WOW! I did not expect the response I got to my last post, but my inbox was flooded with questions of "Help! I'm a Sugar Burner! Now what!?"
Well, the reason I didn't write many "solutions" in my last post is because each of you is very unique! And I respect that!! You live a different life, you eat different foods, you have different levels of stress, you move in different ways, your genetics are different... SO it is very difficult to offer a "one size fits all" - although I wish I confidently could!! This is why it is best to work with someone one-on-one, even if it is for 1-2 meetings. Food journals and your health history is a gigantic part of this healing process.
I know WHY you want me offer advice...it is the world we live in! Pick up a magazine, watch a TV show, read an article (or several) online - they all give you the "answers." Unfortunately, that is just not how it works : (
But I do not want you to feel discouraged, so I will try to provide some suggestions based on the questions I involved in my quiz, since these are "snippets" I'm getting about your life. These may seem very generic. I admit, they may not be "new" to you! So listen to them! ;)
(Your specific recommendations can be further investigated with the help from a nutritional therapist.)
Okay, I think I've beat a dead horse...SUGAR BURNERS, here are some suggestions. And remember, this may be something you only need to do for a period of time to get the fat burning metabolism kicking into gear~
1. Stop the processed food.
Hopefully this is a no brainer, but it is one of those suggestions that is much easier said than done, especially if you are addicted to this processed food. Package, box, wrapping, etc...avoid it! Ideally, your food won't need food labels, but if you have them, read them!! Avoid anything that is hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, contains trans fatty acids, artificial flavors or sweeteners, or fried. Don't make allowances for yourself...don't wonder if it is "allowed." If you are wondering or trying to justify, it is probably not real food and you should probably avoid it.
2. Eat a balanced macronutrient, whole food diet.
Balance is key. Eat Carbs, Fats, and Proteins. ALL OF THEM. QUALITY of each macronutrient is key. Think grass-fed beef, organic, free-range poultry, cage-free eggs, low-toxicity seafood, nuts and seeds, raw, properly processed oils from nuts and seeds (flax, sesame), saturated fats from healthy sources, grass-fed butter, low glycemic vegetables (raw or lightly cooked), some starchy carbs (potatoes, brown rice, etc). As a sugar burner, keep fruit intake low and focus on fruit that does not taste as sweet (green bananas, green apples, etc). You can certainly add fruit back in once you have your cravings under control!
Aim for 2-6 oz of quality protein at each meal (and you could honestly probably even go a bit higher if you need it!) - meat, poultry, fish, eggs, go crazy! Same with vegetables - if you are hungry, reach for dark, leafy greens and a variety of colors for your meals. You should only limit the starchy veggies during this period, like potatoes, yams, cooked carrots, beets, etc. Avoid grains, unrefined & processed during this period - just until you have your cravings under control. Eat those natural fats (butter, coconut, sesame, olive, hemp, walnut, flax) as well as raw or slow-roasted nuts (raw cashews, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds). As far as dairy, only include fermented dairy such as plain yogurt (be careful!) or kefir.
3. Cut out the sweeteners and sugars.
This is huge for sugar burners. NO SWEETENERS. As mentioned above, even avoid those sweeter fruits to avoid cravings! A sweet taste will trigger an insulin response - this includes artificial sweeteners and the herb, Stevia. You are trying to repattern yourself - if you keep allowing yourself to have sweets, you will never recalibrate. Let them go...and in about 1-2 weeks, you will (hopefully) be free of cravings and able to enjoy the natural sweetness of foods again.
4. Go to bed.
Sleep and rest. Your body needs time to rest, recycle, and detoxify from the day. This is a "fasting" state and period for the body to allow the systems to reorient for the next day. Even if you are just laying in bed resting - worth it! Make this a top priority. If you have SO MUCH jam-packed in your day that you cannot find the time to sleep or cannot turn off your mind, then you need to reexamine what you are doing with your life and your time. << I am 100% speaking from experience here. This is causing much more stress on your body than you may even realize.
5. Enjoy your meals.
Are you grateful for each meal you have? I'm not saying you are praying at each meal (unless you are into that of course!), but I'm saying that you are present. You need to stop being distracted, and you need to SIT DOWN when you eat! A good practice? Take 5-10 deep breaths before you eat. Enjoy the smell. This allows your stomach to produce enough stomach acid to actually digest your food. (This is the problem when you are eating small meals throughout the day - your stomach never has a chance to "rest" and recover...as a result, it ends up producing less stomach acid leading to even more complications - such as the actual absorption of the nutrients!)
6. Exercise regularly.
Exercise is a vital component of overall health, and blood sugar regulation. Maybe people mistake exercise to mean high-intensity, beat-up-you-body workouts. Exercise = movement. Take a long walk, deep clean the house, pull weeds in your garden. Make the effort to move everyday. So here is the tricky part....WHEN do you eat? This is a critical sign of being a fat burner. If you can go 4-6 hours comfortably without experiencing cravings, it is a sign you have become this type of metabolizer. However, if you feel you need something in your system ever 2-3 hours, you are likely running on glucose and/or undereating at your meals. Unfortunately, I cannot offer specific suggestions to this question because it depends "how bad" your blood sugar situation is...and the other digestive issues that come along with it : / Like I said, its not a "one size fits all!"
(Longest post ever?)
I hope this was able to help even a bit!
If you think you would benefit from speaking with a nutritional therapist, get in touch (email, Facebook message, etc) and I'll keep you on my contact list for the near future! : )