BG Report: Amtrak Texas Eagle 1/2: Chicago to San Antonio

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(the article below accompanies this video)

Amtrak’s Texas Eagle is America’s longest passenger train, and the second longest in all of the Americas. I rode it the entire length, Chicago to Texas to Los Angeles, a trip that took three nights and went over 2,700 miles.

And surprisingly, my blood sugars on the first half, from Chicago to San Antonio, were pretty good. Despite this being a train ride, most of which I spent in my private roomette without getting much exercise. I guess my insulin doses were just right, and the Amtrak food wasn’t too carb-rich.

Actually, when I woke up in my 40th floor hotel rooming Chicago, the first reading of the day was high, 273. I took a big shot and had breakfast, then walked around Chicago Union Station a while. Before lunch there, I was a mere 70.

The train left after lunch. I sat in the roomette and watched southern Illinois pass by. My first blood sugar check actually on board was perfect, 122. And it was time for my first Texas Eagle meal.

I had the “kofta kebabs” from the Flexible Dining menu; they delivered it to my roomette. It had rice, and I had to make a complete guess about the carb count. I also got a beer with the kebabs.

I overestimated – before bed I was 65. But at least it wasn’t high. I had some cereal bar I had swiped from the Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station, which had carbs on the package so I was able to eat just what I needed.

I slept well on the firs tonight about the Texas Eagle, but did wake up around 4 am and checked my BG out of curiosity. It was 95, so I went back to sleep, satisfied.

Still felt good in the morning so I didn’t even check before breakfast. I sat in the dining car and had a waffle and sausages with coffee. I knew syrup is packed with sugar (as are waffles) so I took a lot of insulin for it.

A couple times, we were able to step off the train, but not long enough to truly get significant exercise. At Fort Worth I was able to walk around a bit more since we had a long stop, but not enough to make much of a difference.

But every little bit helps. Before my lunch of enchiladas, BG was 178. I consider that a win, after train waffles.

In the mid-afternoon, I was yet again an even 70, so I had a small snack to bolster it a bit. (I tend to slowly ease downward in the afternoons, so 70 was too low.)

Around 5 pm, as we were around Austin, Texas for a brief fresh air break, I was still doing well – 134. By now I was kind of in amazement about how well-behaved my diabetes was being.

Dinner was Asian BBQ salmon, again in the dining car. Again I had to guess about the rice, but I did well – the train stopped for several hours in San Antonio and before going to sleep I was 110.

In San Antonio I fell asleep while the train was off, sitting on the tracks. This wasn’t a delay, but the regular schedule. We were waiting for the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to arrive, and were joining it for the rest of the trip to L.A.

That will be in Part 2. I hadn’t had a single BG aboard the train over 200. Talk about a great trip, diabetically and otherwise!

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