Exercising with diabetes is complicated and although it’s generally a good thing, it can make diabetes management more difficult (Catherine Price attests to this). ASweetLife’s resident marathoner, Michael Aviad, found a great tip on Hypoactive.org that can help prevent exercise-related diabetes problems: test twice. ( Hypoactive, an Australian organization, aims to inspire and enable people with diabetes to live a more physically active lifestyle. Check out their website!)
Michael always says that the most important thing for him to know before he heads out for a long run is which way he’s going, not geographically speaking, but in terms of blood sugar. Is it stable? Is it about to drop? If you have a CGM, you can see the trend in blood sugar. If you don’t, take Hypoactive’s advice and test twice before you head out to exercise. Testing once gives you a snapshot of your blood sugar level at a particular moment in time. If you test a second time, you will get a better sense of which way your blood sugar level is going.
