A question I get asked frequently is what my diet is like. I deviated from my regimen last night . I went out for my trainer’s birthday for about an hour at a later time than I usually go out. My life is very routine - I try to eat at the same times every day, work out at the same times, and wake up and go to bed at the same time. In the time that I was out, I danced briefly; however, my last meal had no carbs and left me with an empty stomach. In other words, I didn’t have any food in me when I went dancing, so my blood sugars went low.
When your sugar goes low, you go into panic mode. You worry about fast acting carbs , when will they work, will it be enough, is it going to affect my weight, my sleep, my morning routine. Unfortunately my body required more than 60 carbs overnight which left me exhausted this morning. Not only did I lose an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings, I didn’t have energy to go to the gym, which I do every Sunday morning. I never sleep in because my first meal was at 7 am in the morning. So what did I do about breakfast? I ate my morning breakfast as planned but I removed my second meal. I had the opportunity to go back to sleep and I did as it’s important to keep your body well rested. I had to go to work this afternoon. Daylight Savings affected me and I was exhausted, but I got through the day as we all do when we’re tired. It’s very common to ask ourselves, I’m tired do I need to skip the exercise today? As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, it’s the days that I’m tired that I feel the most productive with my workout. After work, I went to the supermarket, to buy my key staples for the week. This leads me back to what does my diet consist of. Keep in mind a healthy eating and exercise regimen, I pushed through my fatigue, focusing on the key staples I eat on a daily basis as a diabetic. I thought I’d share these healthy choices with you. These products are all great complex carbs, low in sugar and high in protein, that are good staples for your diet, whether you’re a diabetic, athlete, or anyone who’s trying to watch their weight. I always eat a complex carb with a protein, use portion control, and read the labels on the packages.
My blood sugar dropped low while shopping for groceries. I went back to my most recent blog about the hypoglycemia rule of 15. This time, I used glucose tablets that I had on hand. This required me to use 45 carbs within a 30 minute period. As I sat in the parking lot waiting or my sugar to go up, it was around 4 pm in the afternoon, I was tired, hungry from low blood sugar, daylight savings time-lagged, yet knowing I need to do a work out. I did self talk using my own blogs to help motivate me and get the energy to do a workout at the gym. I could have used exhaustion or low blood sugar as an excuse to not exercise. Instead I used it as a positive, and went to the gym despite my exhaustion. I had a very productive workout, I feel refreshed, and I’m glad that I was able to give myself the positive reinforcement using self talk. This is why I like to blog; I take my own life experiences, which you might be experiencing too, so that we can all learn together. All of us are in the same boat. Managing Diabetes is a science. There’s no explanation for the highs or the lows, but there are healthier ways to self-manage.
