You Can’t Exercise Your Way to Weight Loss.

Here’s a dirty little secret fitness trainers don’t want you to know.

Exercise and movement is important to living a healthy life and it feels amazing. But you can not exercise your way to weight loss. Balancing your hormones is key to weight loss. There are many hormones that are important to balance but one of these major players is Insulin. Insulin is the hormone that helps keep your blood sugar level in check.

After you eat a meal, carbohydrates are broken down into sugar or glucose. Some of this glucose is used immediately for energy to fuel your cells and the excess is not. The pancreas releases insulin in response to eating. Insulin transports the extra glucose that is not used for energy to the liver, to store it as glycogen. This glycogen can be converted back to energy should your body need it at a later time, specifically when glucose is not readily available in the bloodstream. If the stored glycogen is not used it then gets converted and stored in fat cells somewhere on your body.

For this reason, it is best that you eat less carbs and only the amount your body needs to use and expend as energy. When we eat more carbs then we need, for example eating dinner late  and going to bed shortly after, this becomes a scenario for weight gain.

HERE ARE SOME QUICK TIPS TO HELP YOU BALANCE YOUR INSULIN. 

• Space out your meals allowing ample time in between to use up the available glucose in the bloodstream

• Get up and move after you eat

• Eat a lighter meal at night if you will not be active after dinner

• Eat balanced meals including healthy fats, lots of protein and less carbohydrates.
  Do not eliminate all carbs because they are important fuel for your body

• Learn what foods raise your insulin and which ones don’t. 
  (Use glycemic load charts.)

• Practice Intermittent fasting to reset insulin and make it work more efficiently. 

So, remember you can not exercise your way to weight loss. The key to weight loss is balancing your hormones. Among other important hormones, (which we will get to in a later blog)  insulin is a major player and stabilizing insulin is one key to weight loss.

For help on your journey to good health contact me.

- Lisa Greco