After being diagnosed with diabetes, my uncle — a doctor — gave me one piece of advice: rest for 30–60 minutes after each meal, then take a brisk walk for 30–45 minutes. He said it would be powerful for blood sugar control.
At first, I didn’t fully follow his suggestion. I would pick just one meal a day — breakfast, lunch, or dinner — and do the brisk walk after that meal. My meals were consistent in both type and portion. Here’s what happened: after the meal I walked, my 2-hour post-meal glucose stayed around 6.7–7.8 mmol/L, which was great. But after meals without walking, my readings were often between 8.0–10.8 mmol/L. This pattern stayed the same for three months.
It became clear: post-meal exercise only lowers blood sugar for that specific meal. It works immediately, but it doesn’t help for meals you don’t exercise after.
So I decided to go all in. I committed to walking briskly after all three main meals every day. The result? My post-meal blood sugar for every meal stayed below 7.0 mmol/L — for three months straight and continuing to this day — with no abnormal spikes.
The takeaway: to keep your 24-hour blood sugar within a healthy range, exercise after every main meal, not just one. This approach doesn’t just control one reading — it keeps your daily blood sugar profile close to that of a healthy person.
