I’m lucky this year.
I’ll be away Halloween night and my kids are no longer on the trick-or-treating circuit.
So, I haven’t bought any candy.
However, I was VERY tempted this week.
At the grocery store, the boxes were right there, and the O’Henrys were practically calling my name.
But I had no good argument.
This year I couldn’t even try to fool my own mind with “they’re for the kids,” or “I’ll hide them until Halloween night.”
And yes, I’ve said those things before… and I just went out and bought more.
Halloween candy is addictive.
It’s a dangerous mixture of nostalgia and highly-paletable, microdoses of sugar.
One is never enough.
The Halloween candy trick
Now…
I know this all sounds kind of funny.
And probably familiar.
But unfortunately it’s not funny.
Because Halloween candy is big business.
Companies are pumping out mini candies all year round now, and are they’re no longer just a Halloween treat.
They’re small, colorful, fun, and of course, they taste good…
But that’s the trick.
Like Snow White’s poison apple.
Of course, Halloween candy isn’t the only issue here, but I’m picking on it because it’s Halloween and it’s a great example of how we’ve gone off track.
And how, in mid-life, these kinds of “tricky” choices are hurting us.
Perimenopause and Insulin Resistance
So, where there’s an over-abundance of sugar and processed food intake, there’s likely Insulin Resistance (IR).
It’s one of the most prevalent health conditions, especially as we head into menopause.
And we all need to be aware of it.
As I’ve talked about, perimenopause is marked by the fluctuations and decline of the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
And when that happens, we begin to lose some of the protection those hormones offered.
Including some protection from from IR.
IR is what precipitates all the big lifestyle diseases… Diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
And although we’ve been worried about the pandemic for the past two-and-a-half years…
IR, though significantly less publicized, has the potential to be more lethal.
Although we can’t catch IR if someone coughs on us, it’s easily contagious when others around us have it.
Because we tend to adopt the same lifestyle habits as those we live, work, and socialize with.
What is Insulin Resistance?
So, simply, insulin is a hormone that transports energy (glucose) to be stored in our cells.
We need insulin.
However, when too much glucose is in our blood, our cells stop accepting it and therefore our cells are said to become insulin resistant.
When this happens, we need to increase our insulin sensitivity.
And we do that by eating foods that don’t cause our blood glucose to increase so much i.e. whole foods.
And by exercising so that the glucose can be used as energy in our working muscles.
And by reducing stress, because when the stress hormone cortisol is around, our blood glucose increases.
That’s it in a nutshell.
How do you know if you’re Insulin Resistant?
According to the CDC, you’ll likely be diagnosed with insulin resistance if you have a combination of “high blood sugar levels, high triglycerides (a kind of blood fat), high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol.”
Belly fat is also a risk factor for IR.
And although we like to blame hormones, hormones don’t cause IR, lifestyle choices do.
But of course, our lifestyle choice to eat sugar isn’t all our fault.
Our bodies are programmed to crave sugar and fat because they’re amazing sources of energy, and historically they were in short supply.
And big candy companies are exploiting this weakness, as they employ teams of people dedicated to keeping our biology craving more.
It’s a frustrating situation, not only because it’s harming our bodies and minds, but it’s also a huge drain on society and our medical resources.
However, there is a solution – besides shutting down all the candy factories.
We are endowed with an incredible tool to protect us from falling prey to all that sugar:
Our conscious, thinking minds.
With our minds we can make choices regardless of our biological programming.
And that’s as simple, or as hard, as you believe it is.
But you CAN reverse IR simply by making new choices.
The power of your mind
Maybe you’ve been overweight, or diagnosed with IR.
And maybe you thought, “I just need to exercise more and eat better” and you went about making changes.
Did it work?
If you’re like most people, this might have worked for a few days or weeks, but it rarely works long term.
The problem is this…
We believe that the answers lie in changing our ACTIONS.
Move more, eat less, work less, relax more,…
Doing, and not doing.
But the real answer isn’t found by changing your ACTIONS, as we saw above.
It’s found in our THOUGHTS.
It’s only when you actually THINK and BELIEVE you want to and can do it, that then the ACTIONS will follow.
Not the other way around.
You can reverse INSULIN RESISTANCE.
And you do that by beginning to chip away at old thoughts and beliefs that are contributing to it.
First start with what you’re WILLING to change.
Create new thoughts that support that change.
And then work your way, step by step, putting into practice the things your mind is WILLING to change.
Until your body catches up.
And the ACTIONS become just a side-effect of your mindset.
That’s why there’s no one diet or exercise program that works.
Because they’re all a function of the mind.
Does this all sound like too much?
No one likes to hear that we shouldn’t eat candy.
And I’m not about banning any “food” completely.
It’s just about creating awareness and taking personal responsibility for what, when, and how you’re eating what you choose to eat.
Even candy.
I know that even this can seem overwhelming, and that there must be some perfect way to do this.
There isn’t.
But if you just decided to make one change, or one adjustment, you could make a huge difference.
Just one.
So, just decide that you can do one thing differently.
Pick something simple, something you really believe you are capable of doing.
Then, make it happen consistently.
And when it becomes easy, add another.
You already have some good habits, so build on them.
This is within your control.
Keep moving forward,
Debbie
P.S. Have more questions about Insulin Resistance and perimenopause? I’ll be talking more about it as part of Better Belly Week. Join me starting November 1st, and send in more of your questions too!
P.P.S. Want to talk more about this? I always have time to talk. Just connect with me and we’ll set it up. Email me, message me, or book a time to talk through Zoom.