Diving Deeper into the nutrition / performance side of glucose monitoring

I’ve worn 3 monitors at this point 2 on my left arm and one in my right arm. If you put them directly on the back of your arm you can barely feel them until you shower or take off a shirt and catch it on the monitor. It’s my only frustration with the actual device so far and I otherwise can’t complain. For those that are just reading this - Supersapiens is an implanted continuous glucose monitor that is paired with an app to track and measure my blood glucose. Let’s Dive in to what I’ve learned.

What’s in my arms isn’t in my legs

I have raced once with this device and it was a 5K and I’m not in nearly good enough shape to deplete any major glucose stores in 18:00. However, my blood glucose did drop during the 5K I raced and I felt a huge power loss. This wasn’t just a lack of fitness but it was also the result of poor fueling the day before and morning of. Tipping Point: This device shares my glucose exposure in the last 24 hours and how I’m tracking. If you want to ensure your glycogen levels are generally higher, expose yourself to more glucose. That said, what’s in the interstitial fluid in my arms does not reflect if my glycogen levels in my legs are topped off. Glycogen also doesn’t have anything to do with my weekly mileage, lifting schedule, or soreness. What is important: I have improved my pre-race / workout routine to include a number of different types of carbohydrates

New additions to my diet within 24 hours of a workout or race:

1. More Fruit! 1-1.5 cups of berries (blueberries, pomegranate seeds, raspberries, blackberries)

2. Rice not Pasta. I personally get a longer glucose response form rice. It slowly raises my glucose vs. pasta which personally skyrockets me. This also helps me feel satiated for longer.

3. Have the candy or sweets. An Almond Joy here, a handful of Gummy Bears there. It’s not going to upend your performance to have a treat. Even having a serving of ice cream before bed is worthwhile!

Pre-Race changes

1. I simply need to eat MORE. I often come into workouts and races nearly hypoglycemic (70-75mg/dl). I need to eat more and even consider pre-loading with 100-150g of liquid carbs. I’m still learning but so far Skratch and Skratch Superfuel have been great sources.

2. 90 Minutes - 2 hours for Solids. I can eat almost anything I want pre workout or pre-race. So far the best has been eggs and rice with a few slices of avocado. I must hydrate with water and minimize my coffee intake to 1 small cup. I am sensitive to diuretics and often have to pee because of cold onset diuresis.

3. 30 Minutes out I need to be finish my carbs. This could be Gatorade, Skratch, or other high carb drink. I want to see my glucose maintained in the high to upper 90’s.

4. Don’t freak when I drop. I always drop when I start a workout but then fueling takes over. I tend to have a large hormone response and feel a little funky for about 10 minutes no matter what I drink/ eat. This means it’s best for me to soft pedal the first rep and ease into my races. After that, I can more reasonably manipulate my glucose.

Progress isn’t linear

Inputs do not equal outputs in the game of manipulating and managing your blood glucose. With a healthy and working pancreas I cannot simply ingest X carbs and have my glucose shift upwards by 10-30 mg/dl. As compared to a diabetic, my body wants to regulate me as close to homeostasis as possible. So even though I am trying to push my numbers up my body is trying to down regulate. You simply can’t put in a large amount of glucose and hope to stitch a perfect plateau during your workouts. The goal is to increase glucose to the performance zone and then try not to let it drop significantly or outside of the performance zone during your workouts. Bouncing in and out of near hypoglycemia is not a great way to fuel (tell me this 10 years ago please).

Hormone Response

Diving in here has had me understanding new parts of how the body responds to glucose, hormones and how we recover. I have always said we need to refuel with the big 3 (carbs, fat, protein) after hard efforts. The most important of those is carbs especially if you plan on lifting or thinking sharp for the next 2 hours.After we finish a hard effort, we see a glucose response. Parallel to that glucose response is a hormone signal that also engages the immune system (think inflammatory response), and ultimately starts a rapid anabolism response (tissue regen). You can learn more about the role glucose plays in tissue regeneration and hormone response post-workout here.

See image:

As mentioned I always drop off at first even if I built in some glucose at first. Towards the end of a run (this was 5 miles easy) I will naturally rebuild my blood glucose naturally. Here’s the thing though - this run sucked. I hit almost 60mg/dL and did an absolutely awful job fueling leading into this run. I had maybe 800-1000 kCals leading into the run. I was tanked form the start.

You can’t cheat nutrition. Deciding you want to have a great run can’t happen 90 minutes before or even 30 minutes before. Under fueled, under recovered will always = suboptimal running.

Recovery and Sleep

Sleeping 8 hours for me has become more frequent in the last month. I’m going to bed with more in my stomach. I always heard the adage of not eating after 8pm and especially don’t eat before bed. I don’t eat much but maybe a handful of walnuts and blueberries. In the last 5 years I’ve struggled with quality sleep and struggled to fully recover from big sessions.

Breakthrough

Having a true bedtime snack has helped my sleep significantly. It allows me to go bed feeling satiated and whether correlation or causation I’ve been falling asleep quickly. My training has increased significantly and I hate waking up feeling hypoglycemic and completely empty stomached. It’s the least desirable way to wake up and get motivated for a run; which is why I’ve been running more midday. This is also because I need to increase my Vitamin D!

Evening Snacks:

• Handful of fruit + nuts (carbs + fat!)

• 1/4 cup full fat yogurt and granola w/ slivered almonds

• Cheese and crackers. 1 cheese stick and a reasonable amount of crackers

• 1/2 PBJ - If I’m craving sweets this is perfect. Toast bread cut in half and load it up!

Sleep + Glucose

Our friend cortisol shows up when we sleep and when I am stressed my sleep is awful. Whether it’s thinking about programming, day to day interactions, or just the general daunting thoughts of what’s ahead - my sleep can be 3 hours on a bad day and up to 8 on a good day. As the photo shows - I can get 8 hours but tossing and turning. This isn’t awful but still impairs my recovery. If you look closely, I ate a snack before bed and still struggled to sleep well.

Refueling on poor sleep

This rough night had me averaging near hypoglycemia at 72 mg/ dL. I woke up sore and foggy which means the day started slow until I could balance my blood sugar in the 90’s. This knowledge helps me choose a breakfast that will get my numbers up and stabilize. I might have a 1/2 glass of juice with my coffee and choose eggs and rice/ potatoes/ bagel with a high fat option like avocados so I can get my blood sugar up and then stabilize with a protein and a fat. This is often my workout day breakfast and I may repeat the following day to optimize my recovery depending on how I feel when I get up.

Sleep and Glucose Response

How I’ve changed fueling in my day to day life

I thought I’d be bored with this monitor after one sensor and I thought I’d chuck it out like the WHOOP and any sleep app I’ve ever tried. This is one of the few tools I’ve used that has truly changed my behavior. It peaks my curiosity and allows me to cross-reference my subjective feelings (tired, hungry, etc.) with objective data (high or low blood sugar). This reference tool has helped me feel more even throughout the day and changed my eating habits for the better. I’m sleeping better, recovering better, and dialing in my workout and racing routines. What’s that worth to get that inside knowledge?

What’s improved for me with Supersapiens

• Better nutrition timing. When I feel tired or off-base I check my levels, if I’m low - I eat a snack or have a meal. Fueling with biological signs has been huge.

• I’m eating more. I’ve added about 800-1000kcals / day. I’ve also increased my training. Which comes first chicken or egg? I can run more and recover better.

• I can be objective about my fueling choices. I used to detest pre-race gels or drinks for fear of “spiking” my blood sugar. Hypoglycemia has yet to serve me well. Sometimes that pre race gel is the best option depending on your numbers! You better keep your numbers up though otherwise a crash wasn’t worth the gel.

I’m still learning

This is an imperfect science, we are still trying to understand trends and curves that show long-term benefits and ideal fueling strategies. When determining what works, it’s truly individual and what works for me may not work for you. How I train, sleep, and eat is different than most. I train when I can fit it in, I’m plant based, and historically awful sleeper. That said, the best approach to improving your performance is to try something, be consistent with your application, and be willing to have it fail on you.