Struggling to lose weight, no matter what you try? Find kilos sneaking on even when you eat well and exercise? Insulin may be to blame.
Insulin is an important hormone that we need. But when we have elevated insulin, it can lead to insulin resistance. And insulin resistance can make weight loss virtually impossible.
What is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance (IR for short) occurs when you have high levels of insulin over a long period of time.
In this condition, your body is producing enough insulin to do its job, but your cells don’t respond to the insulin. Because your cells aren’t listening, your body tried to fix it by producing more insulin – which makes them more resistant!
This turns into a vicious cycle that can eventually lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Insulin resistance can also cause a lot of inflammation in the body, between the excess insulin in the bloodstream and the sugar (glucose) that lingers in the blood because the cells won’t take it up.
The link between insulin resistance and weight loss
Ok so now that you know what insulin resistance is – what does this have to do with weight loss?
Among other mechanisms, insulin is the major fat storage hormone of the body. So once your body’s cells have taken the energy they need from the bloodstream, your insulin will direct the remaining energy to store as fat.
But guess what happens if your cells are rejecting the glucose? That’s right – almost all of the glucose gets sent to be stored as body fat instead of little to none of it. A small amount gets stored in the muscles and liver, but the majority is going straight into storage for future use.
This is also why you seem to put on weight no matter how many calories you’re eating. Your body is not utilising the calories and is putting them away for later instead.
What can I do to lose weight, then?
There are a couple of steps to take:
- Address the underlying issue – insulin resistance. Stay tuned for a full article where I share my top tips to tackle IR.
- Ditch the calorie restriction and excessive exercise. These are only going to feed into the stress on your body, make you miserable and not help you lose weight!
- Turn to personalised nutrition. The only nutrition plan that will work for you is one that tailors to your needs and how your body processes nutrients, including glucose. To learn more about how I can help with this, check out The Glow Protocol here.
- Eat 3 square meals. Until recently, it was thought that the best way to manage glucose and insulin levels is to have small frequent meals during the day. However, research has uncovered that better glucose control in diabetic patients is achieved with 3 meals a day. The reason? When we eat frequently, insulin is continually being secreted by the pancreas and doesn’t have a chance to return to a baseline level.
- Consider evidence-based supplementation. No, I’m not talking about fat-burning supplements or laxatives! Again, we want to tackle the underlying concerns with targeted supplementation. That’s why I created my new supplement, Energy Glow NR.
Amongst a host of other benefits, Energy Glow NR helps to support healthy blood glucose & metabolism of carbohydrates, both of which play a critical role in insulin resistance. Learn more about Energy Glow NR here.
Susie Garden
I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.