I Wore a Continuous Glucose Monitor for 4 Weeks and Here’s What I Learned

Nov 12

First, let me start by saying this is just my experience. I am not a medical professional, and this blog post is not intended to diagnose or treat anyone. It’s purely for educational purposes.

With that out of the way, let me also say I do not have diabetes. I decided to try a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to gain more insight into my glucose levels and see if there was a correlation with my hormone shifts, as I’m in perimenopause.

1. Why I Decided to Wear a CGM

As a nutrition and fitness coach, I’ve always been curious about how my body responds to different foods and lifestyle choices. I’ve been told countless times, “You’re the healthiest eater I know!” and I’m pretty consistent with exercise, working out at least five days a week and staying active even on rest days.

Still, I wanted to dig deeper—especially as I navigate hormonal shifts in perimenopause—to see if there were areas I could optimize.

2. The Learning Curve: Getting Started with a CGM

There are several CGM brands that don’t require a prescription, and I chose Hello Lingo because it was easy to order without a long-term commitment. The cost for two weeks was just $49, which was perfect for my initial experiment.

Setting it up was simple. The instructions were clear, and applying the monitor to the back of my upper arm was painless. I was a bit worried since I sleep on my side, but it wasn’t an issue. Once applied, you wait 60 minutes for the monitor to calibrate, and then you’re good to go.

3. What Surprised Me the Most

First Reading Shock: My first reading was 55! I wasn’t feeling great that morning, so I drank apple juice to see if my levels would come up—they did within two minutes.
Restaurant Realizations: A “healthy” meal at a Mexican restaurant spiked my glucose to 148. The app recommended exercise, and sure enough, a quick workout brought it down.
Overnight Lows: My glucose dipped to 55 overnight, which initially freaked me out but made me curious about patterns and potential causes.

4. The Impact of Lifestyle Choices

After the initial shock, I leaned into strategies I often recommend to clients:

Protein and Fiber First: Prioritizing these with meals helped mitigate spikes.
Exercise: I noticed that eating carb-heavy meals before exercise kept my levels more stable.
Timing Matters: A meal that didn’t spike me in the morning sometimes caused a spike when eaten later in the evening.
Coffee Insight: Black coffee was fine, but adding milk caused a spike—collagen, however, did not.

Popcorn was another surprise. Despite being high in fiber, it spiked my glucose for hours, more than any other food except candy.

5. What I Loved (and Didn’t Love) About Using a CGM

What I Loved:

Real-time feedback helped me understand how my body responds to specific foods and habits.
The app provided actionable tips, like suggesting squats or a short walk after meals.

What I Didn’t Love:

Stress Factor: During my luteal phase, glucose spiked even with low-carb meals, possibly due to hormonal shifts and added stress from election week and the time change. This led to more anxiety, which likely worsened the spikes.
Limited Context: While the app offers trends and tips, it doesn’t always explain why a spike happened.

6. Key Lessons I Learned

Glucose spikes are normal after meals, but they should return to baseline within a reasonable time.
Exercise, even just 15 squats, can help bring levels down after a carb-heavy meal.
Not all carbs are created equal—higher-fiber carbs or pairing carbs with protein and fat made a big difference.
Hormones and stress significantly influence glucose patterns, even when diet and exercise are consistent.
Beyond glucose insights, I noticed additional benefits like less bloating, better sleep, and more energy overall, which made the experience even more worthwhile.

7. How This Changed My Approach to Health

One of the biggest takeaways from this experiment is that I do better with lower-carb meals overall. However, I’ve learned to strategically include higher-carb meals before exercise—especially on days when I run. This approach not only keeps my energy levels up for workouts but also helps prevent the prolonged glucose spikes I noticed when eating carbs at other times.

8. Advice for Anyone Considering a CGM

If you’re curious about how your body responds to food and lifestyle choices, I think a CGM is worth the investment—at least for a couple of weeks. But here’s my advice:

Don’t stress over every spike. Stress itself can worsen glucose regulation.
Take notes on what you eat, how you sleep, and how active you are to better understand your patterns.
Use it as a tool for learning, not perfection.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I learned that glucose spikes are normal after some meals and don’t necessarily indicate a problem—especially if they resolve quickly. Exercise is a powerful tool to stabilize glucose, and small changes, like eating protein first, can make a big difference.

Have you tried a CGM? What did you learn about your body’s responses? I’d love to hear your experience!

Bobbie Lyn .