The second variable is the one that quietly does more work than most people realize. The Pro Tips have a name for it: free insulin.
Today's idea
Physical movement makes muscles more receptive to glucose. The doors on the cells, in effect, open easier. Less insulin does more work. Many people with Type 1 know that exercise can drop their blood sugar — fewer know that a 10-minute walk after a meal can quietly turn a 180-spike into a 140.
The Pro Tip series calls it free insulin because it requires no dose, no math, and no risk profile:
Movement is free insulin. Your muscles need energy. The doors on them open more easily, and less insulin does more work. A short walk after a meal can quietly turn a spike into a soft curve.
From Pro Tip 1447
For people with active jobs, kids, or daily walks, this variable is already showing up in their numbers — they just don't always know it's there. For people whose work is sedentary, the absence of this variable is also showing up — also without their knowing.
My body does some of the work for me when I move.
Today, if you do anything physical — a walk, stairs, a chore — notice what your CGM does in the 60 minutes after. You're not adding exercise. You're just watching what your existing movement is already doing to your line.
Small Sip #1463 — Low Before High
What did my movement do to my line today — even if it was just a little movement?