Here are a few to start with:
how-does-my-body-fuel-exercise
the-3-energy-pathways
Replacing muscle glycogen (the stored carbs in your muscles) is best done right after exercise. But that is usually only necessary when you are burning a lot. If you are only eating to keep from going low after activity, you don’t have to do it right away.
How much you need really depends on the level of activity, the amount you burned. For something like walking 30 minutes, you can just eat a normal balanced meal and you’d be fine because you have enough muscle glycogen to last you for several days at that level.
But, your body will take the food you eat and use it to restore your muscle glycogen. So the problem with going low is because your body pulls the glucose out and uses it to restore. That is another reason eating after exercise is important. Otherwise your body uses your blood glucose to restore your muscle glycogen. That would usually translate into a nighttime low BG.
You can get them from Amazon, right?
The UCAN carbs are different. You can eat it with minimal insulin. It’s different than normal carbs!
It’s kind of like the way basal insulin works. It’s almost like basal carbs.
Rather than thinking of it as 30 grams of carbs, think of it as 2 grams every 15 minutes. It just trickles in, like the way basal works.
Try it first on a weekend of course. It is a nice slow carb release. I like them.
The idea I had about skipping breakfast was just to eliminate IOB. If you are able to have breakfast without IOB, that is certainly helpful.
There is a lot of stuff about carbs versus low fat that is worth discussing. At some point I want to have some threads specifically for that topic.
There are advantages to both. When I talk of the value of higher carbs, that is geared more toward performance sports and training. Someone could certainly have a successful time with lower carbs and still do daily walking or lower intensity activities. The higher carbs become more important when you are draining your body every day.
Your body will use whatever is available and works most efficiently for the situation. It will use muscle glycogen (stored carbs) fat metabolism, or carbs you are currently digesting.
But one thing that is often overlooked, in order for your body to metabolize fat for energy, it needs the Krebs cycle, also known as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. And in order for the Krebs cycle to occurs, it needs a background of carbohydrate metabolism.
Think of it as a candle. The fat is the candle which fuels the flame, but it needs the wick which is like the background carb metabolism. Without the wick, the candle can’t burn. And without a small background of carb metabolism, your body can’t metabolize fat for fuel.
So going completely without any carbs is going to make your body pull other sources for fuel. If your blood has any glucose in it, your body will suck that out and there is your BG drop.
While you are waiting on your CGM watch stuff, I am guessing you have a Dexcom receiver, because they are always sold as part of the package.
Tallygear makes a receiver holder. You can wear it like a watch. A single button push displays your BG. Much easier than a phone. Until you get your CGM watch, this is a decent option.
One thing that will happen as you walk more, your body will become more used to it. It will become less of an impact on your BG because it will become more normal, easier. If you aren’t already doing it, one of the best things to do would be to incorporate walking as a daily activity. If you are used to walking 30 or 45 or 60 minutes every day, then when you do it for work, physically it will cause less of an impact on your BG.
Everything will become easier with practice. All of the variables, the different times of day and different levels of activity, all of them will start to become easier to negotiate with practice. Basal adjustments and carb adjustments and all of those things.
Sorry, my reply is a bit scattered. Please let me know if there are things I missed.