Kpanda’s running highs and lows

Sports & Exercise
21

Hey, this is awesome stuff! I love hearing exercise success stories!

Are your numbers with a meter or CGM?

Sometime a slow warmup will help reduce an early drop. If your body ramps up slowly, it will not pull as much glucose from your blood and is able to use more fat metabolism to fuel the run. When you start off fast, it can’t metabolize fat as quickly, so it will immediately pull glucose as the initial fuel source. Just something to consider if you can do that - a slow warmup before you get up to speed. This allows your body to adjust to the exercise and begin ramping up the other fuel sources.

Keep sharing your stories. I love the success you had today. Finishing at 78 is perfect!

22

Numbers are with CGM, which is usually very accurate for me, though I can’t say I’ve ever tested it during exercise, just before and after. So I was probably dropping before the Dexcom picked it up. I would have felt it if I’d been much lower than the 78 I ended up at (I totally feel crummy when running and going low), so although I didn’t test when I got home it was probably about right.

As far as starting slow… I’m pretty sure I never get past slow, haha! Yesterday’s 4 miles was at a 10:45 pace, and I think the first mile was 11:00. I have always known I should warm up somehow rather than racing out the door but have never done it.

Silly question, when you talk about fat metabolism being used during exercise, does that mean what it sounds like, that you are burning more fat during that part of a workout? That being said, is it possible a brisk walk could burn more fat and lead to weight loss better than a run??

23

That is not a silly question. In fact, it is a very difficult and complicated question.

To start with, are you familiar with the different fuel sources of exercise?

This is rather simple and quick explanation:
how-does-my-body-fuel-exercise

But it’s a bit more complicated when people start looking at weight loss.

If you run slower, yes you are burning more fat than muscle glycogen. But you are also burning fewer calories than if you were to run faster.

As you speed up, your body becomes less efficient. You burn more calories per minute when running faster. But…you can’t keep going as long.

So I guess the best way to answer it is that there is a trade-off. Slower means you burn more fat than muscle glycogen, and you can go longer. But you are not using as many calories. An hour at 11:00 pace (or even a walking pace) means less calories burned than an hour at 8:00 pace, but a bigger percentage of fat. Not more total fat, just a bigger percentage compared to muscle glycogen.

Ultimately burning the most calories is the way to lose the most weight in the long term.

So finding the best weight loss pace for a particular person really depends on how long they can run.

If you want to get awesome real and serious professional coaching, I can hook you up with someone. I think it is money well spent for any diabetic who wants to run.

If not, I can help you with a more generic formula to find a good heart rate that would probably help you burn fat at the most efficient rate.

Or if your interest is in getting faster, and maybe entering some races for fun, let’s get you hooked up with that too.

24

Part of the reason I ask is because I swear I gain a few pounds every time I get more serious about running. Yet at one time years ago I was walking more than running and I swore I was losing weight. I’m all likelihood I’m probably just eating more as a result of the running/hunger/“oh I ran this morning it’s ok if I splurge on ___ today” thing. Not anything I’m that concerned about, but was just curious. :slight_smile:

I like to have a goal in mind for an upcoming 5k or 10 k or whatever to keep me motivated. But I generally don’t like to take it too seriously - I need to keep it light and, dare I say fun, to stay interested. I don’t want to stress myself out over it, basically. When I trained for my first half marathon a few years back I stressed so much over my longer runs that I couldn’t sleep the night before! I dont want to do that to myself again!

Right now I’m planning on doing one, maybe 2 10k’s in October/November and really want to PR one of them. I have a little plan in my head for how I want to “train” and I think I’ll see how it goes! (It involves a longer weekend run, some easy to medium runs during the week, and a faster/hills/track repeats thrown in there somewhere). My first plan though is to try to get the insulin and BG dropping thing ironed out :slight_smile:

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25

Muscle weighs more than fat. The most likely scenario is you are losing fat, but adding muscle.

Unfortunately, in my experience, fat is determined at the table, muscle is determined by the workouts.

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26

I agree this may account for some of it, but based on the way the clothes fit, that’s not the whole story :slight_smile: I think I need to quit using “I ran today” as an excuse to eat junk!! :slight_smile:

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27

This can be a bit challenging for me. When I’m exercising more often, my basal needs decrease a bit so I have a hard time not running low. I haven’t really figured out how to adjust my Tresiba dose when I’m having this problem since Tresiba lasts so long- small adjustments day-to-day don’t really work.

I’ve recently upped the number of days I swim. I’ve also been swimming longer and more intensely throughout the workout. My blood sugars are pretty good while I’m swimming, but I’m struggling for about 12-24 hours after the workout. I tend to run low, and I’m stuck eating or drinking more. After 12 hours of that, I just start binging on junk. It feels like my body is starving (gross exaggeration, but that’s how it feels), and I need lots of carbs and fat right now!! Order a pizza NOW! :stuck_out_tongue::grin::grin:

Then the pizza sends me high because I have no idea how to dose for it and feel like I can’t be my aggressive self or things might turn out really bad. Then of course, I’m not even processing the junk in my body right because I’m running high. It’s all a bit ridiculous, and it’s usually not as bad as this week. I’m usually better at not ordering pizza when things already aren’t going too well!

Anyway, I’ll figure it out, but just wanted to chime in about the reduced basal needs (=extra junk food cravings!). A pump is perfect for this type of scenario though, so maybe you won’t be dealing with this struggle.

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28

Chocolate milk: tastes good and good for you!

ETA: Since learning about adjusting my basal rates (Omnipod), I eat a LOT fewer cookies. :scream_cat:

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29

Yes! I like chocolate milk after a hard run, but I haven’t tried it since diabetes came along.

30

This is terrible news!! Maybe you should take a pump break for a few days :wink:

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31

It might help to take a smaller amount of Tresiba everyday, and on days when you are not swimming, supplement your basal with a small dose of Lantus.

The Lantus would cover your extra need for only 20 hours or so, and not interfere on the next day when you are back in the pool.

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32

@Eric recommends chocolate milk so that’s why I tried it!

33

Thanks for the suggestion. I’m going to spend some time thinking about this. I’m not entirely sure about the timing, but the idea of using a basal insulin with a shorter profile to subsidize my Tresiba dose is appealing. I need to think about how it would effect my swim, when I would take it, how I would handle hikes on the weekend… lots of stuff to think about.

I’m not entirely convinced that I wouldn’t be adding more variables to think about, making things more complicated. I think I want to see if this pattern continues. If it does, then I’ll definitely give this idea a try. Thanks again!

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34

The main thing I don’t like about the gels is I’m too uncoordinated to open and eat them properly and end up a sticky mess :slight_smile: They do work great for me though to get my BG up. Also, sometimes I don’t want all 23g of carbs but it’s not like you can eat half of a pouch, so I usually bring the gummy versions with me.

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35

I’m interested to see how this works for me too…I dropped my phone and yanked my headphones out trying to get my fruit snacks out of that little key pocket on my shorts the other day (why in the world does the little pocket have to be in the back, anyway??) Gel may be an adventure in that regard, but I’m excited I got some in the mail yesterday and am gonna give them a try this week!

36

Since accidentally bolusing 12 units and NOT being able to hit the breaks, I ate a lot of cookies… I’m good on the cookies for a while. :grin:

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37

Yes! This is exactly how it works! :rofl:

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38

Back when I used to run… :cry:… Eric also had me cut the basal an hour prior to starting and then bolus for 50% of the missed basal upon completion. It was a really good equation. He also suggested eating about 20 grams of carbs upon completion as well and doing a full bolus for it. This was the part that needed to be adjusted to my current situation… if I were coming in on the low end, I would have the carbs and then do the bolus a little later. Or maybe do a little less than a full bolus. If I were coming in high, I’d try to time a pre-bolus accordingly. I was pretty content with those numbers…ecstatic really. I did need to stay on top of the post-exercise climb sometimes, but it was a very manageable climb. If I were continuing to push up, yes, I might add a little extra to the next meal— or an even greater pre-bolus?? You’re making me want to go run.

By the way, I’ve always gained weight when changing my running schedule. I also think it’s because I tend to eat more when I’ve put in all that hard work. :woman_facepalming:

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39

Shoot, I’m sorry! I know how frustrating that is. Hang in there, do what you’re supposed to do, and you’ll be back at it in no time. Just focus on taking care of yourself in the meantime! Just look at it like you’re spending the rest of the hot summer months rehabbing so you’ll be ready to go when the crisp fall mornings arrive :maple_leaf::fallen_leaf:

This is definitely me. Sandwiches. Ice cream. Pizza. All the food!

Anyway, thanks for the tips. I’m weirdly excited to put some of this to use!

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40

I got my Huma gels in the mail and finally had a chance to try one yesterday. I turned basal off completely for the first time about an hour before my run, and regardless, started going down somewhere between mile 1 and 2. I used maybe 1/4 or 1/3 of the gel and it stopped the drop in its tracks and held pretty steady the rest of the way (just 3 miles total). I hope it continues to work so well. Maybe I’m a weirdo but I folded the top over the gel and stuck a paperclip on it, and put the “leftovers” in in the fridge for next time.

I pounded a glass of chocolate milk when I got home, without pre-bolusing, and it seemed to set off a parade of mild ups and downs for the rest of the evening that made no sense at all. I have some work to do on that, I guess, because chocolate milk isn’t worth that kind of BG confusion! :slight_smile: Gotta get that ironed out.

Anyway, thanks @Eric for the gel suggestion. So far, so good!

Hope you all are getting ready for a fun/relaxing/exciting/whatever suits you kind of weekend!