The Slim Blog

So you’ve tried all the low-fat diets, you live by the healthy eating pyramid, and you have a fridge full of low-fat ready meals. So why is it that you just can’t seem to lose any weight?!  Don’t despair.  The truth is that for most people their excess weight isn’t actually from eating too much fat, it’s from eating too much carbohydrate.  Although a high fat diet will cause you to gain weight, the real culprits are bread, pasta, potatoes, sweets and alcohol.

Carbohydrate & Blood Sugar

All carbohydrate is broken down into sugar, which is also known as glucose.  Whether it’s apples, oranges or vegetables, pasta, bread or alcohol, all carbohydrate ends up being released into your blood in the form of blood sugar.  As blood sugar levels rise a hormone called insulin is released which transports the sugar to the muscles and organs to be used as fuel. Now here’s the important bit.  If blood sugar levels rise too high, insulin mops up all the excess blood sugar and converts it into that wobbly stuff that’s been ruining your confidence for the last decade.

When it comes to carbohydrate and fat storage there’s some pretty tough science, but let’s not go complicating things.  Here’s the carbohydrate metabolism equation in a nutshell:

carbohydrate —> blood sugar —> fuel for the muscles/organs
excess blood sugar —> flabby arms / love handles / pot belly

The more sugary the carbohydrate, like sweets or alcohol, the more it floods the blood with sugar and the greater the chance of it being stored as fat - usually in the most unflattering place possible. Even the less sugary carbohydrates, such as rice or pasta, will be stored as fat if you eat too much in one go and flood your blood with sugar.

Glycaemic Index & Glycaemic Load

The chances of the carbohydrate you eat turning to fat depends on if it is high ‘glycaemic index’ or high ‘glycaemic load’.

The faster the carbohydrate breaks down into sugar the higher it is on the ‘glycaemic index’ (GI). The slower the carbohydrate breaks down into sugar the lower it is on the glycaemic index. As you might have guessed, all the foods you love and worship are pretty much at the top of the GI list - think sweets, biscuits and alcohol. All the foods that you need to be pinned down to eat are at the bottom of the GI list - think beans, pulses and oats.

But it’s not just about GI. The larger the portion of carbohydrate you eat in one go, the higher it’s ‘glycaemic load’. For example, some foods that are low GI might actually be eaten in large quantities, such as wholemeal bread or pasta. Even though it is low GI, if you eat a great big load of it on a saturday night, it will still flood your blood with enough sugar to reverse any fat loss you achieved in the week.

The end result…

If you eat high GI and high GL carbohydrates when you are already full then you’ll be flooding your blood with sugar and all the excess will get stored as fat. That low-fat skinny muffin you had with your cereal for breakfast… turned to fat. That low-fat yogurt you had after your sandwich for lunch… turned to fat. That glass of wine with your evening meal… turned to fat. Even that low-fat cereal you saw on the telly and thought it was ok to eat as a late night snack because the woman on the advert looked so skinny… turned to fat!

Liam

The Slim Company
personal training and weight management | Baldock | Bedford | Biggleswade | Harpenden | Hatfield | Hertford | Hitchin | Letchworth | Luton | Royston | St Albans | Stevenage | Welwyn

1) Forget fat… focus on your carbohydrate intake.

So many dieters make the mistake of following a rigidly low-fat diet, but don’t realise that the underlying cause of their weight gain is eating too much carbohydrate - usually in the form of chocolate, bread and alcohol. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?! The real cause of weight gain is raised levels of insulin - a hormone that promotes fat storage and blocks the hormones that trigger fat burning. Your Insulin levels rise the more you eat carbohydrate, so the only way to achieve lower insulin levels is to stop focusing on low-fat, fat-free, or 10% fat foods and start watching your carbohydrate intake.

2) Be realistic about your carbohydrate intake.

As a rule, the more you reduce your carbohydrate intake the faster you’ll lose weight, even with a high fat diet. But before you reach for your Atkins cookbook try to keep in mind that all very low-carb diets (a) ruin your social life, and (b) always result in rebound weight gain. If you’ve got a wedding or a holiday in a month then banishing carbohydrate is great for a quick fix, but be prepared to see your weight fly back on… and more! If you’re looking to lose weight long term then the only sustainable approach is to set goals to improve the quality, quantity and timing of your carbohydrate intake.

3) QUALITY - eat less of the junk food.

When you eat poor quality, refined carbohydrate your blood gets flooded with sugar leading to huge insulin spikes and increased fat storage. The worst offenders are sweets, crisps, biscuits, chocolate, cakes, white bread/pasta/rice, and frustratingly… alcohol! Cutting out all of these foods would make life miserable, so set yourself some realistic nutrition goals. How about keeping your alcohol intake to the weekend? Or only treat yourself to chocolate on a Sunday? Or cut down to one bag of crisps a day instead of three! Whatever your goal, make it realistic, sustainable and reward yourself for sticking at it!

4) QUANTITY - watch your portion sizes.

Portion control is an absolute must for keeping your blood sugar levels down, especially at dinner time when there’s less chance of it being burned off. Low-fat spaghetti bolognese, reduced fat shepherd’s pie, 10% fat sausages and mash… mountains of pasta and potatoes are an insulin nightmare just waiting to happen! Take your Friday night curry with rice, naan bread, a potato dish, a pudding and the usual booze… easily 2000 calories of insulin surging carbohydrate in one meal! Be realistic and have the Friday night curry, but get into the habit of having just two types of carbohydrate, not five!

5) TIMING - eat less and less as the day goes on.

You should breakfast like a king, lunch like a lord, dine like a pauper. The ideal timing of carbohydrate intake is to have a high-carb breakfast, a moderate carb lunch, but a low-carb dinner. Loading your carbohydrate intake before 3pm is important because you need fuel in the morning and daytime, but by 6pm it’s like putting petrol into a car that’s already got a full tank. If you get your carbohydrate balance right you should wake up feeling ravenous, your appetite should lessen as the day goes on and you should head to bed on an empty stomach - forcing your body to burn fat as you sleep.

Liam

The Slim Company
personal training and weight management | Baldock | Bedford | Biggleswade | Harpenden | Hatfield | Hertford | Hitchin | Letchworth | Luton | Royston | St Albans | Stevenage | Welwyn