What food really makes you fat?

Many people think that it’s just too many calories that make you fat. While this is true, it’s not entirely true. We all know folks that can pack away the calories and never seem to gain an ounce.

Is it dietary fat? Well, fat is essential for brain and nerve function and a variety of other bodily functions, so it’s not exclusively dietary fat that makes you fat.

What about too much protein? Protein speeds up thermogenesis, or your body’s own fat-burning heat factory, it also blunts your appetite so you naturally eat less.

So, no, protein isn’t what makes you fat.

The number one reason people get fat is when they have elevated insulin levels.

Yes, insulin is the main culprit for shuttling those excess calories into junk in your trunk.

You’ll have elevated insulin levels when you indulge in high glycemic carbohydrates (sugar!) especially. In fact, you’ll get a spike of insulin when you eat any carbohydrate, even ‘healthy carbs’.

I’m not preaching a low carb or no carb diet. I’m all for low glycemic fruits and as much as you can eat veggies. I do however, suggest cutting back on ‘white’ carbs especially as the day wears on, things such as breads, potatoes, pasta, rice, crackers, cookies…all the starchy yummy carbs that are easy to eat and pack in your purse.

The best time to eat starchy carbs is earlier in the day when your body has time to use those carbohydrates as energy and you’re not insulin resistant. As the day progresses, it’s more likely that you body will convert those carbs into storage for a rainy day, that is, you’ll get fatter eating starchy carbs later in the day.

The take home message is this:

• Eat your starchy carbs for breakfast

• Double up on veggies at the evening meal

• Avoid starchy carbs, especially before bed

• Avoid eating carbohydrate exclusively

• It’s best to have some protein, or even healthy fat when eating carbs to reduce the spike of insulin that is a result of eating carbs.

• This slows stomach emptying as well and you are satiated for longer periods of time.

So a great ‘defense’ to weight gain is to follow these simple rules…and get some heart pounding and metabolism boosting exercise in each day.

I wanted to introduce you to someone who did just that….

My client JoJami Tyler didn’t have a ton of weight to lose but she knew that she needed to establish a healthier lifestyle. As you will later see from the before pictures, she looked amazing to start with, but with my program she tightened and toned her already gorgeous body.

The thing to keep in mind is that people have different starting points. The person that is 100 lbs overweight needs support, but so does the person that wants to lose the last 5 pounds.

JoJami was the latter.

Here is her unedited responses to an evaluation of my Shawna 24/7 Coaching program:

• Why did you try the Shawna24/7 program? Because I had a new routine in my life (called travel) and needed a consistent way of working out.

• What was the biggest benefit? Holding myself accountable for putting more exercise in my life.

• What did you enjoy the most? Actually I enjoyed the feeling of exercising more and the feeling of toning up. Hard work paid off!

• What did you learn? Finding out that I was starting to become hunched over and facing the fact that my body is starting to sag so needed to put in some tougher workouts more frequently.

• What lifestyle changes do you feel you learned and will be able to maintain on your own? To try to make sure to keep up the toughter workouts.

• What would you change about the program? I sent you that in another email (did you get that?)

• Would you recommend the program and why?Yes, because of all the support and the results. I DO feel the difference! Your program was really effective and there is no doubt in my mind that if you really do your program, eat right and do the exercises  on a regular (and that means almost daily basis) that you will see positive changes.

  I really liked the way that I got to report back to you every day and that you held me accountable!

Take a look at her before and after pics and I think you’ll agree with me that JoJami is a true testament that you can look amazing after 40. Clearly she’s spend many years with a healthy lifestyle, but you can still see how she tightened up her tummy area:

A big congrats and thank you to JoJami for doing my program and inspiring others. I know that she feels a whole lot better in her own skin.

If you want to feel better too, check out the program and then contact me to see if you qualify.

Incoming fat loss search terms:

• junk in the trunk

This entry was posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:49 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Posted in Healthy Eating by Shawna 4 Comments