21 Day Fix Extreme: Week 2 of 3
This week, good habits have definitely started forming. I can navigate throughout my day, knowing when to eat and how much. I don’t feel controlled by food. Having a structured but flexible meal plan has taught me the difference between real vs. fake hunger. Very cool.
This week we’re going a bit more in depth (time to geek out – woo hoo) into specifics we’ve noticed as Type 1 Diabetics. The 21 Day Fix Extreme is helping Rob and I learn to better understand how our bodies work. This information is priceless. To think, a simple fitness and nutrition program is giving us more personal clarity than we’ve ever known. Unbelievable.
Our Nutrition
Rob and I are doing the “Countdown to Competition” Nutrition Plan. This plan alternates 2 countdown days with 1 extreme day vs. doing the extreme nutrition plan throughout the entire program (the norm). This supplementary plan comes with the 21 Day Fix Extreme. Autumn Calabrese, creator of the 21 Day Fix, follows the Countdown to Competition plan herself prior to a photo shoot or figure competition to showcase her physique. Rob and I decided to give it a try so that we could learn how our bodies react to such a serious regimen and be able to support our clients who opt to do it as well.
Countdown days are referred to as “carb depletion” days, whereas extreme days are of a more regular nutrition plan with higher levels of carbohydrate. This is a temporary eating regimen that is very common in the competition world. Such a plan is designed to help you burn through those last stores of body fat – while continuing to fuel your workouts and keep you healthy.
Based on our starting weight, the 21 Day Fix Extreme (just like the original 21 Day Fix) provides guidelines on how much of each food category to consume each day. The portion containers help ensure we’re enjoying the correct portion of each food category; no counting calories! It’s brilliant.
21 DAY FIX EXTREME VS. T1 DIABETES
Naturally, diabetes adds an interesting layer to any fitness regimen and throwing in a nutrition adjustment can be a challenge. It’s always recommended that those living with diabetes work with their healthcare team before making major lifestyle adjustments like this. In addition, having a correct insulin:carbohydrate ratio established is important before beginning any fitness regimen so the effect of exercise can be isolated and adjusted for.
Having a correct insulin:carbohydrate ratio established is important before beginning any fitness regimen so the effect of exercise can be isolated and adjusted for.
Breaking it Down
Imagine this; we wear insulin pumps that deliver a continuous supply of rapid-acting insulin continuously. It is delivered through a small catheter placed just below the skin. This insulin supply is called our “basal” insulin. It acts to keep our blood sugars in the proper range, much like a functioning pancreas would.
At meal time, Rob and I need to inject insulin so we can use the carbohydrates we eat for energy and energy storage. Therefore, we calculate how many carbohydrates we are consuming (we’ll save that topic for another day), plug this number into our insulin pump and based on our prior established insulin:carbohydrate ratio, the insulin pump recommends how much insulin needs to be delivered to make sure our blood sugars stay in range.
Our Observations While Completing the 21 Day Fix Extreme
Here are a few things we’ve observed in the last 2 weeks of the 21 Day Fix Extreme, Countdown to Competition nutrition plan:
Observation #1: Alternative glucose sources affect blood sugar.
While competition days are based on the concept of “carb depletion,” you would think that we wouldn’t have to take very much insulin with our meals. WRONG.
When very little carbohydrates are consumed, the brain switches to ketone body metabolism and the body will begin to manufacture glucose from fats and proteins for energy.
Thus, we needed to learn to take insulin for protein sources that we would normally not have considered in our insulin dose calculations.
Observation #2: A carb depletion regimen with our early morning workouts significantly impacts blood sugar
Customarily, we like to workout very first thing in the morning, before the day sets in and excuses take over. There’s also something magical about relaxing at the breakfast table after a good workout with a hearty breakfast! This regimen worked wonderfully for us… that is, until we did the 21 Day Fix Extreme!
During the first phase of this plan, our blood sugars would sky-rocket after our workout and breakfast. I’m not talking a slight increase… I’m talking a straight up, crazy nuts increase that left us wondering what the hell just happened. AND our blood sugars would be elevated for most of the morning.
Because the 21 Day Fix Extreme Countdown to Competition nutrition plan involves VERY few carbohydrates on 2 out of 3 days AND since we workout first thing in the morning (after a normal overnight fasting period), we believe the exercise caused a glycogen dump from our liver. Glycogen may be released by the liver for a number of reasons, including a response to stressful situations, upon waking (referred to as the dawn phenomenon), in response to low blood sugar and to aid digestion.
Imagine the “stress” of exercising upon wakening during a carb depletion regimen. Since there is little energy readily available in glucose form, the body must rely on the it’s own back-up plan; the famed “glycogen dump” which quickly skyrocketed our blood sugars to serve our energy needs.
I’m just going to saying it; this was FREAKING ANNOYING! We normally pride ourselves on our fantastic blood sugar control – playing the blood sugar yoyo game was not fun. Yo-yoing blood sugars affect moods, energy, appetite – everything!
Solution:
To prevent this reaction from occurring, we decided to make glucose stores readily available to help us power through our morning workout without having to rely on our stored reserves. We experimented with eating a small pre-exercise snack; 1 serving of oatmeal consumed prior to our workouts.
The result? NO blood sugar spike with blood sugars that remained in the normal range throughout the morning. We are two VERY happy diabetics and we are loving the blood sugar stability we’ve regained from this very simple action.
Observation #3 – Blood sugars gradually decrease overnight
Diabetics often worry about low overnight blood sugars and rightfully so. That’s why our basal insulin doses are configured to keep our blood sugars stable throughout the night, for safety. OR, I mean they WERE configured…
After beginning the 21 Day Fix Extreme, we observed that our blood sugars gradually decreased overnight.
Low blood sugars at night or while sleeping can be caused by several different factors:
- such as high activity levels during the day
- physical activity before bedtime
- taking too much insulin later in the evening
- OR a combination of all these factors
We are pondering whether this new gradual decrease in our blood sugars overnight is caused by the fact that we are eating very few (if any) carbohydrates for our eventing meal AND perhaps our prior basal insulin dose was unintentionally compensating for a percentage of these carbohydrates.
Solution:
Some minor adjustments to our basal insulin dose and a modified carbohydrate:insulin ratio with our evening meal have resulted in perfect overnight blood sugars! Yay!
Observation #4 – Clarity in how our individual bodies metabolize
For the first time in our lives, Rob and I have been able to perfectly fine tune our Basal insulin itself without the influence of meals. This is priceless information. Yes, we’re eating (and enjoying) but because we are eating according to a strict nutrition plan, we can’t haphazardly think, “Oh well, if my blood sugar drops I’ll just have a snack.” Nope! Not anymore.
We are following the regimen precisely so we’ve needed to ensure that we are not overdosing; whether for meal boluses or for our basal insulin. We can predict how specific changes in our routine change our insulin needs. Priceless clarity! It’s amazing what a little clarity can do.
Summary
The insights we’ve gained as diabetics have been worth every single workout and evening spent prepping meals. We’ve learned so much. This is personal information that we could not have learned by reading a book.
WE are the authors of our lives, writing our own individual stories and learning as we go. The effects of fitness and nutrition are well-documented. The ability to see and feel these theories at work in our own bodies is mind-blowing. Now, I know what, when and why my body needs what it needs. This information will benefit Rob and I for the rest of our lives!
Check back next week so we can share our physical transformations with you!
To learn more about some of the topics we’ve mentioned, see the links below: