I'm overweight, I want lose weight first and then exercise

What would you prefer in order to achieve your weight loss goals?

I want to fill you in on a little secret about weight loss. The most important thing you need to do is improve your insulin sensitivity. Let me get a little deeper on this subject.

When you are insulin resistant, the body is much more likely to store the food that you eat as fat. It also promotes a lot of inflammation markers within the body, causing health issues and less quality of life. Here are some of the effects of poor insulin sensitivity

• Causes chronic insomnia and therefore, makes you even more tired
• Can lead to the development of diabetes
• Leads to poorer effort when training, as well as in your overall physical fitness
• Can increase the risk of heart disease

What you must be aware of is that when you eat a meal, your blood sugar level rises after the digestion process. Insulin therefore goes into action mode, binding with cells in order to store the glucose in muscle as glycogen (to power up your muscles) or as fat (excess storage, as you already know). Healthy bodies shuttle glycogen to muscles for energy, then only store excess glucose as fat if those glycogen stores are topped off.

Insulin resistance means that the cells aren’t readily binding to insulin. The body pumps out more insulin to get the blood glucose that’s whirling around the blood, and back to where it needs to be. This is the problem with those suffering from obesity. The good news is that we can re-train the body to shuttle glucose back where it belongs, and eliminate it from fat storage mode. Here is how.

5 ways to get your body back into a fat burning, muscle building machine

1. Opt for foods that improve insulin sensitivity. Place these important staples in your diet immediately: - nuts - vinegar - spices - Green tea - Red Tea Detox - turmeric - cinnamon. Dress your salad with herbs, olive oil and vinegar.
2. When eating higher carb foods, add these sensitisers to it. Apple cider - lemon - lime - sauerkraut - cinnamon - ginger
   - When eating oats add cinnamon to it.
   Drink a cup of green tea before this meal.
   - When you are having sweet potato, add sauerkraut and some lemon juice, with a drizzle of olive oil
3. Avoid soft drinks and any fruit juices. We all should know the dangers of soft drink and fruit juices. Both contain a multitude of added sugar and increase your insulin resistance, promote accumulation of fat on the belly, and can cause metabolic problems. Your best bet is to just drink filtered water, about 3 litres a day. This will help you lose body fat, hydrate you and eliminate waste products. Also, keep in mind that water has a thermal effect too.
4. Good fats are necessary for overall health and balancing blood sugar levels. Opt for olive, coconut, macadamia, almond oils, as well as avocados, nuts and salmon. Stay away from the following oils;
   - Vegetable, soy and cottonseed oil. They are filled with omega 6 fat. All are processed and partially hydrogenated. Often these are used in restaurants, store bought foods and in anything processed
5. Pick lower glycemic index foods in order to elevate your blood sugar at a slower pace. When you eat whole foods at all times, whilst diminishing refined and processed alternatives, you will teach your body to elevate blood sugar slowly, allowing the release of insulin more effectively, rather than pumping it out in a manic response to a spike in blood sugar. Just think as well what this will do to your overall health.
   - Choose fibre rich foods such as broccoli, kale, spinach and lettuce
   - Berries are a great source of polyphenols, and provide a great add on to your oats or as a snack during the day.

When you first alternate your food choices, improve your insulin sensitivity, and perform physical exercise, you will be more inclined to experience results faster, than if you split them. The choice is yours, and you can lose a relative amount of weight with food alone, following the options above to get your body back into the fat burning mode, instead of storing and holding onto fat.