Disclaimer: I know there is some controversy regarding sharing your medical information/A1c online. In the relatively short time that I’ve been diabetic, I’ve been able to get pretty decent control over my blood sugar and A1c. Since I’m showing you all how I control my BGs during my workouts, I figure it’s only fair to also show you my big picture results for how I’m doing overall when I get my quarterly blood work done. I’m sure that some quarters will be better than others, just like some days are better than others but I believe tracking this information has allowed me to have better control. I hope that by sharing this information and allowing others to follow my data, it may inspire others to track and figure out what works for them as well.
To be clear, I am NOT saying, do what I do and your problems will be solved*. I AM saying track and experiment and figure out what works for you. I think Chris Ruden (he is a T1 beast!) puts it perfectly in episode #201 of the Juicebox Podcast:
“There is no universal fix for an individual problem.” –Chris Ruden
With all of that said, here is my data for the 6/21/2020-10/5/2020 time frame:
HbA1c = 5.1%
(A1c is in NORMAL range!!!!)
For reference: Normal (not diabetic) is 4-5.7%, Pre-diabetic is 5.7-6.4% and Diabetic is 6.5% or higher. Most endocrinologists recommend their T1 patients try to stay under 7% and when I was diagnosed, my HbA1c was 11% (Yikes!).
Time in Range (TIR) = 94%
Since many now consider time in range to be more important than HbA1c, I wanted to include that as well. You can achieve a “great” HbA1c number by having a lot of hypoglycemic incidents, which is actually quite dangerous. The real goal is to get as close to a normal HbA1c while avoiding hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This is why many who have a CGM (like me) focus more on TIR. This quarter, according to my sensor, I was in target range for 94% of the time, and never below 50 or above 250.
I was ecstatic with my numbers this quarter (again)! I still need to work a bit on my lows a bit but nothing below 50 last quarter so not horrible! I know that technically, this is more than a quarter but with the move and changing insurance/doctors, this was the best I could do. Regardless, both my A1c and TIR were better than last quarter so no complaints here! I really believe the only way to achieve long term success with diabetes, is to work towards daily (or even hourly) wins. Consistency is key!
Stay strong!
#BetterThanYesterday
*Although, if you’re curious to see what has worked for me, feel free to check out my Tips & Tricks page.
Taking a break from moving back in July
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Or Follow Me on Social Media
Did I use an abbreviation or term you haven’t heard before? Check out my post on T1 & Athletic Lingo!
The content on this site is not intended to be medical advice. Always consult your doctor before beginning a fitness regimen or adjusting your diabetes management strategy.
t1athlete.wordpress.com 