BG Report: Amtrak Auto Train overnight (with a late dinner)

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(the article below accompanies this video)

In the video, you’ll see how the Amtrak Auto Train left Lorton, VA a couple hours late, dinner came after midnight, and the cafe car was closed the next day, although the delays pushed the train far past lunch time. A diabetic challenge, to be sure.

My blood glucose was 203 in the morning at the hotel, thanks to a large amount of Mexican food and beer the night before. Not too bad considering; I took the insulin, had an unhealthy hotel breakfast, and later found lunch at a small cafe in a strip mall.

Arriving at the Amtrak Auto Train station, there was a line of cars. I spent a couple hours in the rarely-moving line. Getting no exercise, in other words.

The 5pm train finally started moving at 7:00, and I checked: BG was 85.

That was the last check of the day. I waited and waited to be called for the meal – I was in the last group (luck of the draw). When I finally sat down and they put my salmon plate down in front of me (included in the Bedroom price), it was just after 12 midnight.

With my also-grumpy dinner companions, whom I’d just met, I had wine and we unwound with stories and rants until we felt better. I took a shower and fell asleep around 2:00 am.

This meal schedule is not ideal, for my diabetes at least. A delay in eating means the liver introduces its own stored-up glucose, though I often wish it wouldn’t. So at 7:40 am, the train now in South Carolina, I was, unsurprisingly, 284.

I went to the dining car, took a big shot, and had a tasty and slightly less-unhealthy breakfast. The bad times weren’t over yet; at 10:00 am I was still 220.

Sometimes chaos works out for a diabetic though. We were supposed to arrive in Sanford, FL at 10 am, but it was more like 4:00 pm. And they closed the cafe car on us, so all I had for lunch was a bottle of free water and a big danish I’d swiped from the breakfast.

Arriving hours behind schedule, after this terrible lunch, I had a last check onboard: a perfect 108.

Dinner was at a Waffle House, a place I’ve been, like many southerners, a hundred million times. I think I understand the carbs in that food, but the two days of sitting around with little exercise caught up to me: I was 231 before bed. Took a bit of insulin and hit the sack.

Looking back, I should have taken some food with me to snack on at least, and maybe even proactively done some exercises in my compartment or walked around more on the train. All in all, though, I did my best to manage it and it certainly could have been worse.

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