What 2 Weeks of Glucose Monitoring Taught Me About Food, Stress & Hormones
Why I Did It
I’ve always been really curious about how my body responds to certain foods, life stressors, and everyday habits. As someone who believes in the philosophy of "test, don’t guess," I wanted to go deeper than just intuition.
So, after completing “Optimize Metabolic Health with Continuous Glucose Monitoring” short course on how to interpret continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) from Nutrisense, I decided to test not just my knowledge but also how my own body actually reacts in real time. Of course, I couldn’t resist turning it into a little experiment with my husband as a second test subject.
I tracked everything over two weeks, specifically during my luteal phase (the two weeks before my period), because I knew hormones play a role here. As women, our needs and responses shift throughout the cycle, and I wanted to account for that.
How CGMs Actually Work
A CGM (continuous glucose monitor) measures glucose levels in your interstitial fluid, the fluid between your cells. Most devices take a reading every 5 to 15 minutes and send the data straight to an app. The graph you get shows peaks and dips, letting you see how food, sleep, stress, and movement affect you—in real time.
It's like having a 24/7 window into your metabolism, and honestly, it's fascinating.
Why Everyone’s Talking About Glucose Monitoring
More people are exploring CGMs, not for diabetes management, but for awareness, optimization, and empowerment.
Dr. Casey Means (Good Energy, Levels Health) speaks about how stable glucose supports brain health, energy, skin, and longevity.
The Glucose Goddess - diving deep into the ways food can impact your blood sugar levels and easy hacks to introduce on a daily basis to maintain a good level.
Dr. Jolene Brighten consistently highlights glucose as a pillar of hormonal health.
This isn’t just a trend. It’s a shift toward personalized wellness.
TL;DR — What I Learned in 2 Weeks
Your first meal shapes your blood sugar all day.
Sleep and stress matter just as much as what you eat.
Carbs aren’t the problem—context and balance are everything.
Hormones (like in your luteal phase) shift glucose sensitivity.
Curiosity > control. A CGM is a tool for awareness, not judgement.
Here’s what the experiment taught me:
1. Context is Everything (& so is knowledge)
Watching my husband interpret his results was probably the most eye-opening part. He hadn’t done the course. I had. So when he saw a spike, he thought he’d eaten something "wrong."
Meanwhile, I was over here thinking:
"Did I get poor sleep last night? Did I eat enough protein with that meal? Was I stressed out when I ate it?"
This is where I realised how easy it is to misread the data. A spike in blood sugar doesn’t automatically mean the food was bad. It’s more about how quickly you return to baseline and how your body handles the curve overall.
2. It's Not Just the Food
We’re quick to point fingers at carbs, but the data showed me it’s so much more layered than that:
Days I slept poorly? My glucose was higher all day, even with the same meals.
High-stress workday? Glucose rose even without food.
Tough workout + no breakfast? A blood sugar rollercoaster.
Why does that happen? Because when you're stressed, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline, which in turn prompts your liver to release glucose, just in case you need to run from a tiger (or reply to 43 emails).
“Stress hormones can override insulin’s effect, leading to elevated blood sugar even when insulin signaling is normal.” — Cell Metabolism, 2023
So yes, your mental load really does impact your metabolism.
3. Portions + Pairings Matter
This one was a game-changer. I had a bowl of plain white rice = big spike. Another day, I had the same rice, but added salmon, avocado, and sautéed greens = way more stable.
It wasn’t about cutting carbs, it was about supporting them.
A study in Diabetes Care showed that eating protein and veggies before carbs can reduce post-meal glucose spikes by up to 37%.
What’s happening here is all about glucose absorption speed. Protein, fat, and fiber act like traffic controllers, slowing digestion, so the glucose from carbs enters your bloodstream more gradually.
This has a name: meal sequencing, and it’s becoming more popular in functional nutrition. Leading practitioners use it to stabilize blood sugar, reduce cravings, and support hormonal balance. Eating your veggies, protein, fats then carbs in that order
4. Breakfast Sets the Tone
This was a big one for me: on days I didn’t eat a proper breakfast—whether I skipped it or had something too small and carb-heavy—my glucose was more erratic all day. I snacked more, had bigger crashes, and was more irritable (surprise!).
A high-protein, fat-fiber-rich breakfast was like a grounding force. I had more energy, less cravings, and my CGM data backed it up.
Glucose researchers refer to this as setting your glycemic tone—your body’s blood sugar response pattern for the rest of the day is heavily influenced by your first meal.
This also reduces what’s called glucose variability, or the swings between highs and lows in blood sugar. High variability (think: spike-crash-spike) is linked to inflammation, fatigue, mood swings, and even insulin resistance over time.
Would I Recommend Using a CGM?
Perhaps—but with a few caveats:
✅ Do it out of curiosity, not control.
✅ Have some support or education before you dive in.
✅ Don’t use the numbers to judge yourself. Use them to understand yourself.
If you’re navigating hormonal imbalances, fatigue, cravings, or just feel like your energy is all over the place, it can be an incredible tool.
The Big Picture: Learn Your Body’s Language
This experiment reminded me that our bodies are talking to us all the time. Glucose is just one way to listen.
It helped me connect dots I wasn’t seeing before: how stress from a meeting could affect how I handle my lunch, or how my cycle changed the way I needed to nourish myself.
Would I wear a CGM long-term? No.
Would I do it again short-term, or recommend it to someone who’s ready to tune in? Yes.
If you’re thinking of trying it or want help making sense of your results, I’d love to chat more. Send me a message—you might be surprised at what you discover too.
A Note on Limitations
CGMs are powerful tools, but they aren’t perfect. They measure glucose in interstitial fluid (not blood), which can lag slightly behind real-time blood sugar. They also come with a margin of error, and without guidance, it’s easy to over-analyze. University of Bath study “warns CGMs can prompt harmful dietary changes and distort perceptions of health”
If you tend to be data-obsessed or prone to food anxiety, a CGM might cause more harm than insight. The goal here is empowerment, not perfection. Always interpret CGM data in the broader context of sleep, stress, hormones, and lifestyle—with or without a coach or health professional.
Further Reading & References
Jakubowicz D, et al. “High-energy breakfast diet is associated with a reduction in total daily insulin requirements in type 2 diabetic patients.” Diabetes Care, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc15-0165
Shukla AP, Iliescu RG, Thomas CE, Aronne LJ. Food Order Has a Significant Impact on Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Levels. Diabetes Care. 2015 Jul;38(7):e98-9. doi: 10.2337/dc15-0429. PMID: 26106234; PMCID: PMC4876745.
Casey Means, MD. Good Energy (2024). Levels Health. https://www.levelshealth.com/blog
Yaribeygi H, Maleki M, Butler AE, Jamialahmadi T, Sahebkar A. Molecular mechanisms linking stress and insulin resistance. EXCLI J. 2022 Jan 24;21:317-334. doi: 10.17179/excli2021-4382. PMID: 35368460; PMCID: PMC8971350.
Brighten, Jolene, ND. “Is Blood Sugar Balance the Missing Link to Hormonal Health?” https://drbrighten.com
Netflix (2024). You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment. https://www.netflix.com/title/81133260
Katie M Hutchins, James A Betts, Dylan Thompson , Aaron Hengist, Javier T Gonzalez. Continuous glucose monitor overestimates glycemia, with the magnitude of bias varying by postprandial test and individual – a randomized crossover trial. 2025 May: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.02.024
