Are you an avid runner, triathlete, gym junkie but still seem to be gaining weight? Can’t understand how an active person could still gain weight?
Turns out, you’re not alone and many active people suffer from metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance.
What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome causes the body to store food as fat rather than burn it for energy, simply because our body needs food. Carbohydrates and simple sugars are the most problematic for individuals with this syndrome, partially because it’s linked with insulin resistance.
The hormone insulin is responsible for shuttling glucose into cells to be used as energy. In a nutshell, people with this syndrome can’t get sugar into their muscles as efficiently as someone without the condition. When muscles can’t use this sugar, it usually gets stored as fat.
How can I burn fat that’s already been stored?
The key in beating this, is eating the right carbs at the right time to kick the body into burning fat rather than storing it. Foods high in sugar should be eliminated from your diet too.
Avoiding certain carbohydrate-laden foods in the evening also allows your body to access stored fats overnight and effectively use that fat as fuel. Combine this with exercise to achieve your goal.
Recent research also suggests eating healthy fats found in avocado, cheese, fatty fish like salmon, nuts and oils like olive oil can help you lose fat.
How hard should I work out?
Apparently, exercising too hard all the time is counterintuitive as your body tends to use carbohydrates and blood sugars as fuel. This causes hunger after a workout and can cause overeating.
Research suggests exercise at a more moderate pace – including short accelerations or bursts of speed that last about 30 seconds long can help train the body to become less insulin resistant or improve your body’s ability to use carbohydrates. This type of training is more effective than steady-state exercise for improving your insulin resistance.
So, improve your diet and coupled with some moderate exercise, and you should be able to reverse your fat-storing problem.
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