Sweating like a beast

Morning blood sugar: 4.2
Low blood sugar episodes today: 1 (after lunch)
"C"'s mood today: morning- grumpy, afternoon-happy
Donations today: 1 :)


So I woke up early to the sound of my son babbling....he is usually up around 7 but today was an early day at 6:15. Thankfully some days when he wakes up he likes to have a morning monologue so I left him to babble and got up around 7:10. He was happy until I went in, as soon as I went to change him he let me have it. The crying and grumping continued until we went down to find Jeff in the basement. Jeff works Saturdays so he was up at 6 to complete his pre-work workout (I'm telling you he is fit and fabulous!).

Mom confession: I use the TV to entertain my son in the morning so that I can workout. We have our basement set up with a home gym area and C watches PBS usually for 1/2 hour-1 hour while I complete my daily workout. I know public health says "no TV before age 2" but lets face it, he likes TV for short periods, I am not using it all day long to babysit him and I feel as though at the very least I am showing him that exercise is a part of our daily lives and setting an example for him. So there Public Health; you are very helpful but I have learned in the last two years to take your "rules" with a grain of salt.

So the morning workout was Les Mills Combat Power:HIIT (www.beachbody.com). Jeff ordered these workout DVDs before Christmas and they are awesome (I promise, not being paid to endorse them!). Most of the workouts are 30 minutes which is great. They are intense and effective, hence the title "Sweating like a beast" as this is what I was doing by the time I was finished. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training...let me tell you it is appropriately named.

Before my diagnosis last July I lost weight. A lot of weight for me. I have always had an athletic build and have been fairly solid. One day in June, I got on the scale and was shocked to see the number 120. This number has been a weight I have always wanted to be but with all of my best efforts including some strict eating and exercising I have never achieved it. Prior to having C I was always closer to 130, more like 128 to be exact (who's counting really :) So when I saw 120 I actually did a little dance and shared the news in excitement with Jeff. I was happy, until a week later I got on the scale and read 118; considering I wasn't trying to lose weight this number made my stomach drop. Something wasn't right. A few months later we figured out what the problem was!

The reason I was losing weight was that my body couldn't absorb glucose. Glucose is fuel for our cells but you need insulin in your system for the cells to be able to absorb glucose. Since my pancreas had petered out and stopped producing insulin my body couldn't absorb the glucose and began dumping it; this dumping happens through the kidneys, our body's filtration system. In other words I was peeing out glucose and hence losing weight in the process. From this description you can tell that this is not a healthy way to lose weight. In the process I lost a lot of muscle. So for the last few months it has been my goal to gain some of that muscle back, especially in my legs so that when I start to train intensively for the half marathon my body will hold up.

I have always been an exerciser, but with my Type 1 diagnosis exercise has taken on a whole new entity. Being active is fantastic for lowering blood sugar so when I exercise it greatly reduces my insulin needs which is fantastic. The trouble is there is a learning curve, as the greater the intensity of exercise, the more it changes my response. You see diabetics can have something called a "delayed low" following exercise...this can happen as much as 16 hours after your workout. I know, 16 hours! That is almost a day later! So I am guessing this is what happened after lunch today when I suddenly felt dizzy and hot; I tested 4.1 which is considered not low but close (anything under 4 is hypoglycemia) and I felt like I was dropping fast, so out came the lifesavers.

Insulin injections have helped me fabulously but the fact is they don't replace a healthy pancreas. The human body really is amazing, all the regulations it makes to function is mind boggling. I think many people think that once you are on insulin therapy everything is straightforward, blood sugars are controlled and you are off on your merry way, but that is not the case. The thing is exercise and food don't just effect blood sugar, so do stress and other hormones. So needless to say it is not an exact science but a continual work in progress to regulate everything. It is frustrating at times but I am not going to let it stop me! For now I will keep on keepin' on. Nothing beats a workout that makes you sweat like a beast! :)