I run in the early evening then the insulin I administrate for my evening meal is a lower dose than normal, and sometimes my night-time injection too which provides me with a background amount of insulin to cover my day without food. 

The whole experience is trial and error, as most situations with diabetes are. No professional can tell you exactly how to manage it because all bodies are different. There's a lot to factor in when planning exercise. Your blood sugar levels for the last few days may affect your performance, I've been for a few runs where I've been a bit high over the last couple of days and it makes me sluggish and achy and tired. Those runs are not fun, but every time I exercise I get better at managing it and I learn a lot about my body and nutrition and health.