Strategies for Blood-sugar Control Before/During/After Rows

[jbhoren]

Background: After a five-month layoff from rowing, I started back a week ago with daily 30-minute workouts. I'm 58, 6'1", 295lbs, with almost 7-million meters rowed (but few during the past year). I'm also Type II diabetic. A recent (two weeks ago) blood test showed: total cholesterol=137, LDL=83, HDL=38, triglycerides=192, glucose=135, and A1C=6.1 (Yes, they're quite good, given my weight!)

Note: I ought to mention that the aforementioned test results are due, in no small part, to VA-supplied medications, taken on a regular, daily basis, over the past few years.

Here's my question: How can I best prepare for an exercise-induced drop in blood sugar, in order to prevent it from being precipitous?

Example: I ate a bowl of 1/4C each thick rolled oatmeal, ground flaxseed, and wheat bran, mixed with hot water and 1C non-fat plain yogurt at 09:00. At 11:00 I measured my blood sugar, and found it to be 189. At 13:00, I rowed for 35 minutes, at a 2:40-2:50/500m pace. Upon finishing, I again measured my blood sugar, and found it to be 59 (yes, I'd begun feeling weaker about five minutes before the end of my workout). I immediately had a few gulps of fresh-squeezed OJ, a small container of non-fat "fruity" yogurt, and a few whole-wheat "Ak-Mak" crackers. An hour later, my blood sugar measured 107.

I probably should measure my blood sugar just prior to beginning my workout. Regardless, I'd like to hear from other members about how they deal with this phenomenon.

TIA!

[jbhoren]

Update: Today, when I got home from work, I ate two Wasa crackers with peanut butter. Half an hour later, I measured my blood sugar -- 115, then rowed for 35 minutes (6,578m). As soon as I finished, I again measured my blood sugar -- 75. And I feel good, too.

[johnlvs2run]

Thank you for sharing your blood sugar experiments. I am interested to see more of your progress and results.

I got a blood sugar kit when I first got a rowing machine in 1993.
The most notable result was that poking my finger was much more painful than I'd thought it would be.
I did a session of 15x 2:00 with 2:00 rests to give this a good test. I'm not sure where the exact figures are
but it turned out to be quite difficult to knock my blood sugar readings out of whack. From memory, the readings
fluctuated from 80/85 to 108? and immediately went back to the neutral reading, whatever that was.

Because of the painful pokes to my finger, I saw no reason to ever test the readings again.

[johnlvs2run]

What I would do is take readings as follows:
> before eating at 9am
> 30 minutes after eating
> before exercise
> immediately after exercise
> 5 minutes after exercise
> 5 minutes after OJ

I would look for things that would cause the readings to spike, for example oatmeal and OJ, then avoid them.
You basically need before and after readings, in order to tell what is causing the spikes.

I might like to test my readings again, if I can find a way to minimize trauma from the lances.