Hi everyone! Here’s a recap from last night and some info for the challenge. It starts Monday 2/20 and will run 6 weeks. We are doing a different take on the challenge this year. Instead of limiting foods or doing strict paleo or whole 30, we are going to focus on regulating your blood sugar, making good decisions and watching your total calorie intake (as warranted based on your goals).
Proteins and Fats are essential, carbs are not. Carbs are useful and you SHOULD eat some carbs but all carbs are NOT created equal. Making good decision around what carbs you eat, when and what else you eat with them is essential to regulating your blood sugar.
Carbs cause a spike in blood sugar which is followed by a release of insulin from the pancreas. The insulin drives sugars into cells to lower your blood sugar. The faster/higher you spike your blood sugar (more carbs) the more insulin will be released. Insulin can cause rebound hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) because it doesn’t know when to stop driving glucose into cells. So if you have a harsh blood sugar spike, you can expect to have a drop in blood sugar later. This can cause mood swings, hunger, headache, and more.
Insulin is a storage hormone. It causes cells (including fat cells) to store glucose. It is not a bad thing and it is not the devil. You NEED insulin to live.
What we are going to focus on is trying to better balance our diets to have less spikes and severe drops. Protein and fat helps to blunt the spike of insulin. In one study, it showed that both protein and fat consumption with carbs decreased the glucose response, and that protein had 3 times the effect compared to fats.
The message behind this is… Eat protein when you eat carbs! All the time! Every time! If you want a glass of wine, eat a steak or chicken with it (not chocolate!!!).
We all know what foods are good for you and what foods are not. If there are foods you have questions about let us know! But in general, we all know what will make us healthier and what will not. The goal of this challenge is to pick something that makes you less healthy and focus on reducing your consumption of that!
The way it will work: You’ll be added into a spreadsheet that will have your goals, and what you’re going to do to achieve those goals. If you’re not sure what to do, keep track of what you eat for the next 3 days and talk to me (Kim) Sunday. We can look at what you want to achieve and then how to adapt what you’re doing to make that happen! The spreadsheet will be shared with others who have the same goals and people you might see at the gym who workout at similar times. If you want anything kept private, let me know. You will have a partner for the challenge and that should be someone who works out similar times to you that you can help keep tabs with to keep each other accountable on working out and implementing the changes to your diet. There will be a benchmark WOD on Monday that is a partner WOD. You should try to do this with your partner if possible, but if you can’t just get in here and do it with someone! We will vote on the “winner” of the challenge based on who sticks with implementing their goal and gets in the gym. Winner gets free dinner at the April “First Friday” Happy Hour.
My Fitness Pal: easy to use resource for counting calories and seeing the breakdown of fats, proteins and carbs. This will calculate your anticipated caloric needs as well. My name on MFP is kimboslice1984 (thanks Molly!) Request to be my friend on there and I can help you out with feedback for what you’re eating.
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/
Calculator to help figure out ho many calories you need if you’re not using My Fitness Pal: http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/calories
If you are wanting to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit every day (think 300-500 calories less than what is your daily allotment). If you want to put on weight/muscles, you’ll need more calories. Days you work out, you’ll need more calories than days you don’t.
Look at the glycemic index of foods and try to stick with foods on the lower spectrum. Add more veggies to your meals and pick the ones that won’t spike your blood sugar. Low is 0-55, medium is 56-69, high >70.
Glycemic index for reference: http://www.lowgihealth.com.au/glycemic-index-list-of-foods/
You can also search specific foods via google if you don’t see them on the list.
Let us know if you have your partner picked or if you need help finding one!
