Everybody who is health conscious naturally wants to carry out one form of exercise on the other in other to keep fit. Even those with health conditions are not left out. In this piece, we look at how those with diabetes can exercise. If you are diabetic, it is even more important to choose an exercise that is safe. You should warm up and cool down for about 5-10 minutes. This will help your body adjust so you’re not rushing into anything or pull a muscle. Always stretch your muscles before beginning your exercise, and drink water, before, during, and after you exercise. Do not exercise in very cold or very hot weather.
You should check your blood sugar each time before exercise; if your blood sugar is too high, you should not do any exercise until it comes down. Exercise can lower blood sugar levels up to 24 hours. If it is too low, you may need to have a snack before starting.
To learn when and how much to snack, use this chart:
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How Long and Hard You Plan to Exercise
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Exercise Examples
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If Blood Sugar Is:
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Then Eat This Amount of Snacks
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30 minutes or less Easy exercise |
Walking or easy biking
|
Less than 100 100-180 180 or more |
2 portions 1 portion no snack needed |
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About 1 hour A little harder exercise |
Tennis, swimming, harder biking |
Less than 100 100-180 180 or more |
2 portions of snack plus some protein 1 portion of snack plus some protein 1 portion of snack |
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2 hours or more Hard exercise |
Football, hockey,
basketball, hard biking, hard swimming, running |
Less than 100 100-180 180 or more |
Do not exercise until blood sugar is over 100. Take 1
portion of snack and retest in 15 min. Start with 2 portions of snack and some protein. Test blood sugar each hour. Eat at least 1 portion of snack every hour |
