# Cycling



## Martin Batstone (Aug 28, 2018)

After a bad MTB accident 8 years ago which caused Pituitary damage and subsequent Cranium Diabetes Insipidus & Type 2 diabetes I am now looking to return to riding. Prior to the accident I was riding 32 Miles 3 x a week, now I am obviously unfit and very over weight but have set my self a goal to ride the South Downs Way in April 2019. I however have little understanding of the best diet/foods for Type 2 (I am on Metformin twice a day) and all previous attempts to start training whilst continuing to watch my sugar intake (I have for the past 3 years cut out almost all sugar other than that naturally occurring in food) has left me very sluggish, no energy and tired. 
Is it best to see a nutritionist or is there books, diet plans I can help my self with?


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## christophe (Aug 28, 2018)

Aside from your injuries.. which sounded pretty nasty, hope you are recovering well.. do you have any medical input to your condition? Just asking because a decent diet of "normal" food should easily be enough for what you are doing. There are plenty of ideas and information on food on other parts of this site so have a read.. and a salivate, because there is some good stuff...  but do think about speaking to the medical profession, maybe you aren't processing the foods and this is leaving you short of energy.
Bottom line is you have enough fuel on board, as long as it is getting where it should, you can build up the time on the bike.


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## Matt Cycle (Aug 28, 2018)

Hi Martin and welcome to the forum.  Sorry to hear of your mountain bike accident and the resulting health problems.  The South Downs Way sounds like a great challenge to aim for.  All carbohydrates (not just sugar) are what both Type 1 and 2 diabetics need to be aware of.  Do you monitor your blood glucose levels and if so what sort of levels are you getting?  Testing on a daily basis is fairly crucial at least until you get an idea of how different foods affect you.  As Chris mentions you may need to speak to your medical team.  Do you get much help from them?


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## Martin Batstone (Sep 3, 2018)

Hi both, thank you for your replies. I only monitored my blood daily for the first few months after my diagnosis however since then, and because I have monthly blood tests before my Consultants appointments, I have not been monitoring my bloods.  
Since diagnosis I have reduced my sugar intake greatly by avoiding all food items with over 15mg of sugar per 100 however I do eat a lot of fruit including apples and bananas.
I will have a look at the info you suggested as I am not massively up on the Carbs piece plus I will start testing my levels daily as well. For a bit more guidance I have also asked the local diabetes nurse to recommend a local nutritionist as since my initial diagnosis where the NHS provided a couple of free sessions I have not had any expert help and have tried to muddle through myself (sometimes with poor results including feeling dizzy after a very short period of exercise).


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## christophe (Sep 5, 2018)

Good to hear you are making it work for you.. a little worried about the dizziness, not everything is diabetes related so have a think about what is happening to you.. a short period of exercise shouldn’t do this, unless you are going really hard at it.. to which there is an obvious answer..!
And read up on carbs.. look at carb content in foods, it’s not just the sugars that will be affecting you, work on the total carb content ..and your monitoring will show you the reaction to an amount of carb ( there is more to it than this unfortunately but to start with, get the very basics and fine tune from there..)
Take it easy, small steps and you’ll be doing South Downs, north downs whatever downs before you know it


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## TrevA (Sep 5, 2018)

I cycle too and have done for many years. I was diagnosed as Type 2 about a year ago, and I'm also on Metformin. At first, I tried a low carb Keto diet but I found that this left me short of energy whilst riding. What I do now is eat carbs on the days the I'm riding and go low carb on the days that I'm not riding ( when eating carbs I eat wholegrain bread or cereals, which have a lower GI and release the carbs more slowly). I don't monitor my blood glucose, but my Hba1c has dropped from 75 when I was first diagnosed to 48 at my last blood test in May.

It is possible to ride on a Keto diet, but you have to go low enough on carbs, so that your body goes into Ketosis and you are then burning fat as fuel instead of carbs.


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## HOBIE (Sep 7, 2018)

Good stuff TrevA. Keep peddling


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