Yep, you read the title correctly and I’ll tell you why. What I'm about to share with you is the KEY to your fat loss goals! If you can grasp what I’m about to explain and understand the practical application to your goals, you will be on your way to SHREDDING FAT!
****I don’t care what ANYONE ever tells you, the answer to staying lean, mean and a sex machine is to REGULATE THE RELEASE OF INSULIN! It’s that simple! (as long as you stay within calorie restriction range). You will shortly find out as to why this IS TRUE!
Left: Terrible insulin regulation. Right: I cracked the code.
First, I will need to give you some background and understanding of the physiological response carbohydrates have on your body and the effects of insulin. Then I will tie it all together and show you why it’s important to your Fat Loss goals.
I will start with insulin. What it does, how and why it’s released in the body.
**(I will try to speak in terms that EVERYONE can understand, if you want super scientific explanation’s please go to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research)
Insulin
- Insulin’s primary role is to regulate your blood glucose levels. When your blood sugar/glucose spikes your pancreas produces insulin which then is released into your blood stream. Insulin’s "job" is then to soak up the glucose (that is now in your bloodstream) and transport it to your cells (liver and muscle cells for glycogen storage or FAT CELLS) or the blood sugar/glucose is used as an immediate energy.
- One other key element to the release of insulin is that it completely SHUTS DOWN the capability of your body to use stored fat as an energy source (*Important to remember this). It does this by inhibiting the release of glucagon.
Carbohydrates physiological response on the body:
- When you eat carbohydrates, your body converts this into glucose which spikes your blood sugar/glucose levels. Now, the effect of this spike depends on the glycemic LOAD (not index). I will not go into detail of the glycemic load for saving you 2 extra pages of reading.
- No other macronutrient (Carbs, Protein, Fat) has a greater effect on your blood glucose levels than carbohydrates.
Putting it all together:
- So here is what’s happening as a person is SITTING there reading this post, eating those potato chips, pretzels, or bagel.
- You just took a big bite of that awesome Starbucks pastry with sugar topping! Yummmyyyyyy!
- Your blood glucose levels skyrocket!
- Your body recognizes this and realizes that it must bring these elevated levels back to equilibrium.
- Insulin to the rescue! Insulin is released by the beta cells in your pancreas to get the job done!
- Insulin shuts down ANY opportunity for your body to burn up the stored fat throughout your body.
- Insulin then swims through your bloodstream, swoops up all of that blood glucose and takes it for a RIDE.
- The destination of this ride ends in one of 3 locations:
- 1) liver glycogen
- 2) Muscle Glycogen
- 3) Fat cells
- Your Liver, Muscle, and Fat cells OPEN up their cell doors to take on this energy!
- But guess what. Your liver and glycogen stores are plump full, right to the door! Why? Because you have been sitting there most of the day doing very little high-intensity work. Therefore, your body had NO reason at all to tap into these muscle glycogen reserves. (Muscle glycogen reserves are the energy source used during high-intensity training. Ex-lifting heavy weights, and sprints etc…)
- Destination ends up being your FAT CELLS! That’s right, the ride has led to stuffing those fat cells nice and full, just what we all want right!? In other words, we get fatter.
- Insulin continues to perform this AWESOME (sarcasm) duty until your blood glucose levels are back to normal.
- This duration, again, depends on the glycemic load of the food/meal you just ate
***So what do you think happens when you sit there grazing on carbs all day long!? You guess it man, you continue to block any chance of burning stored fat and you continue to store excess body fat!
So what does this mean to you and your FAT LOSS goals?
- The key to burning excess body fat and minimizing fat storage is the regulation of your blood glucose levels. How do you do this? By regulating your carbohydrate consumption. Not ALL carbs are bad. The key to carb consumption is the TIMING and TYPE of carbs you’re eating.
- Based on the physiological response I outlined above when do you think is the “best” time to eat carbs? Answer:
- 1) Mornings
- 2) After a HIGH-intensity workout.
- NEVER at night (unless you're carb-backloading) or when you are sedentary (sitting around)!
If I can’t eat carbs, then what can I eat? Answer:
- Protein, fibrous veggies, and FAT!
- You don’t want to just cut carbs out of your diet and not replace those lost calories with anything else (you don’t want to be in too large of a caloric deficit). So eat more protein and fats - healthy fats that is.
Foods I should eat: to keep insulin spikes low, so I can BURN and not store FAT!
- Grass fed beef, fish, venison, buffalo, free range/organic chicken and organic eggs (whole egg!), ground turkey, salmon.
- Coconut Oil (incredibly healthy for you!), Olive oil, sunflower oil, natural peanut butter, avocados, grass fed butter, almonds (most natural nuts and seeds), almond butter.
- Ton of fibrous veggies
healthy fats
So there you have it! It is true. To lose fat, sometimes you just need to eat more fat!
Still confused? Do you think you'd benefit from someone handling all of this for you so that you can just follow a plan that is unique to your goals and utilizes this (insulin) regulation system and know that you're on the path to reaching your goals? If that's you, you'll want to check out KigsmanStrong.
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Be Different. Be Intentional. Be Legendary.
Brian Larson
Founder & Creator - Kingsman Academy
Founder & Creator - KingsmanStrong