What I’ve Learned

Measuring glucose once every year or two as part of an annual physical, simply isn’t enough. That’s like driving a car without knowing how much gas is in the tank.

The continuous glucose monitor (CGM) gives me the information I need to learn how to eat and exercise in a way that keeps my glucose in a healthy zone as much as possible.

Improving my metabolic health will help prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

It Aint Easy Eating Clean

This is a marked up screenshot of yesterday’s glucose levels. I was all over the map. I began the day with a spike and never recovered. Not horribly, but I received a below passing grade for my lack of metabolic stability.

I got a late start to the day, so no yoga stretching or any activity before or after breakfast.

This is Interesting

I have to say that it’s been facinating to see how what I eat turns into glucose in my body. It’s not exactly what I expected.

For example, my regular weekday breakfast has been Cheerios and blueberries. Cheerios are seemingly healthy. They’re only 100 calories per serving, no fat, 2 grams of fiber, no added sugar, and whole grain. What’s not to like?

We’ve all heard that processed foods break down easily, but it’s impressive to see it happen in almost near real-time.

Setup

Day 1 consisted of getting the apps installed on my phone, attaching the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my arm, and start tracking my food.

There are 2 apps required. The first one, LibreLink is just for the CGM. It’s the bit that uploads and records your glucose readings. The second one is the Levels app. Levels imports the readings from LibreLink, and you have to allow LibreLink to share your data with Levels. There’s about a one hour delay between recording your readings and when they show up on the Levels app.

I’m Sharing My 28 Day Glucose Experiment Here

I signed up for Levels and got a continuous glucose monitor. For the next 28 days, I’m going to monitor the readings and try to optimize them by adjusting the inputs that I control like food, exercise, sleep, and to a certain degree, stress.

I’ll share those results daily, right here.

Why I Chose To Monitor My Glucose Readings

I’m doing this experiment for a few reasons:

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.