Why I Started Wearing a CGM — And What It Showed Me That 3 Years of Healthy Living Never Did
- Amy Alford
- Mar 31
- 8 min read
I want to start by saying something that might surprise you.
I am a certified health coach and nurse. I have lived and breathed macros for years. And it was macros — not a fad diet, not a cleanse, not willpower — that finally helped me lose weight after decades of trying. When I started eating whole foods, prioritizing protein, layering in fiber, and learning how to build a balanced plate, my body responded in a way it never had before.
I lost 40+ pounds in perimenopause. I thought I had figured it out.
And then last summer, everything changed.
The Moment I Knew Something Was Off
I got shingles. And I could not recover from my workouts. I was staying sore longer than I ever had. My body felt like it was fighting something I could not see.
When I traveled, I noticed I would get shaky — that familiar feeling I had always chalked up to low blood sugar. I had done it for years. Grabbed something sweet. Felt better. Moved on.
But this time I had a continuous glucose monitor on.
I was staying in a hotel after a full day of traveling and I asked my husband to grab me something to help — apple juice, something to bring my sugars up. He came back to the room and I looked at my monitor.
My glucose was in the 200s.
It was not low. It had never been low. And that moment — standing in that hotel room holding my phone and staring at that number — was the moment everything shifted.
I was not crashing from low blood sugar. I was spiking from high blood sugar. And I had no idea.
Getting Real With the Data
That experience led me to get labs done — fasting glucose, fasting insulin... with my doctor. And I want to be honest with you about what came back.
Borderline prediabetes. Fasting blood sugars higher than they should have been.
I am a nurse. A macro coach. Someone who had spent three years genuinely trying to do everything right. And there it was.
It was humbling. And it was clarifying. Because for the first time, I had an answer for all the things that had not been making sense — the fatigue, the soreness, the shakiness, the stubborn weight that would not move no matter what I did.
By the time fasting glucose rises on a lab, insulin resistance may have been quietly building for years — possibly even decades. That is not a scare tactic. That is just the reality of how this process works in the body. And it is exactly why I became passionate about getting this information into the hands of midlife women who deserve to know it.
What the Orange Taught Me
One morning I started my breakfast with an orange. Healthy, right? Full of vitamins. Natural sugar. I had eaten oranges my whole life without a second thought.
My glucose went into the 180s.
That single piece of fruit — eaten alone, first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach — spiked my blood sugar in a way that shocked me. And here is the thing. I am more glucose sensitive in the morning. My body responds differently to carbohydrates earlier in the day than it does later. Without a CGM I would have never known that.
That one data point is what deepened my understanding of the eating order strategy — Protein, Fiber, Fat first — the approach I use and teach every day. Because carbs need a BFF. You do not have to stop eating the orange. You just cannot eat it alone — especially first thing in the morning.
I have also seen the flip side. On my refeed days — when I intentionally eat more carbohydrates as part of my training strategy — my blood sugar stays surprisingly stable. Because I am eating strategically. I am pairing. I am ordering my meals intentionally. And my body responds completely differently than it did when I was doing low calorie, low fat, or even low carb diets out of fear.
Food is not the enemy. The strategy around food is everything.
What Glycemic Variability Actually Means — And Why It Matters
Here is something most people do not know. It is not just high blood sugar that creates metabolic dysfunction. It is the swings. The highs AND the lows. Even in people who do not have diabetes.
Those repeated glucose spikes drive insulin secretion. Chronically elevated insulin promotes visceral fat storage, inflammatory signaling, and worsening insulin resistance over time. This is called glycemic variability — and it is happening in people whose labs look completely normal.
And that is the problem with fasting glucose as a measurement. It is a snapshot. One moment in time. It does not show you what happens to your blood sugar after the orange. After the stress of travel. After a night of poor sleep in a hotel bed. It does not show you what your body is doing minute to minute.
That is what a continuous glucose monitor shows you. And that is why I believe it is one of the most powerful tools available to midlife women right now — not to replace their doctor, not to diagnose anything, but to give them real time metabolic feedback that their labs simply cannot provide.
Why I Use the Dexcom Stelo and the SIGNOS App
I have tried two different CGM apps. I stay with SIGNOS because it does not just show me my blood sugar. It turns that data into something I can actually act on.
Here is what I love about it:
When my glucose starts to rise, the app alerts me and suggests movement — even something as simple as a 10 minute walk or 20 air squats. And that matters more than most people realize.
Every time your muscles contract, they take up glucose from your bloodstream — without your body having to produce insulin. Muscle is literally a glucose sponge.
Something as simple as 20 air squats after a high carb meal can shuttle glucose out of the blood and into your muscles before your pancreas ever has to respond. That is not a trick. That is physiology. And it is one of the most empowering things you can do with real time data.
SIGNOS also lets me log my meals and then shows me exactly how much of a spike that meal caused. I can look back over weeks and see patterns — which meals consistently spike me, which ones keep me stable, how different foods affect my body differently than someone else's.
Rice versus potato. Oatmeal alone versus oatmeal with eggs. An orange on an empty stomach versus an orange after protein. These are individual, personalized data points that no generic meal plan can give you.
The app also sends me a weekly review that breaks down my glucose variability, my spikes per day, my time in range, and my average overnight glucose. Each day I can also see my macronutrient percentage breakdown — the percent of protein, carbs, and fat I ate — and it tracks my total fiber intake. As someone who has tracked macros for years, seeing my food data alongside my glucose response is incredibly powerful. You can see not just what you ate but exactly how your body responded to it.
And for women who have not yet learned how to track macros — the CGM data makes a compelling case for WHY macro education matters. Understanding your carb tolerance and your carb threshold — meaning how your body responds to carbs and how much it can handle before spiking — is much easier when you can see the data in real time.
My recommendation if you are deciding where to start: get a solid macro education first. I run six week FASTer Way rounds that teach exactly that — macro balanced eating, strength training, and hormone balancing strategies. Then layer in CGM data. The two together is true metabolic optimization. But your path is your path. My path is not your prescription.
My Daughter Abby's Story
My daughter Abby is almost 21. She has been having GI issues — nothing major showing up on labs yet. Before going down a more invasive road she wanted to try the CGM I wear. Her choice. Her curiosity.
At a ball game recently her glucose rose to the 180s. She used to get nauseous during games and never knew why. Now she does. When her glucose spikes that high she feels it. And knowing that has already changed the way she fuels before games — no sugary sports drink, more protein, more intentional choices.
That is the power of personalized data. Not fear. Not restriction. Just information that helps you make better decisions for your own body.
Why Muscle Is Metabolic Medicine
This is the part I want every midlife woman to understand.
We start losing muscle mass after a certain age — and in midlife the loss accelerates. The less muscle you have, the less glucose your body can efficiently use. The less efficient your glucose metabolism is, the harder it becomes to manage energy, control cravings, and maintain a healthy weight.
More muscle means better carb tolerance. Period. I have seen this in my own data. As my strength has improved, my glucose response has improved alongside it.
Resistance training is not optional for midlife metabolic health. It is metabolic medicine. Every rep, every muscle contraction, every strength session is improving your body's ability to use glucose efficiently. And a CGM lets you actually see that happening in real time.
What Changes When You Have This Data
Food stops being good or bad.
It becomes — I know how this is going to make me feel. Do I want the crash? Do I want the spike? And most of the time when you can see the data you naturally start making different choices. Not out of fear. Out of understanding.
When your glucose curve is controlled your cravings are better controlled. Your energy is steadier. Your sleep improves. And you stop feeling like something is wrong with you when you can finally see exactly what your body is responding to.
You also stop vilifying carbs. You learn your threshold. You learn your tolerance. You discover that some days you can eat more carbohydrates and your body handles them beautifully. And other days you need to be more strategic. That is not failure. That is bioindividuality.
It is so freeing to be able to eat carbs again — not because someone told me it was okay but because I can see for myself exactly what my body does with them.
Is a CGM Right for You?
A continuous glucose monitor might be worth exploring if you:
Feel tired or foggy after meals
Crash hard every afternoon
Have been told you have insulin resistance or prediabetes
Are doing everything right and still not seeing results
Want real time data before pursuing more invasive testing
The Dexcom Stelo is available over the counter — no prescription needed, for adults 18 and older who are not on insulin or diabetes medication. It is a small wearable sensor that measures glucose from the interstitial fluid around your cells and sends real time data to your phone and Apple Watch every five minutes.
Data without strategy can feel overwhelming. But with a clear approach — PFF first, strategic eating order, strength training, and pattern awareness over time — the data creates clarity. Not anxiety.
Your Next Steps
Ready to go deeper?
The Elevated IR Guide is the complete deep dive — real CGM data, 7-day meal plan, glucose reset plan, and everything your labs are not showing you.
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Ready to put it all together:
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Health is wealth. 🤍
— Amy Alford, RN Your Glucose Nurse
From a nurse's perspective — not medical advice. This content is for educational purposes for adults with insulin resistance or prediabetes who are not on insulin or diabetes medication. Always consult your licensed healthcare provider.
Affiliate disclosure: The SIGNOS link is an affiliate link. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share products I personally use and believe in.
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