We know that there is so much confusion out there about what kind of “diet” is the best….but if you have followed us for a while, you know that our approach is the “anti-diet.”  In fact, we call ourselves “Diet Disruptors” and believe it's our mission to tell people just how debilitating dieting is! 

But what SHOULD we be doing if it isn’t a diet?

Glad you asked.

When you are deciding on a nutrition approach, you should always first ask yourself three questions we call “The Nutrition Litmus Test.” 

1.) Is it based on science? 

2.) Can you do it for the rest of your life? and 

3.) Would you put your kids on it?  

Our approach, while most know it as “PFC Every 3” is really all about the concept of blood sugar stabilization.

So, to prove how powerful blood sugar stabilization is, let’s apply the concept to just the first question of the litmus test.

While our approach can answer an astounding YES to all three questions of our litmus test, we are going to focus on #1…the science behind blood sugar stabilization.

What is Blood Sugar Stabilization? 

Your body’s goal is for its blood sugar to be balanced.  Think about a time when you were REALLY hungry and how debilitating it can be to your physical and emotional well-being.  That’s your body screaming….”HEY, YOU! My blood sugar is low!” 

How can we balance our blood sugar?  Well, the best way is through what we eat. 

When you eat, your body immediately starts the process of converting carbohydrates into energy, which comes in the form of glucose.  Then, your body begins secreting insulin from your pancreas.  

This “trigger” of insulin will do one of two things.  

First, it can help your body absorb the glucose, which will supply the important energy your cells need, or, in the second option, it can process the glucose to be stored for future use in the form of… yep, you guessed it, body fat. 

The amount of glucose in your bloodstream changes throughout the day based on what you eat, and with the standard American diet, the amount of change throughout the day will vary WIDELY (think Grand Canyon kind of wide).

As a result, your poor pancreas is working overtime to secrete enough insulin to try to regulate your peaks in blood sugar, preventing it from being TOO high. 

The Blood Sugar Roller Coaster 

At one point in time, you have probably experienced the “blood sugar roller coaster,” which is the spikes and drops in blood sugar as your body responds to the food you eat. 

Our “diets,” or what we eat, typically include an overabundance of carbohydrates. (just check out the labels on most processed foods.) For example, you might start your day with oatmeal and granola, a muffin, or a bagel…or maybe you just do some fruit because you think it’s low calories and healthy

Because all carbohydrates (yes even fruit and vegetables) turn into sugar as soon as it hits your bloodstream you cause a spike in your blood sugar when you eat a carbohydrate by itself. 

This sets your body up for cravings.

The cravings cause you to eat more carbohydrates sending you on a roller coaster throughout the day.  

Or perhaps you don’t eat breakfast and allow yourself to become hungry. (or even if you have trained your body not to “need food” in the morning so you don’t feel hungry). In either case,  your blood sugar drops.

Your body wants to correct the drop so what do you naturally crave?

Yup.  Carbs. 

It’s why you find yourself binging on carbs when you are super hungry…your body is saying “I need you to raise my blood sugar!”

Your pancreas then has to secrete insulin to lower it once you carb loader. The cycle continues and leads you to feel irritable, lack focus, and will cause you to gain weight. 

Balanced Blood Sugar means Balanced Hormones

You have two hormones that are associated with your metabolism, or how effectively your body is able to convert food to energy. 

Those are glucagon and insulin. 

Glucagon is the hormone that we want hanging around because it helps us to feel stable, energetic, focused, and best of all… it’s the fat-burning hormone. 

The other hormone is insulin and that is your fat-storing hormone. 

What we eat plays the determining factor in hormonal balance. 

Most of the time when we eat we are causing spikes in our blood sugar due to the number of carbs that we are eating. When our blood sugar spikes, our body releases insulin to help lower our blood sugar. Too much insulin hanging around means that your body is going to store fat because it doesn’t know when it is going to get its next meal, so it’s protecting itself.  

But, when we eat carbs in combination with protein we stabilize our blood sugar and balance our hormones.  Stable blood sugar not only leads to permanent weight loss, but also leads to long-term health benefits and helps you feel energetic, boosts your mood, and supports better sleep.

5 Ways to Achieve Balanced Blood Sugar

Eat within one hour of waking up. 

Your blood sugar is at its lowest point in the morning. When you allow yourself to go without food you cause your blood sugar to drop. This sets you up for spikes and drops throughout the day. When you eat within an hour of waking up, you balance your blood sugar and boost your metabolism. 

Eat Every 3-4 Hours 

Fueling your body with the right kinds of food every 3-4 hours helps to keep your blood sugar stable throughout the day. When you don’t eat at regular intervals, you force your body into “starvation mode” where it learns to store fat that can be used for energy later because it doesn’t know when it is going to get its next meal. 

Eat PFC Every 3

At every meal, you want to make sure that you are eating a combination of lean protein, healthy fat, and good carbohydrate. (It’s the 40/20/40 balance). When you pair a protein with a good carbohydrate (one that is low on the Glycemic Index) you slow the release and absorption of glucose into the bloodstream, which helps keep your blood sugar stable. Carbs cause the release of insulin, protein causes the release of glucagon and when those are balanced you have blood sugar stabilization. What about the fat? Fat helps to keep you feeling full, slows down digestion so we can absorb the nutrients we are feeding it, and cushions our organs.  We literally need good fat so we can burn the excess from our bodies.

Eat Within an Hour of Going to Bed

You may have heard or been told that you need to stop eating at a certain point during the day in order to achieve weight loss. This in fact does the exact opposite of what you want because your blood sugar will drop and we know what our body does then… it stores fat! By eating at regular intervals throughout the day, including right up until the time you go to bed, you keep your blood sugar stable, which helps to boost your metabolism and leads to long-term weight loss. 

It’s the ONLY Long-Term Solution to Weight Loss and Optimal Health 

We have been told that the only way to achieve weight loss is by restricting calories or eliminating food groups. This is just not true!!  This has multiple negative effects. For one, your body needs to get energy from somewhere so when you restrict your calories it pulls fat from your muscles to use as energy. You also end up slowing your metabolism because your body has to adjust to the decreased calories. When you restrict food groups such as carbohydrates, you are not feeding your body the energy source it needs. Neither of these options is sustainable. The only sustainable way to achieve long-term weight loss is by balancing your hormones by balancing your blood sugar. 

So let’s stop riding that blood sugar roller coaster and turn our bodies into fat-burning machines!

Coach Deb