Day 11 - Glycemic Load

A calorie is just a calorie right? It doesn't really matter what I eat as long as I stay within a certain number of calories.


I personally believe this to be FALSE. I base my understanding of why a calorie is not just a calorie by examining closely the scientific explanation for glycemic load and insulin release.

Let's define a few things first.

What is Glycemic index? - The Glycemic Index (GI) of a food indicates how much eating a certain food will affect the glucose levels in your blood. Foods that have a high glycemic index will cause a surge of sugar blood levels and insulin which your body will store the excessive glucose as fat. Foods low in glycemic index will be digested slowly and increase blood sugar and insulin levels gradually, which is a very good thing.

OK. Makes sense? So what do you need to do to prevent your body from storing your food as fat vs. using it as fuel? Easy, eat a diet that is low in glycemic index foods.

You want to know something else that is pretty scary? Having surges in blood sugar and insulin levels can lead to insulin resistance and DIABETES. In fact, nearly 10% of all Americans are diabetic! That is HUGE!!! Keeping tight controls of your blood sugar levels will help in preventing this horrible disease. Even if you are not overweight, you can still become a diabetic.

Begin making sure the majority of your food choices are low glycemic. This will help you reach your goals for weight loss AND prevent the 7th leading cause of DEATH in the United States, diabetes. A simple and easy way to do this is to avoid packaged and processed foods.

 

 

- FitWhitt

Day 2 - Get Started

We all start somewhere.

Before the beginning of any health and fitness challenge, it is important to obtain your baseline so you can monitor your progress.

Start by obtaining your initial weight and measurements. Be sure to include the following in your measurements: chest, arms, waist, hips and thighs. I also highly suggest that you take progress photos. In my experience, the progress photos showed the most measureable progress. The scale is the worst indicator of accurate progress in my opinion. It is for that reason that I advocate only weighing three times during the next 90 days: beginning, middle and end. If for some reason you feel your body is not progressing as it should, you could step on and spot check to see if you are on track.

Now that you have established your baseline, it is time to create your plan.

Please keep in mind that not one approach will work for everyone. Some people are fat adapted or carb sensitive etc. I will be discussing one of many options so if you do not feel that this approach is working, simply begin to research other options and experiment with other theories.

Step One: What is my BMR (basal metabolic rate) or the amount of calories your body burns at rest.
Go HERE to calculate your BMR.

This will calculate your maintenance level BMR.

Step Two: Use the Harris Benedict Formula to account for any calories burned during activity.
Go HERE to calculate your caloric needs based on activity.

Step Three: Calculate your caloric deficit. It takes approximately 3,500 calories to equal a pound of body weight. If you aim to loose 1 pound a week, then you will need to create a 3,500 calorie deficit a week through diet and exercise. You can divide your calories up according to your activity level (as I do) or you could keep it simple and eat the same calories daily.

Now you know how many calories you need on a daily basis for maintenance and also for weight loss.

This process might seem tedious, but it will definitely help you reach your goal. You will not always have to count calories, but learning and understanding what a proper amount would look like and being aware of fueling your body appropriately will lead to sustained success in the future.

Tomorrow we will take a closer look at the component of those calories, the macronutrients.

- FitWhitt