Follow these 5 steps to a healthy new lifestyle and decrease your insulin resistance!
The goal is only one thing, on which client and his coach have to agree.
If that goal is weight loss, have you ever thought – nice, this will be an easy one. Eat less-exercise more approach and a quick switch to the basic math mode. Endless counting ahead, sets-reps-calories…
Yes, if you were lucky to work with a perfectly metabolically healthy person. But, it’s a 10% chance. Metabolically healthy people rarely struggle with over-weight. If they do, for these slight adjustments of their diets or workout routines they, mostly, don’t ask for our help. However, they do show up every now or then.
More often, we have clients not able to self-manage their weight, tired of tracking macros in vain, exhausted after searching for the caloric deficit which in the end didn’t work.
Insulin and Weight Loss
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas and its roles are turning blood glucose into energy and storing excessive energy in our muscles, fat cells, liver.
Our body’s insulin response pattern says a lot about the risk of developing obesity or metabolic disease – it says whether we are healthy or not. The more efficient our body is at utilizing the effects of insulin – the healthier we are. This is insulin sensitivity and it is the most important factor of our health.
Those 10% from the beginning of the story are insulin sensitive so eat less-exercise more approach and a bit more discipline will probably do the job.
But, what about the other group?
Once our body becomes unable to use insulin effectively, all the risks of developing obesity increase. Unfortunately, if not treated at the right time, the risks of developing numerous diseases increase, too. This is insulin resistance.
Over the 50% of adult population in US are suffering from some kind of metabolic disease, and this is a terrifying statement. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, all of these are closely connected to insulin resistance and obesity.
Obese group needs our full attention, detailed observation, endless patience. We must keep them motivated, because they don’t get enough support while they’re heading towards these diseases. Remember, we are the defensive line in front of doctors, drugs, and long medical treatments.
Approach If “Eat Less- Exercise More” Doesn’t Work
Adding just one word to this title will make a huge difference
Eat less carbohydrates– exercise more!
Keeping our blood sugar under control by eating fewer carbohydrates will lower the insulin release. This has a critical role in getting our clients back on the right track. It will help with weight loss, it will improve their metabolic health and it will lower the risks of mentioned diseases.
Implementing low carbohydrate diet is not an easy task considering the severe carb addiction nowadays.
5 Steps to a Healthy, Safe, and Lasting New Lifestyle
1. Three Meals
Whatever the client’s dietary routine was- three meals a day (no snacks!) with no changes in the amounts or types of foods, without counting calories or tracking macro-nutrient ratios will be the first step.
Breakfast-lunch-dinner regimen for the next 7-10 days
2. Adding Healthy Fats to Each of the Meals
One can wonder – why adding more calories to a person’s diet while trying to lose weight? Yes, give the body some time to adapt to using some extra fats for fuel. A teaspoon of butter (don’t fear saturated fat, please) added to breakfast, 1/3 of an avocado with lunch and 1/3 with dinner will work. Adding fat to all of the three meals is the second step and the main goal for the next 10 days.
3. Cut Grains, Bread and Pastas Every Other Day for the Next Two Weeks
These foods are rich in carbs and our final goal is to cut them at all. This way, every other day our body will rely more on utilizing fat for fuel. Now we are preparing our client metabolically for that huge lifestyle change.
4. Cut Grains, Bread, Pastas and All Other Foods with Medium or High Glycemic Index
Officially- low carb! From this day on- the body and the brain will rely on fat as the main source of fuel.
5. Skip Breakfast Every Third Day
This is not a mandatory step, but time restricted eating once in a while will be highly beneficial for our overall health.
By this time our client will probably be well fat adapted, leaner, metabolically healthy and happy as well.
Note: Drinking lots of water and adding supplementation (minerals, vitamins, omega 3, prebiotics, probiotics) are additional steps in order to avoid possible side effects of this transitional period (nausea, headache, fatigue, constipation , diarrhea ).
Don’t let a decreased athletic performance disappoint you-it will be back.
Personal Experience
By following the high carbohydrate diet throughout my whole life I have developed insulin resistance. Sugar literally had control over my life- especially my mood. Even highly active as I was (marathon runner) I couldn’t get rid of that annoying belly fat, too.
After 4 months on low carb high fat diet my insulin sensitivity was back, sugar cravings have totally disappeared, high energy levels became an everyday reality. Losing 20 pounds made me leaner than ever. A year into the diet my athletic performance reached a completely new level. Yes, of-course I occasionally cheat on my diet.
At the end of the day we (coaches) are back to counting. Reps, sets, calories, hours at the gym.
But what is actually worth counting and makes the difference is how many lives we have changed for the better (at least by setting new and healthy lifestyle basics.)
