Secret #5 to Blitz Your Belly Fat, Balance Your Blood Sugar

Over the last five weeks I have shared with you some of the key secrets to getting rid of your belly fat!

In case you missed any of them, here’s a recap:

• Eat Clean Foods
• Drink Enough Water
• Avoid Foods to Which You’re Intolerant
• Reduce Your Stress

Well, here’s secret # 5 to burning your belly fat…

Keep your blood sugar levels balanced!

You might be saying, well, I’m not a diabetic so I don’t need to worry about blood sugar levels!

But maintaining balanced blood sugar isn’t just for diabetics.  If you want to reduce the size of your belly you need to be very aware of keeping your blood sugar levels in check.  Otherwise, you could be setting the stage for serious accumulation of fat around your mid-section.  And if you’re not careful, you could very well become a Type II diabetic!

Whenever you eat incorrectly for your body’s needs it impacts your blood sugar levels.  And what do I mean by “eat incorrectly” for your body’s needs?  I mean not giving your body adequate fuel by following a calorie-restrictive diet or skipping meals through out the day or feeding your body excess fuel by eating too many carbohydrates for your body’s needs.

Calorie-Restrictive Diets and Skipping Meals Make it Impossible to Have a Tight Tummy!

Whenever you deprive your body of the right amount of fuel either by not eating enough or skipping meals, your body responds to this “starvation” by elevating your stress hormones.  As a protective mechanism (your body perceives this as a life-threatening situation), your body responds to the stress signal by releasing glycogen (stored sugar) from your liver into your blood stream to elevate your blood sugar.

So when you restrict calories and skip meals through out the day, you basically keep your body in a constant state of stress, resulting in a roller coaster ride of blood sugar highs and lows. 

By the way, stress hormones are catabolic.  What that means is that they break down your muscles and tissues.  If you want a lean tummy, the last thing you want is to break down your muscles, as muscles help burn fat!

Skipping meals and restricting calories also increases the number of enzymes in your body that store fat and decreases the number of enzymes in your body that burn fat.  So that means you’re basically telling your body to store fat when you don’t eat enough! 

To survive on your reduced and inadequate fuel intake, your body adapts by changing your hormone output and slowing your metabolic rate.  That means you slow down your own metabolism when you don’t give your body enough healthy food!  And the more you do this, the harder and harder it gets to burn off unwanted fat and keep it off!

Eating Too Many Carbs Will Make You Sick and Fat!

Whenever you eat too many “carbs” for your body’s needs (even healthy ones like fruits, veggies and grains), your pancreas must release insulin to lower your blood sugar levels.  Insulin’s job is to store the converted sugar in your muscles and liver. 

If you’re someone who is active, who uses her muscles frequently, your muscles become available for insulin to store sugar in them.  If, however, you’re someone who is not active, who is not using her muscles very often, over time your muscles become full and can longer take in any extra sugar because the stored sugar isn’t being used.

Keep in mind that using your muscles keeps them sensitive to insulin; when your muscles are active they take in more sugar for stored energy.  But when you’re not active, your muscles can become insulin resistant.

So once your liver and muscles get full, where does the excess sugar go?  It gets stored in your fat cells! 

Fat Around the Middle of Your Belly is an Indication of Insulin Resistance (a.k.a. Syndrome X)

The excess sugar that your muscles and liver cannot store gets shuttled to every part of your body where it is stored as fat. 

The storage starts with the most inactive areas of your body like your belly.  Once the fat cells in your belly become full, the fat accumulation spreads to other areas of your body like your butt and your thighs (the very areas we like to keep toned!) and you progressively become obese.

As your muscles and fat cells continue to become less sensitive to insulin, your blood sugar levels continue to rise higher, which forces your pancreas to work overtime in an effort to lower your blood sugar levels.  Eventually, you’ll develop Type II diabetes. 

Remember, dieting, skipping meals, eating too many carbs for your needs and not keeping your muscles active all contribute to excess fat around your belly.  So you see the size of your belly is very much tied to behaviors over which have control!

Three Tips to Balance Your Blood Sugar Levels

1. Eat Protein with Every Meal

Eating protein helps slow the digestion of carbohydrates, preventing blood sugar crashes and keeping you satiated for longer. 

We all need to eat proteins, fats and carbs, but our nutritional needs for each macronutrient are all unique.  Knowing your Metabolic Type® gives you a starting point for creating balanced meals with the best food combinations for your individual needs. 

To learn more about how to determine your Metabolic Type® contact me for a free consultation!  Email me at Melissa@FriendYourBody.com.

2. Eat Breakfast

After fasting all night, your body is yearning for food in the morning.  A great way to elevate your metabolic rate and keep your blood sugar levels stable is to start your day with a balanced breakfast, consisting of the right mix proteins, fats and carbs for your Metabolic needs.

My favorite way to start my day is with a smoothie!  If you want some healthy smoothie ideas, check out my post 9 Healthy and Refreshing Smoothie Recipes!

3. Eat Every 3-4 Hours

Eating through out the day fuels your body for sustained energy, which keeps your metabolism elevated and your blood sugar levels balanced. 

Of course, I’m not talking about eating Cheetos, Pop-Tarts and Reese cups all day!

You want to make sure that you’re eating clean foods to get the belly-burning effect. Even eating the so-called healthy, “low-fat”, “low calorie” chips, pretzels, cookies, shakes and frozen dinners will only create a bulge, not burn it!  To learn more about clean foods, read my post A Clean Belly is a Lean Belly.

So now you have some very practical belly-burning tips to start implementing right now!  And trust me, they work.  So get started!

Stay tuned for a bonus secret to reducing your belly size!

To burning your belly fat and toning your tummy,