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It turns out that dieting and exercising do not always help you lose those extra pounds.
“Less food, more exercise” – this formula has become canonical for those who want to lose weight without harm to health. And if it doesn’t work, then willpower is blamed. They say that those who are losing weight do not have enough endurance to get used to saturate in small portions and go in for sports three days a week. However, will is not always the main culprit in troubles.
Sometimes our brain mistakenly perceives an overweight as normal and tries with all its might to keep it. Similar “erroneous” information is given to him by insulin.
What is he responsible for? This hormone converts the calories from the calories into fat. From here grows a new truth on how to lose weight: less insulin – less fat reserves. And everything seems to be foldable and beautiful, but the problem is that sometimes the body simply does not notice it and therefore works it out with special effort.
World renowned obesity and diabetes specialist Dr. Jason Fung explains how to manage insulin levels. In his book he talks about why, when losing weight, you first need to work with hormones, and not with the number of calories.
Dr. Fang suggests five stepsto help get your hormones under control.
Step one. Limit sugar intake
Sugar is dangerous not so much because it is high in calories, but because it raises the level of insulin in the blood. Here are some simple tips from Dr. Fang.
Remove the sugar bowl from the table.
Read the ingredients – even sauces or breakfast cereals contain sugar.
Replace desserts with fruits, nuts, or dark chocolate.
Avoid snacks, no matter how healthy they seem.
Drink only unsweetened drinks.
Step two. Limit refined grains
Carbohydrates are not as scary as their refined industrial counterparts. Modern methods of processing grain deprive it of all the most valuable. So do the following.
Replace white flour with whole grain.
Add quinoa to your diet – it is not a grain, but a seed, it is high in fiber and protein.
Pay attention to legumes.
Avoid white flour and starch baked goods.
Eliminate any pasta and noodles other than whole grains.
Step three. Eat protein without fanaticism
Protein allows us to feel full for a long time and eat less as a result. But pure protein diets are boring and tasteless, so don’t be afraid to mix protein with other foods. Here are some rules from the book The Obesity Code.
Choose grass-fed meat.
Eat more offal and broth.
Prefer wild fish over farm-raised fish.
Don’t skip dairy products.
Eat more yogurt and fermented milk products.
Step four. Consume more natural fats
Modern medicine has dispelled the myth about the dangers of fat for the figure. They hardly stimulate the production of insulin – which means they do not induce the body to store calories. Here are some helpful tips.
Eat unprocessed fats: olive oil, coconut oil, butter, lard.
Avoid refined oils as they provoke inflammation.
Eat more nuts.
Forget low-fat dairy products.
Avocados are an important and tasty addition to a healthy diet.
Step five. Pay attention to protective factors
Protective factors prevent insulin peaks from occurring even when carbohydrates are consumed – which means they prevent calories from being stored from your food in the form of fat stores. Here is a list of foods that relate to such factors.
Fruits, vegetables and berries.
Nuts, pumpkin seeds, flax and chia seeds.
Beans and popcorn.
Tofu made from konjac tubers.
Vinegar. For example, as part of sauces for carbohydrate dishes.
These are the first steps towards a healthy diet, but insulin is not the only hormone that affects slimness. How is cortisol related to this? Why doesn’t the “satiety hormone” help with overeating? Do I need to arrange fasting days? The answers to these questions can be found in Jason Fang’s book The Obesity Code.