Improve Weight Loss and Fat Burning by Optimizing Your Insulin Resistance.

People who are insulin resistant tend to struggle with their weight, often feeling like a vicious cycle that never ends. Given the effect each of these may have on your mental health, quitting can sound appealing. Instead, there are several solutions that may help you!

Fortunately, while you actively work on one of them, you will also be working the other. Improving your diet, for example, may help with managing blood sugar levels while also promoting weight loss.

This guide will look at the connection between obesity and blood sugar, as well as several techniques to help improve both.

The Relationship Between Weight and Blood Sugar

Weight and blood sugar levels are so closely linked that it might feel like a never-ending cycle. Among lifestyle choices that influence both weight and blood sugar balance include:

Insulin Resistance Causes Weight Difficulties

Cortisol and insulin are two hormones that influence blood sugar levels. Most people are familiar with insulin and how it manages blood sugar levels. Cortisol is a similar hormone that is released by the liver in response to low blood sugar and signals the liver to release stored glucose into the bloodstream.

The issue is that both of these hormones are considered fat depositing hormones, which can influence your metabolism and fat storage. When you are insulin resistant, both hormones rise in order to compensate and attempt to manage blood sugar levels.

Being Overweight Causes Insulin Resistance

Being overweight may put a considerable burden on practically all of your body’s systems. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is strained at the cellular level. The ER generates energy by breaking down proteins and carbohydrates, which your body absorbs to utilize for regeneration and other functions. 

When the ER is stressed, it signals to the rest of your body to absorb less sugar. This keeps sugar in your bloodstream for longer, leading to insulin resistance.

This is becoming increasingly common as we live in a society where consuming large portions and processed foods is the norm. Modern eating habits often result in an overabundance of food in the system that is more difficult to metabolize and use compared to whole foods. 

Obesity Risk Factors and Complications

Many people believe that obesity is merely the result of poor lifestyle choices. It’s a disheartening mindset as many people who are overweight, sometimes through no fault of their own, face enormous societal pressure and judgment. In reality, there are several causes of obesity.

Certain people are predisposed to obesity. This means they are at a greater risk of struggling with weight issues due to genetics and various health aspects.

It is important to be aware of these risk factors so that you can act as soon as possible.

Risk factors of obesity include:

• Type II Diabetes
• Genetics
• Lifestyle Choices (diet, sleep, exercise)
• Thyroid Imbalances
• Various Medical Conditions

If you have these predispositions, consider taking the necessary steps to reduce the risk of obesity. This may look like making certain lifestyle adjustments like eating a nutritious diet, getting adequate sleep, and exercising on a regular basis. This also entails determining the root cause of obesity and searching for a relevant treatment.

Obesity can also lead to complications with your blood sugar and whole body health, including:

• High Blood Sugar
• Type II Diabetes
• Various Types of Cancer
• High Cholesterol
• Stroke
• Arthritis
• Sleep Apnea
• Depression and/or Anxiety

Obesity, in addition to the clinical complications, can have a substantial impact on self-esteem. While it is important to love and accept yourself, self-consciousness is not the easiest to overcome. This may become quite serious, especially if it begins to affect your social life and anxiety.

How Maintaining Blood Sugar May Help You Lose Weight

Because we know that cortisol and insulin are fat depositing hormones, lowering both by managing healthy blood sugar levels may lead to weight improvement. Lowering insulin levels may require similar lifestyle modifications as supporting a healthy weight does. This may include the following:

• Eating a Nutritious, Balanced Diet
• Proper Administration of Medication, (e.g., insulin shots)
• Regularly Monitoring Blood Sugar Levels and Taking Necessary Action 
• Regular Physical Activity
• Adequate Sleep 
• Managing Stress Levels

When all of this is considered, properly managing blood sugar levels can result in a natural means to reduce weight to a healthy range. Cortisol levels may normalize as your blood sugar levels stabilize. Insulin resistance may become less severe with time, which may improve your body’s response to insulin.

If you want help supporting hormonal balance, Lowsitol may be a good option. Lowsitol is formulated with beneficial ingredients that support healthy blood sugar and insulin levels, as well as hormone balance. Essentially, it may help support optimal health as you start making necessary adjustments to your lifestyle habits.

Dietary Considerations

Eating a balanced diet is essential for supporting a healthy weight. That said, there are additional aspects to consider. While you are working to manage a healthy weight, consider the following:

• Eat as Whole as Possible. Given the state of our current foods, including processed and added sugars, our weight and blood sugar levels often suffer. Whole foods are loaded with beneficial nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, and low in sugar and harmful additives.
• Consider a Glycemix Index Diet. Managing healthy blood sugar levels may help you better support a healthy body weight. Sugar is found in foods you may not be aware of, including white bread. The glycemic index diet is a beneficial eating plan that can help you track your sugar intake.
• A functional nutrition consultation can be a game-changer if you are trying to find an appropriate diet or enjoyable methods to manage your diet.
• Supplements, including Lowsitol, support healthy blood sugar and insulin levels and hormone balance, which may better support the effectiveness of a balanced diet.
• Portion control is as essential as the type of food you eat. Eating normal portions may help you manage a healthy caloric intake without having to monitor calories.
• Monitor the types of fat you eat. More often than not, people tend to eat a diet that’s high in saturated fat and low in unsaturated fat, which is opposite of what it should be.

 While this may appear to be a lot, the most difficult part is developing the habit. It becomes much less of a chore and more of a natural habit once your body acclimates to a new diet and you learn how to make healthy foods appetizing.

Intermittent Fasting

It’s necessary to eat a nutritious diet when living a healthy lifestyle. However, it’s also necessary that your body burns stored fat to make an impact. Intermittent fasting is an effective dietary strategy to help manage a healthy weight. This strategy condenses all of your eating in a smaller timeframe every day and then abstaining from food for the remainder of the day.

Establishing an eating schedule is one method to manage this. When you don’t eat for a few hours, your body switches from burning dietary nutrients to burning nutrients stored in your body. As a result, your digestive system might exist in one of two states:

• Fed State: When you’re in the fed state, your body absorbs all of its nutrients from dietary sources. The fed state also allows your body to store fats and nutrients for later use. Excess storage can lead to obesity.
• Fasting State: When you’re in the fasting state, your body switches from storing nutrients to using stored nutrients for energy. Because the body needs these nutrients on a consistent basis to function, they are drawn from reserves when you are fasting.

The longer you can remain in the fasted state, the more time your body spends metabolizing fat reserves as fuel. This does not imply that you should remain in the fasted state for an excessive period of time. Due to hormonal differences, it is recommended that men set aside eight hours during the day to eat, while women aim for 9-10 hours.

Intermittent fasting is also beneficial for blood sugar regulation, especially if your levels tend to run high. Your body will naturally regulate a healthy blood glucose level during fasting as it is not compensating for the food you consume. It may also stimulate the body to utilize glucose stored in the liver.

Exercise to Control Weight and Blood Sugar

Exercise can be beneficial to both your blood sugar and your weight. Exercise helps the body burn both fat and glucose, which supports healthy both blood sugar levels and weight. Furthermore, exercise may also support healthy hormone levels, including stress hormones, which may help manage blood sugar levels.

It’s important to monitor your blood sugar levels before, during, and after exercise. Because exercise naturally lowers your blood sugar, you should avoid exercising if your levels fall below 90 mg/dL. Exercising when blood sugar levels are high, on the other hand, might lead to complications due to the impact of high blood sugar on your body. If your levels are above 180 mg/dL, avoid exercising until they fall back within normal range.

There are several workout strategies available that may help support healthy blood sugar levels and weight. These are some examples:

• High intensity interval training (HIIT) is recommended for people who are struggling with insulin resistance. Exercise in spurts is reported to be safer for blood sugar levels and aids in fat burning processes in the body.
• Aerobic exercise, including walking, running, and swimming, is beneficial for supporting fat burning processes, as well as positively impacting your stress and feel-good hormones.
• Strength training can help with both blood sugar levels and weight. That said, make sure to take appropriate breaks as this type of exercise can be strenuous.

Whatever technique you use, make sure to regularly check your blood sugar levels. If your levels drop too low, use the 15-15 rule. This involves eating (approximately) 15 grams of carbs and waiting 15 minutes before testing your levels again. You can resume your workout once you’re back in a safe range.

Sources

• Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Type 2 Diabetes
• Understanding Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
• Blood Glucose and Exercise
• How To Treat Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)
• Intermittent fasting for type 2 diabetes
• Facts About Diabetes
• What Are Overweight and Obesity?
• Medical Complications of Obesity
• 14 Easy Ways to Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally
• Glycemic Index Research and GI News