Hey - I saw your post a few days ago and have been thinking a lot about it. I don’t have good resources but I’m in the same boat and thought I might briefly share what I’ve been doing since December when I got my A1C levels back from my annual physical.
First, I’m 40, male, all other tests game back good including blood pressure, etc. My experience was initially dismay, frustration, and even a bit of anger. I am cycling in part because I’m an older father and I want a long health span - I want to participate in my children’s and possible grandchildren’s lives as long as I can. So this was bad news for me. I had a family member suggest quitting cycling, but that felt even worse.
So - first I got a continuous blood glucose monitor. I went with Signos and do not recommend it. Just the Dexcom and its companion app Clarity would have been enough for me. I read Peak by Marc Bubbs, which was also helpful. Then I hired a sports nutritionist (in part thanks to the podcast).
Here’s what I think was going wrong with my diet: I needed a better mix of protein, healthy carbs, and fats in each of my meals. I was under eating in general and with carbs specifically. I was also eating a lot of “healthy” processed food like organic crackers and cereal which have a higher glycemic index. Under eating lead to intense sugar cravings in the evenings before bed. My CGM showed that most of my high glucose levels were coming from those evening sugar binges in the form of things like four bananas and peanut butter, two or three bowls of cereal, etc.
So I’ve adjusted what I eat, how much, and when. This includes the order of how I eat my macros (protein with or befor carbs). I eat a huge breakfast now. I’ve also totally cut out alcohol - and replaced it with a couple non alcoholic IPAs a week. I’m also taking Magnesium and Chromium supplements together which is supposed to support better blood glucose response - though you’ll need to talk to a doctor or nutritionist about dosage and timing because I don’t understand that totally yet.
With the info from Peak, notes I made from the CGM, and the guidance of my nutritionist I am thrilled that my resting blood glucose levels are back under 100, I don’t have high blood glucose levels at night while sleeping, my sugar cravings are totally gone when I’m eating right, and I’m anticipating a good A1C test result when I take it next.
Oh also - good sleep is super important for good glucose levels for me.
I probably made this process sound simple or at least linear but it was definitely not - I lost about a month of quality training to bad nutrition while I was adjusting my diet. I was frustrated all the time. I was having just trash workouts during January and a chunk of Feb. I should have started the process with the nutritionist instead of resorting to that resource last.
Anyway - things are moving in the right direction for me at the moment. I’m sure I’ll continue to have frustrating days and weeks, but I have the resources in place right now. I’m happy to answer questions and I’ll try to post another update.