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Do you apply a shotgun or sniper rifle approach to your nutrition? Small changes and precision is KEY! Keeping insulin levels extremely elevated will only reduce insulin sensitivity and increase inflammation over the long term. He who uses carbohydrates BEST, wins! NOT he who uses the most carbohydrates.
There is a difference to having carbs IMMEDIATELY pre training, and several hours before the workout. The idea here is to eat a well-balanced meal of lean protein and slow- digesting carbohydrates with enough time for the meal to leave your stomach and enter your muscles and tissues.
Now the real question..should you have carbs immediately before a workout? It is all really goal and individual dependent. For most people (myself included), I recommend keeping carbohydrate intake low before workouts to ensure optimal focus, energy, growth hormone release AND optimal serotonin levels. When I received my diet from my new coach, I noticed he had the same set up and approach to this that I did before training. 1 cup egg whites, 3 whole eggs with a bagel plain. That’s roughly 54g of carbs depending on the bagel you have. . Too many carbohydrates before working out can make you feel bloated, lethargic and fatigue faster. Reason being is simple; insulin spike.
So what is insulin? Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas when you have eaten carbohydrates.* Have you ever eaten a big pasta meal and wanted to take a nap after? Have you ever started eating chips or crackers and you just couldn’t stop?* If you have experienced one or both of these situations, you have EXPERIENCED what an insulin spike can do to you.*Since insulin’s job is to lower blood sugar, it does just that.*But because of the huge insulin spike, it can lower blood sugar a bit too much, and that is when you feel drowsy, tired, and generally like you need a nap! Not a good thing when you're trying to hit the gym.
When you eat carbohydrates, they are absorbed into the blood stream (as glucose) which in turn elevates your blood sugar levels. The pancreas secretes insulin to help your body process the increased blood sugar (or glucose) and stores it as glycogen in your muscles and liver.* If the glycogen level in your muscles and liver is full, then the ‘excess' blood sugar is stored as BODY FAT! If your body is secreting insulin, it is in a ‘storing’ process, and NO body fat will be burned.
So now that you see carbohydrates are directly tied to your insulin levels, it's a good time to tell you that fats have a role in this as well.*If you are eating healthy fats with your meals, these fats will SLOW the digestion of carbohydrates which will slow the rise in blood sugar which will keep those insulin spikes at bay. So what is a healthy fat? A balance between Omega 3 (from fish oil) and Omega 6 fats (found in vegetable oils; corn, sesame, safflower, peanut, avocados etc…). We naturally get enough, often too much Omega 6 fats in our diet.*To have a proper balance, you have to be conscious of and increase your Omega 3 intake which can be found in fish, wild meats (my favorite type of meat) and grass fed beef. An easy way to get these is from fish oil supplements. If you're eating BAD fats (trans-fats) or you are not eating the proper balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fats, your cells won’t be able to convert the blood sugar easily, leading to insulin resistance. Which brings me to the next topic about insulin.
You might be wondering what exactly insulin resistance is or means, right? Insulin resistance is when your cells are less affected by insulin and your blood sugar (from carbs you have eaten) can’t move freely into your body’s cells to be either burned or stored. As a reaction, your pancreas secretes more insulin and you have both high levels of glucose and insulin circulating in your body with neither of them going to where they are supposed to be. High levels of insulin trigger the production of stress hormone, cortisol along with blood sugar WILL be turned into body fat. Insulin resistance negatively effects body fat (especially belly fat), increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and hormone health including testosterone. In men, lower testosterone levels are associated with higher body fat, less lean muscle mass, lack of sexual desire, and overall poor health. Insulin resistance ultimately will turn into Type 2 Diabetes. However, insulin resistance is not a constant and can be improved with nutrition and exercise!
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There is a difference to having carbs IMMEDIATELY pre training, and several hours before the workout. The idea here is to eat a well-balanced meal of lean protein and slow- digesting carbohydrates with enough time for the meal to leave your stomach and enter your muscles and tissues.
Now the real question..should you have carbs immediately before a workout? It is all really goal and individual dependent. For most people (myself included), I recommend keeping carbohydrate intake low before workouts to ensure optimal focus, energy, growth hormone release AND optimal serotonin levels. When I received my diet from my new coach, I noticed he had the same set up and approach to this that I did before training. 1 cup egg whites, 3 whole eggs with a bagel plain. That’s roughly 54g of carbs depending on the bagel you have. . Too many carbohydrates before working out can make you feel bloated, lethargic and fatigue faster. Reason being is simple; insulin spike.
So what is insulin? Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas when you have eaten carbohydrates.* Have you ever eaten a big pasta meal and wanted to take a nap after? Have you ever started eating chips or crackers and you just couldn’t stop?* If you have experienced one or both of these situations, you have EXPERIENCED what an insulin spike can do to you.*Since insulin’s job is to lower blood sugar, it does just that.*But because of the huge insulin spike, it can lower blood sugar a bit too much, and that is when you feel drowsy, tired, and generally like you need a nap! Not a good thing when you're trying to hit the gym.
When you eat carbohydrates, they are absorbed into the blood stream (as glucose) which in turn elevates your blood sugar levels. The pancreas secretes insulin to help your body process the increased blood sugar (or glucose) and stores it as glycogen in your muscles and liver.* If the glycogen level in your muscles and liver is full, then the ‘excess' blood sugar is stored as BODY FAT! If your body is secreting insulin, it is in a ‘storing’ process, and NO body fat will be burned.
So now that you see carbohydrates are directly tied to your insulin levels, it's a good time to tell you that fats have a role in this as well.*If you are eating healthy fats with your meals, these fats will SLOW the digestion of carbohydrates which will slow the rise in blood sugar which will keep those insulin spikes at bay. So what is a healthy fat? A balance between Omega 3 (from fish oil) and Omega 6 fats (found in vegetable oils; corn, sesame, safflower, peanut, avocados etc…). We naturally get enough, often too much Omega 6 fats in our diet.*To have a proper balance, you have to be conscious of and increase your Omega 3 intake which can be found in fish, wild meats (my favorite type of meat) and grass fed beef. An easy way to get these is from fish oil supplements. If you're eating BAD fats (trans-fats) or you are not eating the proper balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fats, your cells won’t be able to convert the blood sugar easily, leading to insulin resistance. Which brings me to the next topic about insulin.
You might be wondering what exactly insulin resistance is or means, right? Insulin resistance is when your cells are less affected by insulin and your blood sugar (from carbs you have eaten) can’t move freely into your body’s cells to be either burned or stored. As a reaction, your pancreas secretes more insulin and you have both high levels of glucose and insulin circulating in your body with neither of them going to where they are supposed to be. High levels of insulin trigger the production of stress hormone, cortisol along with blood sugar WILL be turned into body fat. Insulin resistance negatively effects body fat (especially belly fat), increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and hormone health including testosterone. In men, lower testosterone levels are associated with higher body fat, less lean muscle mass, lack of sexual desire, and overall poor health. Insulin resistance ultimately will turn into Type 2 Diabetes. However, insulin resistance is not a constant and can be improved with nutrition and exercise!
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