That’s honestly part of why I’m doing this…my insulin needs are greatly reduced when I’m “exercising” (based on days I’ve had recently with a lot of extra walking). Numbers are just better all around…
That’s certainly my initial priority. I have a feeling I’m not going to have crazy spikes or lows from this, just based off effects of varying activity levels I’ve noticed in recent months.
So far this morning is a bit of a fail - had planned to go the gym this morning, but my husband had to go in to work. Maybe I will just try lifting my son a bajillion times instead.
Emily, since you don’t have a lot of experience with exercise, here are a few thoughts, although I figure you likely know them all already:
Stretching—before you decide to incorporate it in your routine, read this:
There is no scientific evidence that it helps, on the contrary. But it may feel good to you, so check the article out!
Warm-up: important, in order to avoid injuries and improve performance, before you go into the meat of your routine.
Cool-down: basically the same thing as a warm-up, but at the end—finish your routine with a lower intensity segment
Ramp up the intensity of your workout very progressively: don’t go all out the first or second time! Ramp up over a couple or months. It is easy to get injured by increasing intensity too fast.
When using weight, smaller weights and larger numbers of reps are in general your friends. Many try to increase weight as much as possible, but, really, smaller weights and more reps are, in general, preferable for people who don’t exercise a lot.
Keep track of basal, BG before, during and after, carb intake, and trends: do you go down during exercise? Do you spike afterwards? Did you need to take carbs and when?
Consider that it is not only the day’s exercise that impacts you. For us, the last week of exercise can impact basal needs for instance.
Try to refuel very quickly if you need to refuel. Within 90 minutes is best. You may not need to depending upon the intensity of your workout.
To refuel, you MUST be in range. If you are high you are not refueling. So you may need insulin for that, and proper timing for it.
Not yet. We went out of town last week (though I was walking more than usual, and our room was upstairs…that counts, right?). The kids caught a cold that they kindly have shared, so I’ve been caring for them and am now down with it myself (even colds hit me hard between all my health issues). I told my husband last year we wouldn’t ever travel in the wintertime again because we always catch something nasty (couldn’t help it this year). Feeling like that position is justified…
@jag1, that gave me a laugh! @Michel, thank you! That’s the kind of advice this newbie needs, ha!
Ha! I think I still have a very thin layer, because, while we’ve been sick pretty much constantly since October, I’ve had mostly mild (for me) cases of everything. Shocking, really, because my immune system is a mess.
I did buy masks to wear in public, for myself and my daughter, since she’s also got a health issue that puts her at more than normal risk with illness…but I wasn’t thinking when I bought them, and mine are black. I look like I’m about to rob any store I walk into.
aw, thanks. I do end up looking pretty ridiculous, since I have to perch my glasses on top of the mask just so to avoid them fogging up with every exhalation.
My kiddo and I had to go to the Children’s Hospital ER one night in the peak of a really bad flu season. I was almost out of sick time at work so I wore a mask into the hospital. Well, my kiddo also wanted a face mask and that seemed fine to me so he wore one, too.
Every single door through the parking garage/lobby/hospital/etc was held open for us by a stranger. I thought, “Man, everyone is SO nice downtown at night!”…and then it dawned on me what they were thinking since we were going into a Children’s Hospital with face masks on…I felt like the biggest liar ever! I felt so bad!!
That actually made me hesitate in choosing to wear a mask, because I felt like I’d be some faker, people assuming reasons why we were wearing masks that weren’t actually that serious. But then my husband happened to mention that some of the doctors at his hospital (he’s a nurse) wear masks in public during flu season just to avoid exposure, and that made me feel a little better.
We went out of town last week (though I was walking more than usual, and our room was upstairs…that counts, right?). The kids caught a cold that they kindly have shared, so I’ve been caring for them and am now down with it myself (even colds hit me hard between all my health issues). I told my husband last year we wouldn’t ever travel in the wintertime again because we always catch something nasty (couldn’t help it this year). Feeling like that position is justified…
Do you listen to music at all? There’s always kitchen dancing… 
