Super Bowl Low Blood Sugar Game Plan
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The episode, word for word
We are officially in that part of February where three things are true at the same time:
Everyone's still pretending their New Year's resolutions survived January.
There is already a Costco-sized tub of queso in your fridge for the Super Bowl.
Your CGM is about to meet a lot of Tostitos Scoops and Buffalo Wild Wings.
And in the middle of all that, you're trying to do one of the hardest things in T1D: stop treating lows with whatever Little Debbie product is within arm's reach.
Today isn't a lecture. It's a reality check and a little halftime show. You're over five weeks into this Low Blood Sugar Challenge, and whether you feel it or not, things are different.
I'm Neil Greathouse, and this is Your Best T1D Year.
Welcome to Week 5. You're past the halfway mark.
If you've stuck with this from January, you have already:
Treated lows with Glucose Tabs instead of sprinting to a family-size box of Cheez-Its.
Walked past a box of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls at 2am and grabbed Glucose Tabs from your nightstand instead.
Survived at least one low without demolishing half a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos in the dark.
That is not minor. That is you arguing with your low-blood-sugar brain and winning more often.
And if you're just joining us right now? Perfect. This is not a "you had to be here from Day 1" thing. You can jump in today and start treating lows with Glucose Tabs instead of random snack chaos.
We're building habits, not a gated community.
Let's talk about what's probably already different, even if you haven't zoomed out yet.
For a lot of people doing this challenge, a few quiet shifts show up first:
Shorter low time. You're still going low sometimes, but you're not stuck there as long.
Smaller rebounds. Instead of 55 250 rage bolus 45 after inhaling three Krispy Kreme Original Glazed donuts, it's more like 65 115 and done.
Less chaos at night. Not perfect, but fewer "I woke up in a sugar hangover after murdering a sleeve of Double Stuf Oreos" mornings.
In research language, that looks like fewer extreme swings and shorter hypoglycemia duration. That stuff matters. Studies tie that to less oxidative stress, better blood vessel function, and lower long-term risk.
So yeah, when you swap "two Nutty Buddy bars and a Capri Sun" for Glucose Tabs, you're not just making a nicer Dexcom screenshot. You're basically doing quiet maintenance work on your heart and your brain. Future-you is going to want to hug present-you for that, even if today-you feels annoyed.
If you want receipts before the Super Bowl snack table shows up, here's where to look.
Over the last couple of weeks, scroll back on your CGM or meter and check three things:
Low duration
Are your lows shorter than they were in December?
Did a 45-minute low turn into a 10, 20 minute blip because you used Glucose Tabs instead of Orange Fanta and three Nutty Buddy bars?
Spike size after lows
Look at your old pattern: 58 panic Capri Sun + Cinnamon Toast Crunch straight from the box 260.
Compare it to a recent low where you did Glucose Tabs only. Does the peak number look smaller and less "roller coaster at Six Flags"?
The "roller coaster count"
Count how many low high low cycles you see in a week now versus before January.
Even 1, 2 fewer of those "I went low, then high, then tried to fix it with a rage bolus and ended at 49 eating stale McDonald's fries from the bottom of the bag" episodes is a huge mental and physical win.
You might not see a different A1C yet. That's okay. A1C is the season average. Right now you're fixing the play-by-play.
This is the montage part of the movie. Sweat, repetition, slightly less chaos each week. The big reveal comes later.
Let's talk about the elephant in the living room. And by elephant, I mean the seven-layer dip surrounded by Tostitos Scoops and a mountain of Tyson frozen chicken wings.
Super Bowl weekend is a perfect storm: long game, random eating, emotions, and a lot of "you have to try my Rotel-Velveeta dip." Here's how you keep the Low Blood Sugar Challenge going without becoming the Snack Police.
1 // Glucose Tabs get a front-row seat
Keep Glucose Tabs in your pocket or right next to the couch.
If you go low during the game, treat with Glucose Tabs first before you touch the queso or the Domino's pizza.
Low means medicine. The nachos are not medicine. They might be spiritual, but they are not fast-acting glucose.
2 // Separate the low from the party
If you want the loaded nachos or the Costco cheesecake bites, awesome. Eat them because you chose them, not because your CGM screamed at you.
Treat the low with Glucose Tabs.
Start a 15, 20 minute timer.
Then, if you're in range and still hungry, go enjoy the snacks with a plan and a bolus.
That one pause is the difference between "I enjoyed some wings" and "I spent the fourth quarter at 285 because I panic-face-planted into a tray of pigs in a blanket."
3 // Give yourself a grade on effort, not perfection
This weekend, your "win" is not a flat line. It's:
I used Glucose Tabs first.
I had fewer "low raid the Pringles 280" moments than last year.
I didn't let one low hijack my whole night.
Think of it like football stats. You're not going 100% completion. You're raising your completion percentage on hard plays. That's a big deal.
Think about every sports movie ever.
There's always that halftime locker-room scene where the team is sweaty, exhausted, down on the scoreboard, and convinced it's over. And the coach walks in like, "Hey, you're actually still in this."
That's where you are.
You've run the plays. You've blown a few drives. You've also quietly stopped treating every low with a mixing bowl of Lucky Charms. The second half is where people who stick with the boring fundamentals, like Glucose Tabs first, snacks later, walk back onto the field and shock themselves with how different the game feels.
Here's the question for this weekend:
"What's one thing about my lows that's already easier than it was in December?"
Maybe it's how fast your lows recover.
Maybe it's how you feel when you see a low alarm, less "panic sprint to the pantry," more "I know exactly where my Glucose Tabs are."
Maybe it's that you made it through one low without turning a snack-size bag of Peanut M&M's into a full dinner.
Pick one. Name it. That's your proof this is working.
If you're just jumping in right now, welcome. This is Week 5 of the Low Blood Sugar Challenge, but this is not a "you missed the start" situation.
Here's how this works:
You sign up at yourbestt1dyear.com.
You get a simple weekly email, no spam, no sales funnel, just one nudge and one tool you can actually use.
You start where you are. Today. Not back on January 2nd.
When you join, you'll also earn a digital badge at the end of the challenge, because adults deserve stickers too. It's a small way of saying, "You showed up for yourself and did the hard, boring work." And yes, this is not me talking from the sidelines, I'm doing this right alongside you: same CGM alarms, same Glucose Tabs, same life happening in the background.
If this challenge has brought up that feeling of, "I'm doing so much of this on my own," that's exactly why Blue Circle Health exists.
They're offering free, virtual care for adults with type 1, real endocrinologists, diabetes educators, social workers, and coaches who help with insulin tweaks, CGM support, emotional load, and even insurance nonsense. Hundreds of people have already joined and seen better numbers and less stress.
They're available in 23 states plus Washington DC. They just announced last month they're now in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. You can see if you're in one of them and sign up for free at bluecirclehealth.org.
Type 1 diabetes is relentless, but managing it doesn't have to be. New episodes drop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
If nobody has told you this lately, the effort you're putting in right now is serious work. You're changing one of the hardest habits in T1D, in real life, with real Super Bowl snacks in the room. That takes courage and stubbornness in the best way. You're building something stronger than you realize. Keep going.
Week 52
Feb 9 - 155 Guest
Feb 11 - 156
This is the script as read on the mic, lightly tidied for reading. Education, not medical advice. Talk to your care team before you change anything about your insulin.