well we've made it to 2023 and you know what that means as we go into the new year this is
when most people's motivation is at its highest so why not take that motivation and harness it
to do something great for your health 88 of American adults are metabolically unhealthy
and this metabolic dysfunction is rooted in insulin resistance a condition that most
people don't even realize they have so let me ask you this do you have high blood pressure
have skin tags on your neck or in your armpits carry excess weight around your midsection
if you answered yes to one or more of these questions it's more than likely that you have
insulin resistance and if insulin resistance is not addressed it will eventually progress
to type 2 diabetes increase your risk of heart disease Alzheimer's and certain cancers but
don't panic insulin resistance is a condition of diet and lifestyle and it can be reversed with a
few simple changes so in today's video we're going to be talking about the most effective
strategies you can start implementing now to reverse insulin resistance [Music]
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is Kait I'm a certified health and
nutrition coach I post videos twice a week here on YouTube talking all things insulin resistance
weight loss sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of your metabolic Health make
sure to click that subscribe button and you can also find me on Tick Tock and Instagram or if
you're new posts every single day today's video is sponsored by Squarespace for everything from
websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics Squarespace is the all-in-one platform
that does it all head to squarespace.com forward slash health coach Kait to start your free trial
today so if you're watching this video it's probably because number one your doctor has
diagnosed you with insulin resistance which is actually pretty rare because although insulin
resistance is very common fasting insulin is not routinely tested for so if you are lucky enough to
have a doctor who tests fasting insulin then you might have got a diagnosis or number two you think
you have insulin resistance based on the fact that you have a lot of the symptoms that are associated
and caused by it either way the steps I'm going to outline in this video can help they're going
to help you not only reverse insulin resistance but also prevent it going forward and keep you
in good metabolic Health number one is to track your blood sugar unless you're diabetic it is
unlikely that you've even given much thought to your blood sugar but measuring your blood sugar
levels periodically and seeing the blood sugar response that you get from certain foods can help
you to make adjustments that will improve your insulin sensitivity because insulin resistance
is actually caused by high insulin levels which is also known as hyperinsulinemia and what causes
our insulin to rise is when we are frequently experiencing blood sugar spikes throughout the
day because every time our blood sugar goes up insulin is released and its job is to take the
excess sugar from our bloodstream and deliver it to our cells so the more our blood sugar is
spiking the more insulin that's needed if we can keep our blood sugar from spiking or at least get
it spiking less often less insulin will be needed and by keeping your circulating insulin low this
is when your insulin sensitivity starts to improve AKA your insulin resistance begins to reverse so
with a blood glucose meter what we are looking for is how the food we eat impacts our blood
sugar you're going to want to test before you eat to get your reading and then at intervals
after you eat mainstream recommendations will tell you to only check two hours post meal but by doing
this you are missing a very important window if you really want a clear picture I would say
to measure 10 minutes after eating 30 minutes after eating and then two hours after eating
or you can also use a continuous glucose monitor I will link options for both in the description box
down below by doing this you can see how your blood sugar level changes in response to that
meal you can also see how long it takes for your blood sugar to come back down to Baseline it's the
big swings up and down that we want to avoid this is known as glycemic variability which describes
the changes in blood sugar we see throughout the day high glycemic variability is what we want to
avoid It's associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance low glycemic variability is
what we want to aim for by measuring our blood sugar we can see how our meals are affecting
us and if they are contributing to insulin resistance or countering it alright but how
can we keep our blood sugar stable let's get into tip number two which is to be smart with
carbs now we just touched on this briefly but when we eat carbohydrates they are broken down
into sugar the sugar enters our bloodstream and insulin is released in order to take the excess
sugar from our bloodstream to ourselves this is not the case when we eat protein and fat which
are metabolized differently so if we reduce our carb consumption throughout the day if we aim
for 100 grams of carbohydrates or less or even better 50 grams or less our glycemic variability
will reduce significantly now yes eating less than 50 grams of carbs in a day is considered
to be keto the keto diet but this isn't always necessary to reverse insulin resistance don't
get me wrong keto works I'm a fan but even just being smart about carbohydrates can be effective
one way to be smart about carbohydrates is to not eat them naked what do I mean by this
when we eat garbage Foods in isolation so for example tropical fruit these foods are very low in
protein and fat the blood sugar response to these Foods is going to be significant but if we take
the exact same food and we pair it with a source of protein and or fat the blood sugar response is
going to be less significant so if you're having a difficult time reducing carbs in your diet that's
okay just try to pair them with protein and fat when you can another thing we can do is that when
we eat foods that are rich in carbohydrates eat them around exercise this doesn't have to be a
big run or a hard workout I'm just talking even going for a 10 minute walk before or after you
eat the carbs your body can use the energy immediately and the blood sugar response is
going to be less significant and my final tip for being smart about carbs kind of goes along
with the one about not eating them in isolation and that is to eat them at the end of your meal
so if you're eating a steak some vegetables and some potatoes for example the potatoes are of
course going to be the carbohydrate Rich portion of this meal so eat the steak and the vegetables
first and your blood sugar is going to be a lot more happy now before I get into the final step
on how you can reverse insulin resistance going into 2023 I'm going to take a quick moment to tell
you about today's sponsor Squarespace if you've been wanting to build a website whether that be
for personal use such as a blog or for a business you're starting up Squarespace has got you covered
their award-winning customizable templates will give your website a polished and professional
look while also being highly customizable you have complete control over colors fonts sizing
photos and more their templates are beautiful and professional I've been using Squarespace
for all of my online needs since I launched my coaching business back in 2018 not only did I
build my website through Squarespace but I also have my email list and I send out my newsletter
through them as well you can run an online store directly through Squarespace and accept payments
and these are just some of the amazing features that Squarespace has to offer if you're curious
but not 100 sure you can start a free trial with Squarespace without having to enter your credit
card details or anything you can access that by heading to squarespace.com forward slash health
coach Kait and when you build your website when you love it and you're ready to launch you can
use code health coach Kait to save 10 off your first order thank you again to Squarespace for
sponsoring this video number three is to do the right type of exercise now I do think that diet
is the most important component when it comes to reversing insulin resistance but exercise can help
as well but it can also be counterproductive if we're doing the wrong type in the context
of insulin resistance we do not want to be doing moderate or intense cardio the goal of exercise
should not be on burning calories more calories burnt does not mean it's better for insulin
resistance for reversing insulin resistance we want to be increasing our muscle mass and this is
done through resistance training the more muscle mass you have the more room to store glucose your
body has this is because our muscles are where most of our glucose in our body is stored and this
can help to reverse insulin resistance because the glucose can be more spread out resistance training
also helps because when you're exercising your cells can use glucose without the need for insulin
in a 2019 study researchers looked at the effect short duration resistance training had on insulin
sensitivity in overweight men the men did three resistance training sessions a week for six weeks
with each session only lasting 15 to 20 minutes so a maximum of one hour of exercise a week
at the end of the study the participants saw a significant increase in their insulin sensitivity
so it doesn't have to be you killing yourself in the gym like I said burning calories is not
the goal exercising longer is not the goal just be effective with your workouts and this also
means that you don't need to be going to the gym any body weight movements you can do push-ups
sit-ups squats anything like that that can help and it's going to be a lot more effective than
cardio anyways guys that's all I have for you today I hope you found this video helpful now
if you're looking for a bit more guidance and support if you want a meal plan you can check
out my seven day insulin resistance Master Class I've created this master class to really simplify
everything give you what you need to know in as few words as possible like I said it includes a
sample meal plan shopping lists and you also get get access to a private Facebook group where you
can work with me a little bit closer and if you want to save 25 for the next week only use code
2023 at check it thanks again for watching guys let me know in the comment section down
below what your New Year's resolutions are and how you plan on achieving them I love chatting
with you guys in the comments section and yeah I'll leave it at that so happy New Years guys
if you did enjoy this video you might also enjoy my video on meat and if it contributes to insulin
resistance you can check it out here if you want to catch up on my most recent upload you
can find it here and if you want to check out my coaching programs including my seven day insulin
resistance Master Class you can check that out here thanks guys I'll see you next time bye