BS. If you manage your BS, you can manage your weight.

BS. In the Nutrition word BS stands for blood sugar, but it is something we ALL need to know about. We, adults absolutely need to know about this. You can’t figure out weight loss until you figure out HORMONES. And insulin is an important hormone and is the one most connected with hungry, blood sugar and weight loss so let’s start there!

Think about this, Did you ever eat so much chicken breast that you gained weight, felt sick or regretted it? Nope. That is because it is almost impossible to overeat chicken breast. It just doesn’t work. Go ahead try it. Good luck. But Doritos, you know those chips that I think must be covered in crack? Who hasn’t eaten a few too many? And when you have them after not having them for a while how bad do you want them again the next day? Why is it so easy to eat too many of those? REFINED CARBS is the answer. They don’t fill you they actually cause you to want more and more. Why? Because they increase your insulin, your fat- storing hormone that spikes after consuming refined sugar. When insulin spikes then your blood sugar drops which causes you to crave more refined carbs to get your blood sugar up again, all while your body is storing the fuel as FAT ( thanks to the insulin, which is just doing its job). No, not all hormones cause weight gain, I have to mention glucagon here, our fat- burning hormone that keeps blood sugar from dropping too low, it is closely connected with insulin, whose job is to make sure blood sugar doesn’t stay too high.

When I say manage your BS , I really mean it. You can’t lose weight or be healthy without controlled blood sugar. Blood sugar is one of the reasons some people can eat whatever they want but not gain weight, they are eating in a way that keeps their insulin regulated. They happen to want mostly protein, healthy fat and fibre and treat themselves in balanced amounts. This cycle is vicious and when you master this you are on your way to good health. Blood sugar is also closely connected to your mood and sleep. The more you manage your blood sugar the easier it is to manage, the more your blood sugar spikes and drops, the harder it is to manage because you will crave refined carbs that it doesn’t matter how strong your will power you won’t be able to not give in all the time when you have daily cravings.

Stabilizing your blood sugar will prevent you from storing fat. ( It also prevents us from having high levels of inflammation but I won’t go into that in this article).

So what nutrients help you stabilize your BS? Protein, Healthy Fats and Fibre. You need each of them in each meal. They are essential to any healthy eating plan that is sustainable and anytime you are trying to lose weight. Does this explain why trying to live on raw salads with sugar laden or artificially sweetened salad dressings doesn’t work for weight loss long term. Diets low in healthy fat and protein will have you in the pantry by 9 pm digging for refined carbs (if you were able to fight off the cravings since 3 pm). Protein is amazing at giving us satiety which means less or no cravings and that is why we have less energy crashes in the afternoon when we have protein at breakfast and lunch.

Do you doubt me? I dare you, go ahead and eat high protein, healthy fat and fibre tomorrow and let me know how you feel after just 1 day!