Hypoglycemia and Spinning

[Becky]

+1 to all of the awesome info that the others have shared!

Vitalyte is a good, lightly-flavored electrolyte drink choice that's lower-carb - only about 10g CHO per serving, compared to 15-25g CHO for many of the other mixes. No need to dilute it and therefore alter its electrolyte concentrations.

If I need a lot of carbs at once, I prefer to eat solid food. Vitalyte is good for sipping throughout longer rides (alternating with water) to ensure that I'm getting some carbs in the whole time. I stick with Nuun or plain water for shorter rides.

Ask your doc for a glucose meter. Most docs seem to have a huge stash of meter samples- I haven't needed to pay for one yet.

[Catrin]

I do have a problem with hypoglycemia, and I use a meter regularly - my blood glucose has been as low as 29 and as high as 250, though things have stabilized quite a bit with rigid diet control and exercise.. I do generally have a light meal prior to spinning or other intensive exercise activities like when I work with my personal trainer. It has been a mixture of high protein and light carbs and I will consider if that is still an appropriate mix.

I thought that I needed to eat at least an hour before the class, and will experiment with eating immediately prior to it - there may well be a delayed insulin response (we have suspected this already). My specialist has encouraged me to experiment with the timing, as long is it is no longer than an hour prior - and she has told me more than once to drink something other than pure water when spinning...

Thankfully my trainer's wife was in the locker room with me last night and figured out what was wrong, bless her, and she got some orange juice and stood there and basically bullied me to drink it (which was a very, very good thing for her to do) Last night I did not have my meter with me, that will not happen again.

My trainer suggested today that I try one of those Gatorade powders so I can dilute it to my desire - will also check out the Nuun and other things that have been suggested.

Thanks to everyone