Sugar! Eeekkk! Is it considered a ‘bad word’ now amongst health and fitness professionals these days?
I admit, I’ve called sugar the enemy plenty of times, but in reality, it’s the amount of sugar we consume is the problem. Consider how many people have type 2 diabetes.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 350 million people have diabetes and estimates that 3.4 million people die of the disease every year!
Y’all!! This is a preventable disease!! So yeah, it’s not that I mean to get all up in your grill about it, it’s just that I’m that passionate about it. It’s preventable!! And guess what? In some cases, it’s reversible! Now that’s good news!
I want to clarify and expose some truths about sugar and the impact it has specifically regarding weight loss.
The truth is sugar is our energy, or you may call it fuel. Either way it provides our body with the energy it needs to sustain life. We have to have it. But again, it’s when it’s in excess and our body can’t respond quickly enough to lower it anymore, is when trouble happens, in other words, diabetes.
But how does this relate to weight gain and definitely how can we eat sugar and still lose weight?
When we consume a quickly digesting sugar, i.e., high starchy foods, junk, sodas and honey, insulin is released to lower the blood sugar level that’s now high in our bloodstream and as a result our body stores fat. Insulin causes fat storage.
I teach by the Glycemic Index which helps as a guide to making healthy choices and keeping their blood sugar at bay (or level). The GI Index measures food on a scale from 0-100 on how quickly it’s converted to sugar and therefore absorbed or hits the blood stream.
Those higher starchy foods convert quickly, whereas high fibrous or more nutrient-dense foods convert slower, preventing the sudden surge of insulin lowering your body’s response to store fat! Hola!
If you saw my recent recent FB Live, I share two tips on how you can specifically (and easily) have your cake and eat it too….well kinda. You can definitely still eat sugar and still lose weight, specifically preventing this fat storage from happening….it’s so much easier than you think!
The first is Make the Switch. Simply choose higher fiber, more nutrient dense carbs instead of the higher sugary, starchy ones. For example, you can choose:
Sweet potatoes instead of a white potato
Brown or whole grain rice instead of white
Whole grain bread instead of white
You get the idea right?
These higher fiber foods don’t convert to sugar as quickly in the bloodstream, therefore slowing the release of insulin, therefore lowering your risk of fat storage.
Secondly, you may hear me often say “adding a protein and fiber to every meal makes losing weight no big deal”. I always encourage my clients to always add a protein and fiber with, for example a piece of fruit. For example, add string cheese, a boiled egg, a spoonful of PB, yogurt or almonds with your fruit instead of eating the fruit alone.
By adding this combo with your fruit, it will slow the conversion of that sugar breakdown, slowing the release of insulin, therefore lowering your risk of fat storage.
I told you it was easy right?! Hola!
Two simple things you can literally start implementing today and start seeing your weight loss happen quicker!
Let me know if this helps my friend!