Once upon a time, there was a donut and a chicken breast…

Hey there!

Here’s a blog post appeared late last summer… I got some of the most interesting responses from my audience.

So, I decided to re-publish it.

Not only because it was full of good info, but also because vacation is calling my name…

Enjoy and have a great week!

---

Have you ever tried to “eat less and exercise more”? 

Did it work for you?

Although this method can work, for a lot of you, losing weight isn’t usually that simple.

So, over the past year or so, I’ve been learning a lot

more about how we lose weight and what prevents us from getting there.

And one really interesting thing I’ve discovered is that yes, calories do matter… but what matters just as much, or even more, are your hormones.

In particular, what inspired me most was a talk given by Dr. Jade Teta.

In his talk he discussed the link between our hormones and fat loss, and it’s this link that I wanted to share with you today…

When we hear the word “hormones” we often think of the sex hormones, right?

But in fact there are at least 50 different hormones in your body that are working at this very moment to help control pretty much everything from your core body temperature to your mood.

The most recent scientific research is showing that certain hormones are huge contributors to inhibiting or enabling fat loss, and they even dictate where fat will end up on your body.

As I mentioned in the first sentence, the weight loss philosophy of the past couple of decades has been about the calories:

Eat less (take in less calories), exercise more (and burn more calories).

But now, there’s a lot of research out there to show that hormones play a huge role in the fat loss equation.

And because of this, losing weight isn’t just about eating less calories, but eating the right type of calories.

Let me explain…

To illustrate how hormones work, let’s take a glazed donut and a grilled chicken breast (with the skin on)…

They both have about 250 calories.

However, if you’re looking to lose weight (and desire a healthy body), one is better than the other.

Which one?

If you guessed the chicken breast, you get a gold star!

But why is that?

They’re both equal in terms of calories.  And in the old “calories in/calories out” system that would be good enough, right?

Well, not so fast.

Let’s take a closer look at the donut…

As you probably know, the donut is high in sugar, and it’s actually twice as high in fat as the chicken with the skin on.

And what does this high sugar/high fat combo do once it passes through your lips?

Well, the sugar and flour of the donut cause a spike of the hormone insulin in your blood, and unless you’re doing heavy duty exercise immediately before or after, insulin will quickly usher the sugar into your fat cells to be stored as fat.

Also, the fat in the donut causes the release of GIP, another fat storing hormone.

But the biggest problem occurs when fat AND sugar are combined, like they are in a donut.  This causes the release of both GIP and insulin from the fat and sugars, and then both these hormones together cause the body to go into fat storage overdrive.

And where will this fat go?

Well, if you’re a younger woman, this fat will generally accumulate on the hips and thighs due to higher estrogen and progesterone levels; if you’re an older woman (approaching, or in menopause) or a man, the fat tends to accumulate more around the mid-section as the ratio of testosterone is higher.

But then there’s cortisol, the stress hormone, that can also cause fat to migrate around the belly – no matter your age or sex.  And you may be secreting cortisol on a regular basis even though you may not be feeling extreme levels of stress every day.

The truth is that in this fast-paced, busy, modern world, you’re likely living with a constant low-level stress (related to work, relationships, or finances) that you’ve just accepted as normal.  And your body is responding with cortisol.

Finally, to make things more interesting, when the hormone insulin and the hormone cortisol are hanging out together in the body in significant amounts (which can happen if you eat a donut, or drink a moka-choco-creamy-oooh-la-la latté to ease even lower level stressful feelings) then fat not only gets stored, it also becomes resistant to being released (burned) from the cells.

So basically you’re gaining fat easily, and also making it super difficult to lose it at the same time.

Not good.

One more thing.  Because of the low nutrient value of that sugary donut and the addictive qualities of sweet foods, you generally don’t feel satisfied after just one.  You could probably eat a few.  Maybe even a whole box?  Therefore having just one donut will likely lead you to overeat.

Although I hate being the bearer of bad news, if you continue eating this way day after day, you will get fat, maybe even obese. (Click on the link to discover your BMI and approximately where you are on the obesity spectrum.)   And your hormones will be on a constant roller coaster ride – especially insulin as it spikes and falls – to the point where pre-diabetes and even full-blown diabetes can develop. 

(Shockingly, it’s estimated that about 15% of Canadians have at least pre-diabetes.)

But the good news is that this situation is preventable and reversible…

Enter the chicken breast…

It’s mostly protein and some fat.  And I’m pretty sure you can’t eat much more than one, maybe two depending on your size.  You’ll feel fuller eating the same amount of chicken calories compared to donut calories. 

Also, the chicken breast won’t cause your insulin to spike, because there’s not much sugar there, and therefore not much to store as fat.  Instead it has protein which will help build more lean muscle, which in turn will increase the calorie burning capacity of your body.

And although there is fat especially in the skin of the chicken, it will cause the release of GIP, but since there’s almost no insulin released, very minimal fat will be stored.

So all this being said, are you going to go for the donut or the chicken breast?

Of course, the donut and the chicken breast in this story are just examples.  The donut is an example of a fatty processed carb, and the chicken an example of a lean protein.  It could have been potato chips and tofu.

Sticking with the donut/chicken breast story though…  I know that logically you’d probably like to say you’d go for the chicken breast… but emotionally you’ll most likely crave the donut.

And it’s not because you’re weak… it’s because of your hormones.

When you crave that donut, your body will release the hormone dopamine (also known as the reward hormone).  Dopamine will lead you to believe that yes, you really want and deserve that deliciously sweet donut.

And then once you eat the donut, endorphins will be released:  they’re those “feel good” hormones.  So, temporarily, you’ll even feel good as you eat the donut.

But as you may have realized, this “feel good” state doesn’t last long.

So how do you override the hormone effects and do the right thing?

By using your mind.

If you use your mind to stay conscious and understand the hormone game, then you can mentally refuse to give your power over to the donut (or to the donut industry for that matter), and then you’ll be empowered to say “no thanks!” to the donut.

And as a reward for sticking to what you said you’d do, you’ll trigger a rush of some happy hormones like serotonin, which will make you feel calm and content.  If you do this, the craving will pass and you won’t eat the donut.

Sounds simple, but I know it’s not so easy.

The truth is that you probably don’t really want the donut.  What you actually want are those feel-good feelings of comfort that the donut can temporarily bring.

So, it’s important to use your mind and  find other ways of creating those feelings without the negative effects of fat gain and poor health.  Maybe reading a good book, walking in the park, going for a run, talking with a good friend, taking a bubble bath… I’m sure you can think of others.

Finally, if you want to lose fat, what kinds of food should you focus on? 

Now that you know calories aren’t the only factor, you want to focus on keeping your hormones as stable as possible… which will not only positively impact your weight, but could also help with controlling your mood, regulating your menstrual cycle, easing depression, …

Here are four general guidelines to follow especially if weight loss (and overall body health) is your goal:

1.  Eat lean protein and non-starchy veggies at every meal
Think lean protein sources that will fill you up such as eggs (yes, they’re good for you), chicken, lean pork and beef, tofu, and sometimes legumes.  And eat as many veggies (other than potatoes and sweet potatoes) as you want (veggies have fiber, vitamins, minerals).

2.  Avoid (or severely limit) processed and/or starchy carbs, especially those combined with fat like donuts and chips.  Included here are also breads, pastas, pastries, crackers, cookies, alcohol…

3.  Keep moving in two different ways:
Do workouts that include intense, short-bursts of work (increases fat burning).
And also engage in more relaxed forms of movement like taking a leisurely stroll or yoga (reduce stress).

4.  Get enough and better sleep
A general rule is 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, but we’re all individuals, so that may vary from person to person.  And the quality of sleep you get matters too:   Aim to have uninterrupted sleep as much as possible.  But this is a whole other topic of discussion…

---

Hope you enjoyed this article (even more if it was your second time around 🙂

Navigating the world of donuts isn’t so easy to do alone.

That’s why I’m here.

The whole reason I started my business was to help keep you well “abreast” of things going on in the world of nutrition as well as help coach you along the path to a fitter, leaner, and healthier lifestyle.

Want to know more about having your own personal fitness coach?

Just send me an email or text me, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Keep moving forward,
Debbie

P.S. Although we’re almost half-way through July, you can still spend the last two weeks with me and 50 other people who are tackling the July Fitness Challenge… don’t be shy, find out more and sign up here.