When the “Sugar Seesaw” Starts Making Sense
Tips from the Doctor — for Teachers k-12
A hallway moment.
Two minutes between bells. You reset the board, field a quick question, do a fast hallway scan, and launch the opener. You feel sharp, then twenty minutes later a little foggy and hungrier than you expected. That small seesaw can be normal, often it is just your insulin responding to that unannounced, unexpected sugar load, calling on the pancreas to step in and steady the surge with the following swing back - insulin around and overcompensating.
A new way to picture it
Think doorbell and volume knob. Insulin rings the bell so cells open and take in fuel. With insulin resistance, the bell sounds muffled. Your pancreas turns the volume up, more insulin, to keep things steady. That quiet compensation can last for years. If the knob stays cranked, the system tires and blood sugar can drift upward. The effects of insulin resistance matter long before any diagnosis.
Why midlife nudges this along
After the mid forties, three background shifts stack up:
Muscle loses a bit of oomph, so it soaks up less sugar between meals. It gets hard-of-hearing, and need more insulin for the same result. Inactive muscle loses its insulin sensitivity it was born with.
Belly fat talks louder, sending chemical messages (especially low grade inflammation) that muffle insulin’s voice in all cells.
Rhythms change, more sitting, more stress, choppier sleep, so timing signals get fuzzy.
The body map in one breath
Muscle is the sponge. When it loses the capacity it had years ago, reduced capacity to respond, glucose lingers in the bloodstream.
Liver is the tap. Insulin should turn it down; resistance lets it drip.
Belly fat is the megaphone. It can amplify static that jams the insulin signal. Inflammation becomes the body's norm.
Vessels are the sliding doors. With resistance, they stiffen and fuel does not glide to muscle as well.
Brain and gut clocks are the schedule. If the schedule is off, insulin arrives at the wrong times.
What that feels like in real life
A quick lift after a bite, then a quiet dip and a where did my focus go moment. Unexpectedly dragging feeling.
Cravings sooner than expected, even after something small.
A waistband that creeps before the scale does.
Common. Being human. And importantly, changeable.
Where we go from here
Next week we will start with Healthy eating, some simple, sustainable tweaks/tips to how you and food meet, steadying energy now and building health for the long run. Meal timing and the tap. Small shifts that help the liver hear insulin again.
Over the coming weeks
The sitting break. How tiny interruptions of two to three minutes can change after meal glucose levels and insulin needs to respond throughout the day.
Strength snippets. Why a little more muscle goes a long way in midlife, and how to build it within school day realities.
Muscle, the sponge. Why very short movement opens more doors, GLUT4, and steadies energy, no gym required. The important easy to reengage your muscles. .
Stress and sleep, the background noise. Turning down cortisol, protecting deep sleep, and why both matter for tomorrow’s insulin sensitivity.
Overcoming challenges: Learn the core fundamentals to navigate common obstacles, because it is not about perfection, it is about progression.
Getting back on track: Simple bounce back strategies for when setbacks happen, so a slip does not become a slide.
Next week: Healthy eating, some simple, sustainable tweaks to how you and food meet, steadying energy now and building health for the long run.
