Just getting started...

[NZCT]

Hi,

So I've finally decided that im too fat and need to do something. I've joinned a gym on a 36 month contract, and I am not one to waste money so I will be taking my fat *** there to work out!

Im 95 kilo and 6 ft high, atlest at my last check think ive gained a few kilos since. It's not really the weight that bothers me but the form in which the weight is.

My goals are to loose some fat, tonned my body, and I have a personal trainer who is going to help with the excercise plan.
I will be doing cardio and resistance training.

But the diabetes complication...
The doctor gave me some small leflet to read but it doesn't give any actual examples.

So obviously I have to watch my suger levels.

But I have a few questions, Insulin wise, do you take your long acting then excercise or excercise then take the long and short? (Morning work out)

What do you drink? Sports water IE flavoured "rehydration" water or just plain old tap/bottled water?

in the leflet they gave me it says to have a small snack before excercising, What kind of snack do you all have? Fruit? Sandwhich? "power bar"?


thanks

[slwood321]

I am not on insulin but I do know that exercise usually lowers your BG numbers and insulin, taken at the wrong time, can intensify this effect. I don't know how long you have been on insulin, but if it is fairly recent, I would strongly recommend you try to find a certified diabetes educator in your area and meet with him or her before starting any strenous exercise. Also make sure your trainer knows you are an insulin dependent diabetic and let him know where your glucose tablets are kept in case he needs to give you some.

I drink regular water myself, not sports drinks and I do not snack before hand as I find it makes me nauseaous. But I am a type 2 and my body handles carbs differently than yours.

Good Luck with your exercise program. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[lark 27]

Wow! 3 year committment, good for you. I'm on a pump so I don't take long acting insuline anymore, but I'd think for you it would be good to take it after the workout. However, what's really important I would think is watching out for any short acting insulin. I simply cannot work out and maintain stable BG levels if I've got short acting insulin working. If my bg is a bit high a 20 minute workout might be OK to help bring it down occassionally but anything beyond that doesn't work as I would either have to start with a super-high BG (which I would not ever want) or I'd really have to get lucky with timing carb consumption during the workout so I don't drop low. Of course, monitoring your bg level will be key. The advice to have a snack prior to workout is really meaningless outside of the context of what your blood sugar is at. If you're bg is high you won't want a snack and exercise can help you bring down that glucose level. If you're low, you'll definitely want a snack and then wait to get it to go up. If you're at your target, then I'd say a small snack (whatever works for you- fruit, power bar both seem like decent options, but i would keep the snack basically carb) can be good because without it you'll probably drop. I personally feel that plain old water is best for you most of the time unless you're doing a really big workout and need some more fuel during it (a long bike ride or long run or weights followed by a swim followed by spin class--which I would never make it through all of those). I tend to think that all the energy drinks, gels, and power bars are designed for elite athletes and if I start trying to use those products I'm just adding calories and carbs that I don't need and it's counter productive to the goal of the exercise. Of course a high carb sports drink can be great to have on hand if you feel yourself having a low or you check your bg mid workout and find it lower than you'd like. I've been religiously running for just a couple months (more occassional exercise before that) so I don't have a ton of experience here, but I've gradually been working out my patterns so my BG stays in line. At first I was having more lows and having to ingest a bunch of carbs mid workout. Part of what's been working for me however is using my pump to tweak my basal rates, so that's not helpful, but as your routine becomes consistent I'm sure you'll find what works for you.

[kgm0612]

When are you planning on working out at the gym.....Early morning, after work? Before a meal or after?

I'm a pumper and I don't workout at a gym. I walk 3 miles almost every evening (I've been slacking) after dinner. I prefer my BS to be over 120 prior to starting my walk.

It's important to test prior to your workout. If your blood sugar is within a comfortable range, then start your workout. If it's not, then eat something that will bring it up. Be sure to keep some snacks on hand. As for sports drinks, I can't advise you on that because I only drink plain bottled water.

It may take some time, but you will find out as you go along what works for you. Good luck!

Karen

[bon]

I'm on insulin and workout almost every day, some days with a trainer and some on my own. From my experience, the most important thing is to test before, during and after exercising and then look for trends. I find that depending on the intensity of my exercise, I might need a small (1.5 units) shot of humalog before working out to avoid a rise in my bg. It also depends how long it's been since my last meal/shot. When I exercise in the am I usually take a small shot of humalog and take my basal after, mostly just because of the timing. It has been really helpful for me to work with my trainer about this so that he was able to keep track of different types of workouts and whether they caused my sugar to go up or down. So talk to your trainer and keep track of what is happening and what you are doing.

[NZCT]

I plan to excercise early to late morning.
This way i will avoid excericising when my insulin is peaking.

I have been doing so for the last couple of weeks, have finally got a routine sorted with my trainer and it's going pretty good. not as fat as i thought i was, only 20 kg of me is fat (weight about 100kg) which while isn't great is better than i expected.

I will be talking with my diabetic nurses and what not soon about it, Havn't told them that i've done it, discussed the possibility of joining a gym but they didn't say i should or shouldn't.

Already starting to feel a difference, not seeing it yet though.

-Bon, is that humalog a short acting insulin? or long acting insulin?

I've been doing my long acting about 30 minutes before excercising and having a small sandwhich depending on what my blood suger levels are at the time.
Have found my levels to be almost double what they were when i started my excercise, but quickly stabilse down to around where theyre ment to be shortly after.

I have also found that I can half my daily insulin amounts when excercising, this I LIKE, although have been caught out a couple of times due to being ingrained in the habbit of what dose to give for the last several years.

I was also finding myself having quite a number of lows during work, but since I have been hitting the gym I havn't had any that were to be concerned about, just on the boarderline a few times but they were at meal times.

Also my 7 day average has come down from being triple to 4 times as high as it should be to only double!

Got to say I am feeling pretty **** great, just which the physical appearence side kicked in faster!

[NZCT]

Okay, so when I started I was 100Kilo ,to my disgust. COuld barely run 10 minutes on the tread mill.

four weeks after that weigh in..
I have lost 2kilos I can run for 50 minutes on the treadmill.
I have gone down a couple of pant sizes.
My chest and biceps are getting bigger.
My blood sugers have come down from around 13.5 to 8.5

I have to say, I can't believe getting fit was this easy!
I've also started kick boxing.

[lark 27]

Good for you! Isn't it great to see the progress. I'm sure you're seeing the progress not just with the weight loss and increased endurance, but also in understanding how your body reacts to exercise and figuring out proper insulin use/food intake.
I like your idea of adding kickboxing. It's good to do different activities to work different areas of the body and to keep things from getting boring. I'm pretty much a one trick pony with running as my exercise, but I'm trying to work in some other activities as well (exercise bike and exercise ball in the evenings several nights a week recently.) Keep up the good work!