For a second, let’s harness an inner animal, maybe not your spirit animal, but an animal that offers a simple and logical explanation of what your body is trying to do when it stores fat. Think of yourself as a bear. You’re fierce, strong, and your body is always preparing for self-preservation. Consider this, when a bear sleeps for the winter, it hibernates for months, what it does before it goes to sleep is it eats and eats to store fat that will act as a fuel source for its body. This fat provides warmth and nutrients to help it get by while it sleeps because its body is doing what it must to prepare for survival.
Think about it this way, when your diet is erratic, your body gets confused and goes into a sort of self-preservation mode, much like the bear. If you are limiting too much, or not providing enough fuel, when it gets any fuel, it starts storing- no matter what you are fueling it with. So whereas, you may cut down your food intake your body begins to store to keep you safe and stockpiles what it can. It would store the healthy nutrients, but your body is already currently using that while it has it to use. It might not work the way we want, but it does serve a purpose that is actually to benefit you.
The quickest way to avoid your body “looking out for you” in this way, is to adjust what you are taking in how often you are taking in food and what can be stored. If you skip meals, this is a surefire way to spur your body into saying “Whoa! Next time she eats, I’m storing as much as possible.” However if you are eating smaller- healthy meals, more frequently, your body will expect to be fueled on schedule and will not have the need to store. Also if you are eating nutritious foods, it’s only going to have good stuff to hang on to. There is a family of foods that you may love, but is also your biggest enemy.
Let’s talk about white foods. Speaking about your starches are breads, white flour (and all that you make with it, your pastas, the all powerful sugar…, these are some of the refined white foods… White potatoes don’t fall into the list of “refined”, but they are also a filler food and offers minimal nutrients for the body. Most white foods are filler foods. They truly don’t offer any nutritional value, or not enough that you need to eat them. Anything of nutritional value found in these foods is minimal and great sources can be found elsewhere, in healthier alternatives that offer more. Once you eat them and the digestion process start to take place, they breakdown into sugar. We all know that sugars big no-no.
When a craving occurs, grab a plate of raw vegetables, or a fruit if you want something sweet, and a glass of ice cold water. I am fully aware that when you have a craving a plate of vegetables feels like a poor substitute for a bag of chips, or a plate of french fries, but your body will appreciate it. Drinking a glass of water and a plate of vegetables, you will actually get the sensation of being full. You take in vitamins and nutrients, healthy calories and carbs. Nutritionally this will make a huge difference, and no guilt or remorse either.
Healthy calories give you energy, unhealthy calories make you feel heavy and bogged down. Refined carbs are not nearly as satisfying to the body as good carbs. As your body breaks down these refined carbs it increases your body’s blood sugar, releasing insulin. The result is within an hour or so, you become hungry again.
No I’m not saying that you can’t have bread. It’s all about moderation and remember that whole grains are the best and very healthy for you. It’s all about storing the fuel that your body needs and will burn, instead of the kind it will hold onto for the long term.
