When looking at ways to lose weight, we really need to pay attention to 3 main hormones:
- Leptin – influences satiety
- Ghrelin – influences hunger
- Insulin – influences fat storage, the metabolic hormone
Insulin has been given a bad rap recently, but it is not all bad when it is maintained in balance.
When you eat, insulin is released to move glucose to the cells and helps to store the excess fat that has not been used up. During the period when we don’t eat and if the insulin level is below 5, insulin will play a part in allowing the body to use the fat storage for energy. Insulin is really the key to weight loss, not calories. Insulin resistance is when the insulin remains high even without eating. When this is the case, the fat stores are hidden and unavailable and that is when the feeling of hunger is triggered because the body has a perception of lack and the metabolic rate slows down causing you to want to eat.
You can reduce insulin by
- Following a low carb high fat diet or a carnivore diet
- Doing Intermittent fasting from 17 hours up to 72 hours
You can see from the table the foods in the green boxes are the ones that should make up the bulk of your diet. Some of these foods, although high in calories, will keep you full and will help with intermittent fasting or eating one meal a day (OMAD), like I do.
So, the moral of the story today, DON’T count calories. Focus on the foods that keep you full and satisfied.