I’m back from holiday and ready to get back to training. I now have a copy of my final year timetable and, combined with my extra activities, I will be doing around 25 hours physical activity per week. This includes yoga, weight training, pole, and various dance classes, walking and cycling. As I will be doubling my training I am going to increase my calorie intake, but more about that on another post.
Back to holiday and how I managed my blood glucose. Well, the first day I was doing great until half way through the flight. I had dinner on the plane which was a small mushroom risotto which I think I gave the absolute correct bolus for. I checked my BG afterwards and it was around 12 from 5. I took a correction dose straight away. I then checked another 2 hours later and it had risen to 14. I checked the line to my pump and there were several air bubbles which meant I obviously wasn’t receiving the insulin I was giving to myself. I went ahead and primed the pump to remove the air bubbles and gave another correction dose. I also walked down the stairs and to the back of the plane to do some jogging on the spot. Yeah, I’m weird! Within an hour or so I was back down to around 8 and I was nearly at my destination. The flight was 10.5 hours from Manchester to Las Vegas.
Throughout the week I wasn’t really too careful about what I ate, I didn’t over indulged but I did indulge more than I would at home. If I had a particularly carby breakfast I would have a lower carb lunch and vice versa. I love American hash brown and I managed to bolus for them properly. On top of the eating, I walked a lot and it was around 40 degrees outside so my insulin didn’t really increase. I also did a few workouts. The workouts included bodyweight training in the hotel room, running up and down 28 flights of stairs in the Flamingo Hotel and, of course, pole dance and flexibility classes at Pole Expo.
During the whole week I only had a few highs. If you follow my instagram you would’ve seen a pic and an explanation of one of them. I drank a splash of cranberry juice with my vodka soda water and bolused for 2 carbs which is what I usually do in the UK with the cranberry juice I drink. However, I should’ve known that the cranberry juice they serve at the bar would not have been a sugar free version. Duh! I took a correction dose, stopped drinking alcohol and continued with my night as planned. I was on my way out to dinner and a show called Zumanity by Cirque Du Soleil.
All in all I managed it really well. I took enough insulin and other supplies to cover me for a few weeks rather than just one. It’s better to be safe. I had to change my insulin daily as I think the heat was damaging it when I was at the pool or doing anything outdoors. Most days I would only go to the pool for an hour so I took my pump off and left it in the safe in the room. On the days where I knew I would spend more time at the pool I took it with me and had it wrapped under a towel with some ice. I just detached it when I got in and out of the water and it was fine. Nobody noticed or said anything about it.
The night times were interesting when I would put on a nice dress and have to figure out when to put my pump. My knickers or bra were the safest bets. The pic above is where I put my pump on the night I went to see Britney Spears. She was amazing and kept me dancing.
How do you find it to manage your diabetes when you are away from home? Do you find that you stay in control? Let me know in the comments below, email me or follow me on instagram and twitter.
Rowena x