Fuelling in motion – with T1D

As an active person with type-1 diabetes I have a few goals for exercise that go beyond performance.

I aim to maintain my blood sugars between 6-10 mmol/L throughout.

I aim to not battle highs from beginning to start, and the few hours beyond.

And finally – this is a big one – I aim to prevent lows.

Mostly I do it through insulin adjustments and nutrition.

And man, it can be a challenge.

I mean, sometimes Dear Diabetes can be a real jerkface, especially on sport days, and no matter how much insulin fiddling you did beforehand, and no matter how particular you are with your food intake and refuelling strategies, sometimes it’s just not enough and you’re forced to consume carbohydrates every 20, 30, 40 minutes or more.

And really, who wants to stop for all that?

Not me.

Hello folks, let’s talk about fuelling in motion shall we!

Doesn’t seem like a tough thing, does it? I mean, most of us can walk and eat, talk and eat, multitask and eat like no one’s business.

But on the bike, or even running, there are a few more challenges – like not choking on the food with the added huffing and puffing, and not crashing the bike into a tree as you try to pull the foods out of your back jersey pocket.

Am I right?

Surely, I’m not the only one that’s had some struggles navigating the food situation in motion.

Well friends, I’ve discovered a new (to me) trick of the trade for cycling and eating with T1D that I’m now going to share with all of you because I’m totally awesome like that 😉

Okay, so my current go-to fuel sources are Swedish berries, applesauce pouches, fruit leathers, and peanut butter and honey sandwiches for long-distance rides.

The Swedish berries are key.

I can’t – yet – open the applesauce pouches one handed, nor can I tear the fruit leather wrapping one handed. But the Swedish berries, I keep stored in snack pack Ziplock bag. For as long as I’ve been using this fuel source, I’ve been zipping that bag nice and tight before stuffing it into the back of my jersey pocket.

Not anymore.

I now leave that bag wide open.

Sure, a couple of the berries may fall into the pocket and risk getting covered in pocket lint, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take for the grab-and-go ease I’ve just created.

With the bag open, I can now stuff my hand into the pocket when needed, grab 1-2-3- or 4 and plop them into my mouth without missing a turn of the pedals.

So, let’s take stock of the situation here: I can now eat and ride and BG test and ride.

It’s only taken me 30+ years with this disease to figure it all out ????

Do you fuel in motion?