Exercise is potent stuff. Getting your body in motion has such a powerful blood sugar benefits that it’s almost like taking medicine. But for the person who hasn’t exercised in a long while, getting started isn’t as easy as swapping an apple for potato chips. There are several smart steps to take to be sure you don’t harm yourself or cause blood sugar hills and valleys. When you begin or resume an exercise routine, follow these seven recommendations:
• Check with your doc. If it’s been years since you really pushed your body hard, or if you have had diabetes for more than 10 years, your doctor can help guide your exercise to be at the right pace and intensity to benefit you the most. For example, if you have high blood pressure or eye or kidney damage, you might have to avoid the strain of weight lifting. And if your feet have suffered nerve damage, you may be better off kicking in a pool than pounding the pavement.
• Run by your pharmacy. Ask about side effects of any medications you take. Some oral diabetes medications can cause muscle ache or fatigue, while others can make you dizzy or nauseated. Be sure your doctor and pharmacist are clear about how intensely you intend to exercise and how your medication might affect your activities.
• Time exercise with insulin levels. Avoid peak hours for insulin and oral medications. Try to time your workout so that you’re not exercising when the activity of insulin or other diabetes medicine peaks—often within the first hour or two of an injection or taking your diabetes medicines. Why? Exercise naturally forces your cells to draw in more blood sugar; taking medicine at the same time could lead to low blood sugar levels. If you’re working to cut back or eliminate your medication use, your doctor may start by having you take less (or none) before your workout. In effect, you may be able to use exercise in place of taking your medication if the effects on your blood sugar prove to be similar.
• Workout after eating. Instead of relying on snacks to head off low blood sugar during your walk, be diligent about planning to exercise after a meal so that you can take advantage of higher, more sustained blood sugar levels.
• Test before and after. Before you start to exercise, blood-sugar testing can tell you when it might be better to hold off, at least until your glucose levels are sufficient to meet your muscles’ demands. It’s wise to test your blood sugar again afterward, too, to see how far it’s fallen. This will give you a sense of how exercise affects your blood sugar levels so that you can make adjustments in meals, snacks, and the timing of your exercise.
• Protect against extreme highs and lows. Don’t exercise if your blood sugar is below 100 mg/dl. Instead, have a piece of fruit or other snack containing at least 15 grams of carbohydrate, then test again in about 20 minutes. Keep snacking until blood sugar rises above the 100 mg/dl mark. On the opposite end, test for ketones using a urine ketone test strip if blood sugar before exercise is above 240 mg/dl. If the test detects ketones, don’t start exercising until you’ve taken more insulin to handle glucose uptake during your workout. If ketones are absent, don’t exercise if blood sugar is above 400 mg/dl.
• Drink plenty of water. Think of yourself as a well-oiled racing machine, but for you, that lubrication is water. It keeps our blood sugar stable, enables organs to function properly and even prevents aches and pains of exercise. So, drink up. Don’t wait for thirst to hit before drinking; thirst can be a sign of high blood sugar and could bring your workout to a halt while you check for hyperglycemia. Instead, drink one to two cups 15 minutes before exercising, at least a half cup every 15 minutes during your workout, and another one to two cups afterward.
Featured Recipe
Lentils with Dill and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Filled with the delightfully fresh summertime taste of dill, this dish packs a highly nutritious double-play with lots protein and fiber yet zero saturated fat and cholesterol.
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, divided
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and sorted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed thoroughly and drained
2 cloves garlic, divided
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and sorted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed thoroughly and drained
Preparation:
1 Bruise one of the garlic cloves with the side of a knife. Cook the garlic, lentils, and bay leaf in plenty of boiling water until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well. Discard the bay leaf and garlic.
2 Crush the remaining clove of garlic. In a serving bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, oil and pepper.
3 Fold in the lentils, dill and tomatoes. Serve warm.
Per serving: 130 cal, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 20 g carbs, 7 g protein, 5 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium, 19 mg calcium
Great Ideas
1 Bruise one of the garlic cloves with the side of a knife. Cook the garlic, lentils, and bay leaf in plenty of boiling water until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well. Discard the bay leaf and garlic.
2 Crush the remaining clove of garlic. In a serving bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, oil and pepper.
3 Fold in the lentils, dill and tomatoes. Serve warm.
Per serving: 130 cal, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 20 g carbs, 7 g protein, 5 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium, 19 mg calcium
Great Ideas
Secret Mission: Sneak In More Veggies
Cue the James Bond theme song. Can you hear those staccato beats dum, dum, dum, dumming in your head? Your mission is on: You must find under-the-radar – but tasty – ways to add more vegetables to your diet. Making this your No. 1 mission conveys more benefits than Q has nifty gadgets. Most of us are lucky to get two servings of vegetables a day, and that’s far short of the five per day recommended for heart health and to help maintain weight and steady blood sugar levels. Try these five super-secret ways to slip in more veggies – trench coat entirely optional:
Build a sandwich that has more lettuce and tomato than meat. Think of a vegetarian Dagwood as your sandwich-building role model. Stack the meat in the sandwich to no higher than the thickness of a standard slice of bread. Then pile on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, roasted peppers, spinach, or whatever vegetables you wish to the combined height of both slices of bread. Presto: Your sandwich creation has the height of the Empire State Building yet the svelteness of the Eiffel Tower.
Fill your spaghetti sauce with vegetables. Then replace half the pasta you normally eat with more vegetables. We typically take a jar of low-sodium prepared sauce and add in string beans, peas, corn, bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and more. Like it chunky? Cut them in big pieces. Don’t want to know they’re there? Shred or puree them with a bit of sauce in the blender, then add. And don’t stop there. Steamed broccoli or green beans, or baked spaghetti squash (use a fork to remove the spaghetti-like strands), are filling and delicious replacements for the mounds of pasta that often find their way onto our plates.
Order your pizza with extra veggies. Instead of the same old pepperoni and onions, do your blood sugar and digestion a favor and ask for half the cheese, double the sauce and add loads of garden-inspired toppings like artichoke hearts, broccoli, hot peppers, and other exotic vegetables. Don’t be shy and explore, because many pizza joints stock up on such items for their gourmet pies.
Be salsa-riffic! First, make sure you have a large batch of salsa that’s chock-full of vegetables. One good approach: Add chopped yellow squash and zucchini to store-bought salsa. Then put salsa on everything: baked potatoes, rice, chicken breasts, sandwiches, eggs, steak, even bread. Salsa shouldn’t be just for chips. It’s too tasty and healthy not to be used all the time. Ole!
Puree vegetables as sauces. Impress guests and dazzle your own palate with vegetable sauce creations. For example, how about pureed roasted red peppers seasoned with herbs and a bit of lemon juice, then drizzled over fish? Or puree butternut or acorn squash with carrots, grated ginger, and bit of brown sugar for a yummy topping for chicken or turkey. Cooked vegetables are easily converted into sauces. It just takes a little ingenuity and a quick blender finger.
Build a sandwich that has more lettuce and tomato than meat. Think of a vegetarian Dagwood as your sandwich-building role model. Stack the meat in the sandwich to no higher than the thickness of a standard slice of bread. Then pile on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, roasted peppers, spinach, or whatever vegetables you wish to the combined height of both slices of bread. Presto: Your sandwich creation has the height of the Empire State Building yet the svelteness of the Eiffel Tower.
Fill your spaghetti sauce with vegetables. Then replace half the pasta you normally eat with more vegetables. We typically take a jar of low-sodium prepared sauce and add in string beans, peas, corn, bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and more. Like it chunky? Cut them in big pieces. Don’t want to know they’re there? Shred or puree them with a bit of sauce in the blender, then add. And don’t stop there. Steamed broccoli or green beans, or baked spaghetti squash (use a fork to remove the spaghetti-like strands), are filling and delicious replacements for the mounds of pasta that often find their way onto our plates.
Order your pizza with extra veggies. Instead of the same old pepperoni and onions, do your blood sugar and digestion a favor and ask for half the cheese, double the sauce and add loads of garden-inspired toppings like artichoke hearts, broccoli, hot peppers, and other exotic vegetables. Don’t be shy and explore, because many pizza joints stock up on such items for their gourmet pies.
Be salsa-riffic! First, make sure you have a large batch of salsa that’s chock-full of vegetables. One good approach: Add chopped yellow squash and zucchini to store-bought salsa. Then put salsa on everything: baked potatoes, rice, chicken breasts, sandwiches, eggs, steak, even bread. Salsa shouldn’t be just for chips. It’s too tasty and healthy not to be used all the time. Ole!
Puree vegetables as sauces. Impress guests and dazzle your own palate with vegetable sauce creations. For example, how about pureed roasted red peppers seasoned with herbs and a bit of lemon juice, then drizzled over fish? Or puree butternut or acorn squash with carrots, grated ginger, and bit of brown sugar for a yummy topping for chicken or turkey. Cooked vegetables are easily converted into sauces. It just takes a little ingenuity and a quick blender finger.
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