Sunday, August 14, 2011

Insulin Sensitivity...yes you want to be!

Insulin sensitivity..what is it and why do I care about it? Well EVERYONE should!

Insulin sensitivity doesnt mean eating candy and listening to Barry Manilow records it is the following example.

So when you are younger and you can eat whatever you want without putting on a pound and your butt doesnt jiggle for a week after eating a big mac you are basically insulin sensitive. Your metabolism is high, operating efficiently and your body doesnt easily store fat. AND your hormones are balanced and at an all time high.

Now fast forward 10 years with the same type of eating behavior. And all of the sudden you have started puttting on weight and cant figure out why. You become that person who says, "well as I have gotten older my metabolism has slowed down so much maintaining my weight has been so hard!" Usually this is said with a candy bar or some other frankenstein creation in one hand and a soda or some other calorie containing beverage in the other. Enter insulin resistance.......it is easy for you to gain weight and hard for you to lose it. If you even look at cheese cake your waist went up by 2 inches! I know because this is me too!

So remember when you were young and you could eat whatever you wanted without putting on weight (or you still have that friend that can eat whatever they want and not get fat-jerks!) those types are insulin sensitive = what we all want to be.

Most people are however the opposite and are insulin resistant. They got this way by eating badly and having too many carbs and too much sugar for too long and their body switched from sensitive to resistant hence the weight management issues.

So how do I reset it back?? Well I am glad you asked and here are some general recommendations:

1. eat every 2.5 hours (protein, fiberous veggies, small amount of starchy carb)
2. moderate your carbs big time-ramp up veggies as much as possible
3. drink lots of green tea
4. take LOTS of fish oil-insulin management recommendations for fish oil can be as high as 30 grams a day!! You can combine this with L-carnitine-a non-essential amino acid-typically 500 mg of L-carnitine for every 3 fish oil capsules and you have a very powerful natural fat loss combo without any stimulant effect.
5. EXERCISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over time you will become leaner, your insulin sensitivity increases and you can slowly add some carbs back in. Below is my actual day to day diet as I too am insulin resistant.

breakfast:
6 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1 cup fiber one
1 cup blueberries
1 cup green tea


mid-morning:
2 scoops casein protein
2 tblspn all natural peanut butter
1 cup celery

lunch:
6 oz chicken
2 cups baby spinach
10 baby carrots
5 baby tomatoes
1 tblspn olive oil as dressing

mid-afternoon
same as mid-morning

Dinner:
6 oz of some meat
2 servings of green veggies
10 baby carrots

Supps: I take 3 fish oil with each meal, multi-vitamin, etc.

Over time your body will adjust, energy levels go up, health issues & inflammation go down = you FEEL and LOOK great!! And guess what, you can still cheat at times. I usually eat 2 meals a week of whatever I want.

next time, nutrtion and establishing calorie intake!!

4 comments:

Money Saving Momma said...

Hey Matt, this is JoAnna Barnes from school and I just found your blog via FB...love it! I am trying to get healthy and have joined the gym, but in major need of understanding and this post just HIT HOME for me!! And gives me motivation to keep my kids on a healthy diet...they are thin/active kids, so I let them eat what they want too much...gonna get back on track to keep this from happening to them, like it did me! Thx for posting this :)

Matt Terry said...

thats awesome JoAnna! it is a great thing you are doing and you will save them from a life of issues later on!

The good news is it can come back quickly and you will never look back. pay close attention to my new juice fast blog it will change your life.

MT

April Westerhold said...

Hi Matt~I am JoAnna's friend, April, and she referred me to your blog. I am wondering why you say not to take Fish Oil from Costco?

Thanks

Matt Terry said...

because of the poor quality of their brands. to check if your fish oil has is impure it needs to be stored in the fridge. if when you pull them out the pills are not completely clear as when you put them in then they have been contaminatated. I used to take that brand and that is why I switched.