Put Up Shots Instead Of Taking Them (Stunting Breakfast BGs With Basketball)

We all get locked into patterns, habitual ways of doing things, mostly because it’s just easier that way. When you find a pattern that works, those repeated steps conserve brain power in the form of less decisions, saving energy for the rest of the day. As long as those patterns lead to beneficial outcomes, all is right. Recognizing the less desirable outcomes takes awhile though, and oftentimes we need a change of scenery to shine awareness on the need for change.

What was this week’s change of scenery? I’ve been housesitting at my parents, which brings with it the constant badgering of our family border collie, Misty. You try studying with her giving you the laser eyes right behind the laptop, for hours on end, until you break, to play her in basketball. So, after an hour of studying in the morning and much coercing, we get outside to put up shots. The game lasts for 10 minutes: she rebounds, drops dimes right into my shooting pocket, and then we resume indoor activities (studying and more badgering).

In just two 10 minute breaks of basketball each morning, which ends up being fairly aerobic, the games have totally stunted what usually happens after breakfast–the slow ballooning of blood glucose after a smoothie or bowl of cereal. I’m eating the same cereal, the same fruit, and at the same times. Yet, things are more contained.

All of us get the importance of exercise, but you know, it doesn’t have to be a big charade to impact our diabetes management for the good. The 10 minute basketball game is another tool in the tool-belt. If I see a rise coming on the CGM, we just play basketball, effectively stunting the rise.