in today's video we are going to be talking about metabolic flexibility
what it is and how you can increase it to burn more fat metabolic flexibility is the
ability to switch between burning carbs and fat seamlessly this means that if you don't eat for
several hours your energy won't crash because your body is able to tap into your fat stores
and on the flip side this also means that your body is able to optimize the use of carbs
for certain situations such as before a hard workout the problem is is that a large portion
of the population is metabolically inflexible you will know that you are metabolically inflexible if
you need to snack throughout the day to maintain your energy you can't go more than five hours
without eating you get hangry when you're hungry and you feel sleepy after eating a big meal
if you can relate to any of these symptoms then unfortunately your metabolic flexibility is poor
but don't worry if this is you because you're in the right place in this video not only are
we going to dive deeper into what it means to be metabolically flexible and the positive health
outcomes but we will also be talking about what you can do to increase your metabolic flexibility
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is kait i'm a health coach and i post
videos on a high fat nutrient-dense way of eating if you like this video please give it a thumbs up
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facebook where i share new posts every single day we're going to start off today talking about the
different fuel sources our body can use and why some are better in certain situations than others
then we will get into the benefits of being metabolically flexible and we will finish off with
some tips on how you can increase your metabolic flexibility glucose versus fat as humans we have
the ability to use two fuel sources without making things too complicated the two main ones we're
going to talk about today are glucose and fat glucose is the main type of sugar in the blood
and it is a source of energy for ourselves when we eat foods that contain carbohydrates
those carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and enter our bloodstream and this applies for
both simple and complex carbohydrates both are broken down into glucose or sugar however
the rate at which they are broken down may differ the glucose is then moved from the bloodstream to
our cells to be used for energy but food isn't the only way our bodies can obtain glucose
our bodies can also make it through a process known as gluconeogenesis by breaking down other
compounds such as lactate and amino acids our body can make enough glucose for our needs
if you have ever worn a continuous glucose monitor or even just tested your blood sugar before and
after an intense workout you might have been surprised to see your blood sugar rise despite
you not eating anything in that time frame and this is gluconeogenesis at work your body needed
glucose to fuel your workout so it made it the second main fuel source our body can operate on
is fat this is both dietary and stored body fat now the use of fat for energy happens through
a completely different pathway in the body than that of glucose when we eat foods that contain fat
the fat is broken down into fatty acids it enters the bloodstream and can be used for energy by our
cells the main difference here is that fat takes longer to break down and process than carbs do
so this means you will not experience an immediate burst of energy as you would if you ate a simple
carbohydrate food for example but instead the energy is longer lasting and consistent
because carbs are a faster energy source your body will always use them first in the presence of both
carbohydrates and fat but this doesn't necessarily mean that they are the best option for certain
situations yes such as fueling an intense workout when you want the energy burst to be immediate
but for day-to-day life for anyone trying to lose weight and for the everyday exerciser fat
is a better source of energy yes carbohydrates provide quick energy but it is also shorter lived
metabolic inflexibility as i said at the start of this video you will know you are metabolically
inflexible if you need to snack throughout the day to maintain your energy you can't go more
than five hours without eating you get hangry when you're hungry and you feel sleepy after
eating a big meal and let me know in the comment section down below how many of these symptoms
you are currently experiencing basically what is happening is that your body has become
so reliant on using carbs for energy it has lost the ability to burn fat efficiently so when there
is no excess glucose in the bloodstream or if your cells have lost the ability to use that glucose
which we'll talk about more in a second this is when you get those side effects listed above
you will have an energy crash you might get a headache you'll have trouble focusing and
you won't be able to feel better again until you eat metabolic inflexibility is linked to insulin
resistance also known as metabolic syndrome and this makes a lot of sense this means that they are
not responding to insulin and not using glucose for energy in the way that they should and this
leads to many of the symptoms that people who are metabolically inflexible experience for example
you might have just finished a meal and still be hungry or be craving dessert this is because your
cells are not able to use blood sugar efficiently so there is adequate energy present but your cells
cannot access it and on top of that you are not able to use stored body fat for energy
because when blood sugar is high insulin is high and insulin stops fat burning so by now you might
be starting to understand the problem with relying on only glucose for energy but now let's get into
some of the benefits of being metabolically flexible and why it is something you should
strive for the benefits of metabolic flexibility it aids in fat loss it helps you maintain your fat
loss it lowers your fasting blood sugar it allows you to have consistent energy throughout the day
it improves your insulin sensitivity and reverses insulin resistance and it reduces your
risk of developing type 2 diabetes heart disease alzheimer's and more and finally let's get into
how you can increase your metabolic flexibility number one shorten your feeding window what do
i mean by this our bodies are always in one of two states a fed state or a fasted state after
we eat we are in a fed state fat burning is on hold and fat storing goes up once our body has
completely digested and processed our last meal we are in a fasted state and our body goes into fat
burning mode instead if you are eating every couple of hours from the moment you wake up
until when you go to bed you are always going to be in a fed state and never a fasted state
and you will be using mainly glucose for energy which is what leads to metabolic inflexibility
in the first place the more time you can spend in a fasted state the more your body will adjust to
burning fat for energy and the more metabolically flexible you'll become now this is also known
as intermittent fasting but i promise you it doesn't have to be as intense as some people
make it out to be let's say you wake up at six a.m you have breakfast almost immediately and
you continue eating and snacking throughout the day right up until you go to bed at 10 p.m your
feeding window is from 6 a.m until 10 p.m which is 16 hours you are spending in a fed state and
only 8 hours in a fasted one you want to shorten your feeding window and extend your fasting window
so that could be not having breakfast until 8 or 9 or eating dinner at 6 pm and not eating after that
if you can get your feeding window down to between 8 to 12 hours that will yield significant results
for your metabolic flexibility and it doesn't have to be a drastic change all at once you can start
by cutting your feeding window down by an hour two and cutting it down more from there number
two stop snacking this one ties in with the last tip you want to stop snacking in between meals
snacking is just about the worst thing you can do for metabolic flexibility every time you eat blood
sugar goes up insulin goes up and you'll be in a fed state now if you continue to eat every couple
of hours blood sugar and insulin do not have a chance to come back down to baseline so you will
be constantly burning glucose throughout the day and never burning fat eat two to three big meals
throughout the day and don't snack in between number three is low-intensity exercise when we
do low-intensity aerobic exercise our bodies use mainly fat for energy this means walking
jogging swimming or cycling doing these exercises at a low intensity is key here especially when
you are first starting out this will restore your body's ability to burn fat number four eat a low
carb diet this is so effective because remember it is carbohydrates that are broken down into glucose
when carbs in the diet are low your body is burning mainly fat for energy by reducing
carbs and focusing your meals around protein and fat your body will be quickly forced to adapt to
using fat for energy and the longer you eat a low carb diet the easier it will be for your
body to switch between burning fat and glucose for energy when it needs to anyways guys that's all i
have for you today let me know in the comment section down below if you are able to increase
your metabolic flexibility and the benefits you experienced and if you did enjoy this video
please remember to like and subscribe if you're not already and feel free to share this video
with someone who you think would find it helpful and if you did find this video helpful you might
also like my video on signs and symptoms of pcos which you can check out here if you want to catch
up on my most recent upload you can find it right here and if you want to check out my keto diet and
carnivore diet coaching programs you can click here thanks again guys i'll see you next time
bye