# Exercise and Food



## sankey46 (Jul 27, 2012)

Hi 

I have not visited the site for a while, so hi to all 

I am after some advise, I am cycle commuting to work approx 3-4 days a week and the distance is 20 miles each way. 

I have been doing this since the new year and have settled into a routine and all is going well, only a few aches after a couple of consecutive days. 

My big issue is I am struggling with Highs and Lows as the exercise is not every day and getting insulin levels correct is a challenge and weight loss is non existent.

I tend to have cereal before i leave for work,  I then need to eat when i get to work, i have a normal lunch then have a snack before i leave to go home. 

The day seems to be taken up with managing sugars and eating enough to cope with the commute. 

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom that could help with sugar control and weight loss wiht such an exercise pattern?

Mike


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## DeusXM (Aug 1, 2012)

You'll need to look at developing a variable set of insulin levels depending on whether it's an exercise day or not.

Firstly, I'd look at giving yourself a reduced basal dose for the days you're cycling. For instance, say you usually give yourself 25u of basal at bedtime. Then say it's Tuesday night and you're cycling on Wednesday. You'd need to reduce your basal dose - you'd have to experiment to find out by how much.

You'll also need to match your insulin intake with your carbs and be aware that on the days you cycle, your insulin to carb ratio will completely change. Maybe on a non-bike day it's 1:10 - on a bike day, it could be 1:15 or 1:20, again, you'll need to test and experiment to find out.

The reason you're not losing weight is because you're feeding your insulin. If you are having to eat more to keep your blood sugar up, you're taking in more calories. Insulin is also the fat storage hormone as well, so low blood sugar indicates you have an excess of a hormone that deliberately blocks the metabolism of fat.

Not knowing your specific insulin regime, it's hard to make a good call. But I would suggest that if you are covering your cereal with insulin on cycle days, you should reduce the amount you take. Another option is to take the insulin out of the equation entirely - if you don't eat carbs, you don't need bolus insulin. 

You don't necessarily have to cut out carbs entirely but it's the law of small numbers - if you are only eating small amounts of carbs and small amounts of insulin, you will only get very small mistakes when it comes to your BG. Think of it like steering on a motorway. If you oversteer one way and then overcorrect, your car will veer all over the road and cause an accident. If you make very small movements, you are more likely to stay straight and steady.


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