You Can’t Have Your Fat-Loss, and Your Insulin Too

Listen to me. If you are currently concerned with any of the following topics or ideas, this message is for you… weight-loss, fat-loss, aesthetic goals, bathing suits, nakedness, body composition, weight, and/or abdominals. Now, that we’ve got all the vanity awkwardness in the open, let me shift your focus. If any of those things are your priority, let me give you a new focus:

INSULIN.

Concern yourself with nothing else as long as your goals are fat loss, especially those of you tackling the Whole Life Challenge. If you’ve done your due diligence of cleaning up your nutrition to eating real food (meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, etc), you aren’t quite out of the woods.

Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. Also, insulin is requisite for the fat storing process. The modern American diet demands exponentially more insulin than anything we’ve seen in human history. Sugar in your coffee, cereal (glucose) for breakfast, a turkey sandwich (glucose), and a bowl of spaghetti (glucose) is leaving us fat, and sometimes diabetic. If you can demonstrate an ability to regulate your insulin, you will accomplish any fat loss goals you may have.

Home of Laughter.

Interestingly enough the insulin response in our bodies is based, in part, on something called the glycemic index. This glycemic index lists foods in order of how much they affect blood sugar. Considering this approach, a few cups of grapes isn’t that different from a Kit Kat bar after all. Keep in mind that the glycemic index doesn’t measure nutrient density, however. (Grapes beat Kit Kat bars all day in that category.)

In general, however, a real food diet does a fair job of weeding out the insulin abuse naturally. Quality protein and fat don’t elicit much of an insulin response so all is good there, and the carbohydrates that raise blood sugar the most like grains, cereals, pasta, etc aren’t really natural foods anyway. You can imagine, however, how one could start to get in trouble when they includes an aggressive amount of fruits and starchy carbohydrates into their diet.

Seeing little life changing results with this radical real food based approach to nutrition? Check out your carbohydrate rich approach. Put the dates and tropical fruit down. Let your Paleo baking skills go rusty. Get ahold of your insulin with animal protein, good fats, and green vegetables.

If you’re playing the Whole Life Challenge, you may recall my words of advice when we started. The rules of the game are NOT a blueprint for 6 pack abs. Ten bananas a day gets your a perfect score in the WLC, as well as diabetes and a few inches around your waist. Shift your focus away from getting your points and focus on mitigating your insulin.

Logan Gelbrich

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Wednesday’s Workout:

With one partner working at a time, complete the following for time:

40 Burpees
60 Plate Sit Ups
80 Squats
100 KB Swings
400m Run
100 KB Swings
80 Squats
60 Plate Sit Ups
40 Burpees

*Athlete advance to each station via walking lunge