Great question! For starters, here is one of Kelly's blog posts that might be helpful in answering your question and understanding how she herself uses her CGM: How to monitor your blood sugar using a CGM.
Kelly follows a whole food diet and limits processed/ higher glycemic food as much as possible. When she is including bread or grains in her diet, she ensures it is accompanied with the Fab Four and recommends limiting rice to 1/4 cup. Adding fat, fiber, and 20+ grams of protein to a carbohydrate-dense meal can lessen glucose spikes and keep blood sugar more steady. For more insights into how her food is impacting her blood sugar, Kelly also uses a CGM to monitor her blood sugar levels.
For bread, she will opt for a triple fermented sourdough, and for wraps/ tortillas she loves Siete's grain-free options. They have cassava and chickpea options for anyone with an aversion to nut flours. The biggest concern when choosing store bought alternatives in addition to higher carbohydrate foods, is that they also contain added sugars and inflammatory oils, so it's important to check the ingredient list.
When it comes to a CGM, it can definitely give you insight into what is working for your body and what might not be working. A spike is totally normal. We just want it to be under 30 mg/dL and preferably closer to 20 mg/dL or less. That is best achieved with whole foods and cellular carbohydrates like squash or sweet potato instead of grains. Protein in general is critically important for muscle retention. But the disparity in your spike could be attributed to a multitude of factors, like whether you exercised (and what type of workout you did) and what else you are consuming in tandem with the workouts. Overall, as long as you are hitting certain numbers, I wouldn't worry too much.
If you are exercising before or after your meals, you could try a fasted workout to see how it affects the numbers, but you also want to remember that no matter what kind of workout you’re doing, if you have a strenuous workout, your liver will release stored sugar and you’ll see a glycemic spike as a result (but that’s actually you burning stored sugar, which is a form of hormesis that is good for you).
For anyone who may experience adverse side effects from alternative sweeteners, we do recommend the unflavored grass-fed beef which is made with just one simple ingredient and you'll have the versatility to add sweetness from whole food sources! The manufacturing process for our grass-fed protein is kind of like making bone broth and then the protein is isolated and powderized using no chemical extraction.
All of that being said, we always suggest that you work directly with your medical provider/healthcare practitioner directly for any specific questions about your health journey.
We hope this helps answer your question and wish you the best on your health journey!