Kelly, if a half a banana before exercising in the morning solves your low BG, then simply consider that part of your “pre-breakfast” and reduce your breakfast by that amount of carb/insulin as appropriate (assuming you’re carb counting).
Here is a very good article that addresses timing of exercise CLICK HERE This was written by Sheri Colberg who has other great advice on her website, and who’s written a book “Diabetic Athlete” - well worth buying if you want to know more. In essence, she recommends exercising before taking meal insulin since it is simpler - and when doing so supplementing with carb if needed (as you are doing with your half banana). To quote her: “Thus, if you often develop hypoglycemia during exercise, you might be better off exercising before taking any insulin to cover breakfast instead of afterward or later in the day”. She also talks about adjusting meal insulin if you exercise after your meal, but that is more complex and depends on the type of exercise you’re doing.
Personally I prefer exercising prior to dinner or late at night - I rowed crew in college and hated 6am morning workouts - but if morning is best for you I’m sure you can make it work - it sounds like you just need a little fine tuning.
I wanted to add that the insulin is not cleared. It is just that the adrenal gland will be triggered by the increased sunlight at dawn to release a hormone. This hormone will trigger the liver to release glucose to prepare the body for the coming day. This way we can be active without having something to eat. This is relict from times when there was no refrigerator to go to.
As a preparation for my excercise I will eat 20g to 30g of carbs. Often this will be juice and sometimes with a low starting number I will eat some glucose tabs. This number of carbs will fuel one hour of regular exercise on the cross trainer.
I think exercise is the best thing for type 1 diabetics. I does something very important despite the fitness. It will build up muscles and these muscles are mainly responsible for our basic metabolic rate (the calories we burn per hour). The higher the better. The more muscles the more sensitive we will become to insulin. Another positive effect is that physical activity will change the sensitivity of the insulin receptors of our cells (up regulation).
This is why I am not a friend of low carbing. There is a high potential of under-suppliying the body with carbs and proteins. As a result the body will reduce the muscles because they are consuming carbs needed otherwise. This will lead to a lower metabolic rate and makes us more prone to erratic fluctuations of our blood glucose.
