Exercise and BG levels

[northeast]

Hi everyone. I am new here with a Reactive Hypoglycemic/Borderline Pre-Diabetes diagnosis. I had one situation last night where my BS was 79 two hours after dinner. Is that unusual? I ate chicken, rigatoni (small portion), and corn on the cob (1.5 ears). I know corn is not the best veggie to eat (and know Rigatoni isn't good either) and will be curtailing that. (We had company over and that is what we had for dinner). The only thing I did differently yesterday was go for about a 30 minute walk? Could that walk have reduced my BS to the 79 after dinner when it is usually 90-100 2 hours after dinner. I was happy to see the 79 although it kind of concerned me that it is close to 70, but wanted to understand why I got it and if the walk was probably the reason. My fasting this morning was higher than going to bed. At bedtime it was 84, but this morning my fasting number after 9 hours went up :( and was 96 .

As I said, I hadn't been walking and was checking my two hour number after eating, and it was 90-100 usually. Yesterday I walked about 4-5 hours before dinner and my two hour number was 79 on a chicken, rigatoni (small) and corn dinner. I guess in a nutshell what I am wanting to understand is how much can walking affect the BG numbers.

Wow, there is so much to learn with this disease.

[Moonglo]

Hey there again! :) If you get sick of me, feel free to pm me and tell me so lol.

Given your reactive hypo condition, I would say the biggest red flag I saw in this post is the fact that you had rigatoni AND corn. Maybe next time try having one or the other? And what do you consider to be a small portion of pasta? Sometimes we eat way more carbs than we realize we do.

Silly question, but why were you walking for 4-5 hours? Was this 4-5 hours of cardiovascular, aerobic walking? Or do you mean running around at work? Exercise will definitely lower bg, but the intensity matters.

[northeast]

Thanks Moonglo. Oh, I meant I went walking for 4 hours before dinner not 4 hours total! I only walked 30 minutes. It was a medium brisk walk I would say. Yes, I know both corn and rigatoni are bad, bad, bad. The portion of rigatoni was the size of my palm (about 3/4 the size of a deck of cards). That's why I ate more chicken. I am about 5'2" and 117 pounds which puts me about 6-7 pounds overweight. Actually, my BMI is normal, but I feel the best at about 112 lbs. That's neither here nor there though I guess.

Just not understanding how I went to 79 2 hours after eating that meal and wondering if exercise was part of that reason because I usually sit at 90-100 two hours after dinner. Just trying to learn how the different things affect my BS.

Thanks for your questions!!!

[Moonglo]

That may be one of those things that varies from one person to another, but I still think the amount of carbs you had at dinner might be suspect, as this is kinda close to an actual low. Sounds like reactive hypo at its finest to me. I'm sure others will come along with their experience too though.

[ADSOFT]

Thanks Moonglo. Oh, I meant I went walking for 4 hours before dinner not 4 hours total! I only walked 30 minutes. It was a medium brisk walk I would say. Yes, I know both corn and rigatoni are bad, bad, bad. The portion of rigatoni was the size of my palm (about 3/4 the size of a deck of cards). That's why I ate more chicken. I am about 5'2" and 117 pounds which puts me about 6-7 pounds overweight. Actually, my BMI is normal, but I feel the best at about 112 lbs. That's neither here nor there though I guess.

Just not understanding how I went to 79 2 hours after eating that meal and wondering if exercise was part of that reason because I usually sit at 90-100 two hours after dinner. Just trying to learn how the different things affect my BS.

Thanks for your questions!!!



Interesting, sounds like your metabolism was going strong after excercise.

Try the same test without excercise.

I guess you proved that excercise increases metobolism for an extended period of time? .... good job.

btw as long as you don't fall below 70 that's considered ok.

[Totsied]

I have had similar experiences with exercise. Major impact on my BS. I'm relative, reactive hypoglycemic. Without exercise I can run in the 180s after even a low carb meal. With daily exercise (couple mile run) my BS drops into the 'normal' range and stays there even with carbs. It's amazing the difference.

[KatGirl]

Although I am on meds, I too have the same issue. Generally I will exercise right after work and then come home and eat dinner. Two hours later I am hoovering in the 60's. I asked my dr about it and he said that is normal in that exercising will bring down your numbers (all the more reason to exercise). I guess the biggest issue I am having is dealing with lows before bed. But like you, I will go to bed in the 60s-70s and wake up in the low 90s.

[Totsied]

Do you have a bedtime snack? I have found that having a bedtime snack of celery with peanut butter or low carb yogurt helps me sleep and I actually wake lower (without snack I wake over 100, with snack I wake in 90s or even high 80s).

[northeast]

Well, last night I did have a snack before bed and woke up to a 92. (is that were I want to be or do I want it to be lower?) I had been averaging 96 on most days like clockwork with one 99, so I am wondering if the snack before bed helped? I am going to try it again tonight and see is I wake up with a below 95 number again! I ate the snack at 10pm and took my BS at 7:30am - so 9.5 hours. Is that long enough for a fasting number? Maybe it was too short and that's why I got the 92.

I have been experimenting with walking. One afternoon I walked about 30 minutes and my numbers came down to 79 after dinner. I never get that low after dinner.....usually I am in the 90's 2 hours after dinner. The next day I didn't walk and my after dinner number (2 hours) was 90. However, I caught that I spiked to 122 after 45 minutes after eating.

Now yesterday, I walked about 15-20 minutes and my after dinner number was 90. However, I tested at 1 hour and my spike was at 97. Maybe my spike wasn't as high because of exercising or I missed my spike? Could that be? I am still trying to figure out my spike time? I know it is under 1 hour and 15 minutes, I just don't know if I spike at 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1 hour.

I am not catching any high spikes at all though. I only caught one once after eating cereal it went to 143. Does cereal cause a normal person to spike into the 140s or do they spike lower? After dinners (1 hour), I am not seeing anything above 126, but I am watching my carb intake. I still have carbs with dinner, but not as big of portions as I did before.

[Totsied]

"Spike time" differs by how much fat, fiber, carb, sugar, etc is in your meal/snack. ie: no set spike time. Personally I usually spike around 30 minutes after eating. If you truly want to test for your spike, I'd recommend testing every 30 minutes just till you get an idea. I can eat, spike up 80 points or more in 30 minutes and be back down, lower then my starting number by the two hour mark.

So individual and varying.

Sorry. Have to find what works for you and what doesn't. Sounds like you're on the right track with testing, walking, etc..

[ADSOFT]

Do you have a bedtime snack? I have found that having a bedtime snack of celery with peanut butter or low carb yogurt helps me sleep and I actually wake lower (without snack I wake over 100, with snack I wake in 90s or even high 80s).

Very interesting, what time do you take your snack?

[Totsied]

I get up between 5:30 and 6am. Snack is around 10pm.