Let's get moving - or, when do I get to stop?

Here's to Karen for getting us all moving in the blog world, at least. My second day of Diabetes Blog Week (most people's fifth), and the topic: Exercise:

Let's get moving. Exercise . . . love it or hate it? Do you have a regular exercise routine? Or do you have trouble finding your exercise motivation? How do you manage your insulin and food to avoid bottoming out during your workout? Today is the day to tell us all about your exercise habits, or lack thereof.

Where do I start? I've blogged on this topic before (exercise schmeksercise - I was in a perverse mood). Please take a look, because I basically said it all there, so I don't want to be a bore. But, brief recap: I don't do gyms. I used to, but I never really liked the repetitive, sweat-it-out thing. Then I got migraines and couldn't do a lot of strenuous exercise. In fact, if I was in the migraine "zone" (typically, there are periods where you're more prone to them, if you're a person who gets them), exercise would trigger one, and it would also make my BG shoot up - even when it was fine to begin with. (You know, probably, that if you exercise when your BG is somewhere around 250 or higher, that can just make it go even higher - a stress response. But with migraines, my BG would shoot up with exercise even if it started out around 150. Not a plan.).

So I downshifted from running and aerobics to walking and hiking. I've found this is actually all I need for BG control, and if I do it often enough, it's better than the occasional, big spurt anyway. I do miss running sometimes. I used to use exercise for stress relief. But these days, I do so much running after my toddler, I miss the couch even more. What more motivation do you need to do a short sprint, than hearing that little voice from the other room, "I'm up here!" and knowing it means she's half way up the stairs - on the outside of them, dangling over the lamp?

The exercise I do now for stress relief: Yoga. I do video tapes, after H goes to bed. That's in winter. In good weather, we often pop the stroller out and go for a winding walk to the playground (as winding as we can make it before H nearly throws herself out of the stroller in the direction of the playground). Sometimes we're defeated by Elmo. But we're working out the various sneaky techniques that all parents devise - out of desperation - to get their kids to do anything. Bribe? Sure. Reverse psychology? Yup. When all else fails, sometimes I just let Hubby take over and I go for a walk myself (and sometimes he does the same).

Even though I don't get migraines anymore (if you want to know the "cure," it'll cost you! Kidding - I'd share it with anyone who's interested) - I still follow the more mellow exercise routine. I don't have time for more, and it seems to be working. My HDL cholesterol is even really high! Please don't be jealous - you know all the rest of what I deal with. But I like to have some health thing I can be proud of.

Oh, and what do I do to avoid bottoming out? Lots of things. Sometimes I use a temporary lower basal on my pump, sometimes I eat something beforehand, during, or after. I also keep in mind that, if I really exert myself, it can affect my BG many hours later - typically in the middle of the night. So I eat a decent snack before bed (ice cream, anyone? ;)). Still, sometimes I do go low anyway, of course. But when I treat those lows, it's less likely to rebound than the run-of-the-mill low. (Oh, and I missed the day on how I treat lows. I love chocolate, but I tend not to eat it for a low - it takes too long. The ole glucose tabs work best, but juice is sometimes more palatable. Pregnancy made me boring on this score. I get my kicks watching my kid now.)

So now I'm curious about what y'all else do for exercise. I'll take a little stroll through the blogs...