Blood Sugar Crash… Course 🧬⚡

This Month’s Experiment: Me, a CGM, and a Crash Course in Blood Sugar

In July, I went full human guinea pig. I wore a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) using the Levels app, and tracked how everything — from meals to workouts to even sex (yes, I went there) — affected my blood sugar.

Let me tell you: blood sugar matters. Especially as we get older and start noticing those annoying midday crashes, brain fog, mood dips, and “why am I so tired” moments that don’t line up with how much sleep or coffee we’ve had. A lot of it? It’s glucose.

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🧪 Quick Primer: Why Blood Sugar (and A1C) Matters

Glucose is your body’s primary fuel, especially for your brain and muscles. You get it from the food you eat — mainly carbs — and once it enters your bloodstream, your pancreas releases insulin, a hormone that acts like a key. Insulin helps shuttle that glucose out of your blood and into your cells, where it’s either burned for energy or stored for later.

But here’s the problem: when you constantly spike your blood sugar — think sugary foods, processed carbs, eating large meals too quickly — your body starts to release more and more insulin to keep up. Over time, your cells stop responding well to all that insulin. That’s called insulin resistance.

When insulin resistance sets in, your blood sugar stays elevated longer, your energy crashes harder, and your risk for weight gain, inflammation, and metabolic issues goes way up. It’s a slow, sneaky process — and most people don’t even know it’s happening until it’s advanced.

That’s where A1C comes in — it measures your average glucose levels over the past 2–3 months, offering a big-picture view of how well your body is managing sugar. Even if you’re not diabetic, keeping this number low and steady can help with mental clarity, hormonal balance, weight management, and overall longevity.

🩺 Pro tip: The next time you’re doing routine bloodwork, make sure your panel includes A1C — and that you understand what it means. Knowing your number gives you more control than you think.

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📉 My CGM Journey: What I Learned

Using the Levels app, I tracked how my body responded to food, movement, stress, and sleep in real time. The sensor — a Dexcom G7 — doesn’t measure blood sugar directly, but rather interstitial glucose (the sugar in the fluid between your cells). Still, it gives you a close-up look at what your metabolism is doing all day long.

You may have seen a CGM out in the wild — that small, circular plastic disc stuck to the back of someone’s arm at the gym or on a run. That’s it. Inside is a tiny filament that sits just under your skin and continuously monitors your glucose levels.

And no, it’s not painful to apply. You just press the sensor onto your skin with a one-click applicator — it pops in and you’re done. You wear it for 10–14 days, and after a few minutes, you forget it’s even there.

Levels makes the data usable. As part of their community research program, I got access to the app and sensor — and my anonymized data helps build science that supports better metabolic health for everyone. Pretty cool.

Here’s what I learned from being my own test subject:

• 🏊‍♂️ Swimming in the morning caused a massive glucose dip. Energy crash central. Now I save swims for the afternoon.
• 🏋️‍♀️ Strength training was much more stable. Post-workout glucose barely budged.
• 🚴‍♂️ Peloton rides? Surprisingly smooth. I stayed steady throughout the ride.
• 🧘‍♀️ 10 minutes of meditation noticeably lowered my glucose. The power of stillness is real.
• 😏 Sex? A natural stabilizer! Readings evened out beautifully afterward.
• ☕ Coffee + MCT oil gave me long, stable energy. No crash, just clarity.
• 🥣 Oatmeal, the supposed health-food darling, was a surprise glucose bomb. BUT — soaking it overnight in almond milk completely changed the impact.
• 🍚 Rice… oh, rice. My biggest spike of all. And yes, it hurts — I’m half Asian, and rice has always been part of my DNA. Still processing the betrayal.

The app uses AI to deliver real-time nudges and personalized feedback based on your glucose patterns. I got prompts like:

“Try adding raw nuts or seeds to this meal next time.”
“Take a 10-minute walk to help bring your levels back down.”
“Add more fiber or roughage — like leafy greens or broccoli.”

It’s like having a nutritionist-slash-scientist-slash-coach in your pocket — minus the judgment and guilt.

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🧠 The Tech That Makes It Easy

I’ve used MyFitnessPal for years, and while it’s fine for logging macros, Levels feels like it actually understands your body.

• AI scores your meals based on how your body handles them
• Logging is fast and intuitive
• You can snap a photo of your meal, and it estimates ingredients and macros surprisingly well

🔬 Bonus: Levels also offers a full blood panel with 105+ biomarkers — covering inflammation, hormones, micronutrients, metabolic function, and more. I plan to re-test in about 6 months to see how my daily tweaks are impacting the bigger picture.

🔗 Want to try it? Explore more at www.levelshealth.com

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🔧 Blood Sugar Hacks You Can Use Right Now

You don’t need a CGM to start stabilizing your energy. These easy habits can make a real difference:

🍩 Having something sugary?
Take 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar 20–30 minutes before to blunt the spike.

🥦 Start with veggies.
Eating fiber (like broccoli or greens) before carbs can reduce glucose swings.
Pro tip: If you’re not eating a salad first, a little cheat is mixing psyllium husk with 8 oz of water, drinking it, and then following up with another 8 oz about 10 minutes later. It creates the same glucose-buffering effect — and helps with digestion too.

🍗 Pair carbs with fat or fiber.
Toast with avocado. Fruit with nuts. Olive oil over pasta. Simple swaps, major payoff.

🍽️ Macros order matters.
The order you eat your food actually affects your glucose curve. Aim to eat protein first, fat second, and carbs last. Same meal, different order — flatter curve.

🚶‍♀️ Walk after meals.
Even 10–15 minutes helps your body manage blood sugar — and boosts digestion too.

🧘 Chill out.
10 minutes of deep breathing or meditation lowered my numbers. Yes, really.

😴 Get good sleep.
One rough night and my glucose was a mess the next day. Your metabolism loves sleep.

⏳ Try intermittent fasting.
Fasting gives your body a break from constant insulin spikes and helps improve blood sugar regulation over time. The most popular method is the 16:8 (16 hours fasted, 8-hour eating window), but I’ve personally found success with a 24-hour fast once a week starting at 6 p.m. If that sounds intense, start slow with a simple 12-hour overnight fast — even that can make a noticeable difference.

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💡 Final Thoughts

Wearing a CGM gave me a level of personal insight that no lab test, wellness tracker, or food label ever could. It’s not about being perfect — it’s about learning your patterns, listening to your body, and stacking small choices that actually change how you feel.

This kind of tech isn’t just for diabetics anymore. It’s for anyone who wants to feel better, think clearer, and age smarter. If you’re into performance, prevention, or just trying to avoid the dreaded 3 p.m. crash, it’s absolutely worth exploring.

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Have questions? Want to nerd out over your glucose graph? Call me. 📞
I’m all in on biohacking, health tech, and helping anyone interested on optimizing how they live, move, eat, and feel. And yes — I’ll even tell you which sushi roll spiked me the hardest. (Looking at you, tuna crispy rice.)

So — let’s compare glucose graphs. Mine used to look like a rollercoaster at Six Flags. Now? A lovely row of soft, continuous hills. Progress never looked so pretty 😍

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