Tired, lethargic, foggy mind, constant sugar cravings, increasing amount of fat around your waist that you just can’t seem to shift? The same diet that used to work no longer yields the same results? Chances are like many people, 21st century living has left you with what we term “Insulin Resistance”. What is it? What can we do about it? Read on to learn a 30 second fat buster that actually works!
Insulin resistance greatly increases your risk of progressing to diabetes. Many people are insulin resistant for years without knowing it. The condition itself doesn’t trigger any noticeable symptoms in the early stages. The symptoms mentioned above are more commonly found in those who have been insulin resistant for quite some time.
Annual or bi-annual blood glucose level checks are recommended for those who have either a family history of diabetes or those with a BMI over 30 and anyone genuinely interested in long term health over 35 years old.
Insulin resistance greatly increases the risk of being overweight, having high blood triglycerides and having elevated blood pressure. In short, it’s not a great condition and if left unchecked can lead to serious long term health implications.
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So How Did I Get Here???
So, you strongly suspect you may have insulin resistance. You believe that for years you have eaten relatively well, walked moderately, been to the Gym (occasionally) and whilst carrying a few extra pounds in the past you simply didn’t see this coming. We hear this a lot!
Take a look at the photo below of sugar addiction. The photo very briefly outlines what we term “sugar cyclicity” and what happens repeatedly, sometimes more than once per day over many years.
Let’s take an example I came across recently. A client of ours was struggling to lose weight despite training with us 2 times per week, walking 3000-5000 steps per day, hitting within 10% of all targeted Macro nutrients on the MyFitnessPal App. On very detailed further investigation our client admitted to “popping” to Starbucks 5 days per week for a Frappuccino and a chocolate muffin. She went on to add “But that’s just about a 200 calorie snack…right?”……Wrong!
Yes we have permission from the client to use her as an example. She was truly shocked to realise that the Frappuccino contained a staggering 530 calories with 85g of sugar!!! The muffin contained 570 calories with 70g of sugar. This means that 5 days per week the client was consuming an extra 1100 calories per day…with a very dangerous extra 155g of sugar!
What was thought of as a small treat or a little snack in reality was only 200 calories under her daily recommended calorie total and more than 3 times her recommended sugar intake.
Now, once in a while this will cause absolutely no harm whatsoever, however this type of intake long term could easily lead to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and a whole host of unpleasant health complications.
5 Points For Restoring Insulin Sensitivity
1) Lose weight! Try to get your weight to a healthy range, ideally with a BMI of under 25.
2) Reduce your waist circumference. Under 40 inches for a Male, 35 inches for a Female.
3) Reduce your intake of high Glycemic index foods such as unrefined sugar and white bread. Instead replace with foods with a higher fiber content such as brown rice.
4) Get active! Exercise has been shown to reduce the development of both type 2 diabetes and can reduce insulin resistance. HIIT workouts, High Intensity Interval Training works very well for reducing Insulin resistance.
5) Get 8 Hours sleep! Studies have shown that getting a full 8 hours uninterrupted sleep and reducing stress helps to curb sugar cravings.
How 30 seconds of exercise can help you live longer. One of the key identified strategies for helping you live longer and healthier is the notion of Glycemic Variability.
Glycemic Variability is basically how many times your blood glucose goes up and down during the day. By reducing the variability you can decrease your risk of becoming insulin resistant.
We know that at meal times our insulin levels rise, we also know that HIIT exercise enhances our bodies blood glucose response.
Here’s the Magic…research has shown that only 30 seconds of intense exercise before you eat will hugely enhance your blood glucose response!!!
That’s right, 30 seconds of air squats, lunges, press ups, star jumps…ANYTHING that raises your heart rate, leaves you mildly breathless…for ONLY 30 seconds!
Sounds too good to be true? To work the 30 seconds needs to be “Intense”, light exercise simply won’t work. However, don’t be put off as it is a great way to get extra exercise at least 3-4 times per day which will no doubt burn extra calories, improve your fitness and long term will improve your blood glucose response!
At M.A.S.K. we coach vegans, vegetarians, low carb high fat dieters, high protein eaters and many more. Our emphasis is on getting to grips with what works for you, promoting healthy, low toxicity nourishing nutrition and balanced lifestyles.
Our coaching has helped dozens of face to face and online clients get in to great shape, lose weight and lead happier healthier lives. Whatever your current situation, our coaching strategies will help you to achieve your goals and help you achieve your own unique potential.
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