Your first foray into blood sugars!
Ok, you should have in your email inbox a copy of your first few days of blood sugar tracking. These are pages 21-25. (they’re improperly labeled as page numbers 15-19) You’re going to record all your readings on these pages.
To start your blood sugar journey, you’re going to start with tracking your readings at two different times:
- The time of day when you feel most fatigued
- This time could vary day-to-day or it could be at the same time each day.
- You can refer back to the Stanford Sleepiness questionnaire to determine exactly what time(s) your energy is at its lowest.
- After a 12-hour fast
- Let’s say you have dinner at 7 pm on a Monday. You’ll want to take a fasting blood sugar reading at 7 am on Tuesday.
- Make sure you don’t eat anything before checking your blood sugar!
- If you cannot make it 12 hours, fast for as long as is comfortable.
Your experience
I want you to pay close attention to how or what you feel during the times when you measure your blood sugar. The aim here is for you to start making connections between how you feel and what your blood sugar readings are.
Often, when blood sugar is imbalanced, all you’ll notice is a slight feeling of fatigue. If you’re not paying close attention, you’ll probably brush it off as normal.
In your initial blood sugar tracking experiment, you’re going to write down your objective reading. Next, to that reading, write 2-3 words that describe how you’re feeling. I recommend paying close attention to any patterns that begin to emerge.
You may notice that when your blood sugar drops below 4.2 mmol/L (75 mg/dL) you feel slightly anxious. Or, when your blood sugar is above 4.7 mmol/L (85 mg/dL) you feel sleepy.
Make note of these patterns!
Use one page from your companion guide for each day of tracking. Be sure to answer all the questions on each sheet!
Below, I’ve compiled a list of videos on how to accurately track your blood sugar with a number of different glucometers on the market today. Click on the brand of glucometer you have below and you’ll be taken directly to an instructional video on how to best use it.
If you have a different brand, fear not. The steps you follow will closely mimic those illustrated in any of the above videos. Remember, if you have any questions at all, simply post them in the Facebook group.