Habit Stacking for Insulin Resistance Part 2
In part one of this post, we explored how James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” began an exciting new idea for creating simple but compounding effects to improve almost anyone’s habits. His work discusses habit stacking, adding simple and small changes to already existing habits that make it easier to stay and track.
Making healthy changes can feel overwhelming, so taking this approach builds empowerment. If healthy habits make you feel like a foreigner in your life, or like you can’t participate in the things you love, then most of the time those new habits are dropped.
Adding small, easy steps helps build the wins and makes giving up less likely. Approaching health from this direction allows freedom, flexibility, and positivity. Feeling empowered instead of guilty builds confidence and self-esteem.
Insulin resistance, or IR, is a tough metabolic condition that can contribute to weight gain, elevated blood sugar, inflammation, PCOS and other fertility challenges. For women with this condition, it often feels like a hormonal imbalance snowball effect, once it gets going it's hard to stop.
There are so many recommendations for getting a grip on IR, but many people don’t know where to begin. Diets like the ketogenic diet, the Adkins diet, the paleo diet, the anti-inflammatory diet, and plenty of others all proclaim to reduce insulin levels and improve hormonal signaling. Which one is the right one? How do you choose?
With this simple habit-stacking approach, the emphasis on not on the diet, but instead relies on changing behaviors. Although the types of food consumed are important, mindset and behaviors are equally so. Building progressively healthy habits creates inspiration and makes changing the types of food consumed easier over time.
The obsession with dieting has backfired in this country, so shifting the focus to behavioral adjustments that build confidence makes sense. Definitely eat vegetables and drink water, but worry less about that and work on believing you have the power to take control and make healthy changes.
The first three habits from part one are:
NUMBER ONE:
Perform 10-15 minutes of weight-bearing exercise before you eat any food or consume any carbohydrates.
NUMBER TWO:
No carbs for breakfast. Eat a fat and protein-filled breakfast with your only carbohydrates coming from vegetables.
NUMBER THREE:
Eat higher carbohydrate foods during the day and around lunchtime.
Here are three more habit stacks for creating freedom and flexibility while getting insulin resistance under control.
NUMBER FOUR:
Drink a cup or two of freshly brewed green, white, oolong, or other tea of your choosing in the afternoon between lunch and dinner.
Many other countries have a daily tea time, where they intentionally take a break and enjoy an afternoon beverage. Take a few moments, make a cup, and give yourself a break. Sit for a minute or take a walk. Call a friend for a quick chat or have a quick break with a coworker. Even sitting in the car line at school is a tea-time opportunity.
Brewing the tea yourself allows you to control the amount of sugar or cream you add, being mindful not to go crazy. A drop of honey or milk is all you need to soften the taste and enjoy the benefits.
Green tea is beneficial for cardiovascular health and lipids due to its high content of bioactive compounds called catechins. Catechins have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that are heart-healthy. They also inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, preventing the formation of plaque in arteries. Green tea consumption has been linked to improved cholesterol levels and can decrease blood pressure and improve blood vessel function.
In Chinese medicine, it is said that elevated insulin and blood sugar are aspects of “dampness” that inhibit metabolism and contribute to edema, weight gain, and feeling sluggish. Green tea is believed to have the ability to counteract dampness through several mechanisms:
Diuretic properties: Green tea has diuretic effects, meaning it increases urine production. This can help eliminate excess fluids and reduce dampness in the body.
Astringent properties: Green tea contains tannins, which have astringent effects. This means that they can help to tighten and tone body tissues, reducing excessive dampness and promoting normal fluid balance.
Heat-clearing properties: In Chinese medicine, dampness is often associated with an imbalance of heat in the body. Green tea is believed to possess heat-clearing properties, helping to regulate body temperature and counteract heat-related dampness.
Digestive aid: Chinese medicine emphasizes the role of the digestive system in the formation and elimination of dampness. Green tea is thought to promote healthy digestion, helping to reduce the formation of dampness in the first place.
NUMBER FIVE:
Limit carbs after 4 pm, eat protein, healthy fats, and vegetables only after that.
Every time you eat carbohydrates your pancreas must release some insulin to manage the amount of sugar in the blood. Refined carbohydrates like bread, pasta, cereal, and sugary treats create a very large insulin production because of the glycemic load. These simple, refined carbohydrates are broken down into glucose molecules very quickly.
When you eat these products in the evening, those glucose molecules are likely to stay in your bloodstream as you go to sleep, and still be lingering when you wake the next day. If they do then your morning blood sugar will be elevated and your insulin level will also be elevated, most likely.
Limiting carbohydrate consumption in the evenings helps your body move all the glucose molecules into the cells and reduce the levels in your bloodstream because you don’t flood the system with any, or very few, additional glucose molecules. As your insulin and sugar levels decrease overnight, you wake up with decreased levels. This is very beneficial to promoting long-term blood sugar health and stability.
If you follow the first two habits, doing morning weight-bearing exercise and eating a low-carb breakfast, then these three habits together will make a very big impact over time!
NUMBER SIX:
Take a 10-15 minute stroll after your last meal.
You don’t have to put your “get sweaty’ clothes on, just a simple walk around the block will do it. Research suggests that people with elevated insulin and blood sugar levels have decreased levels, decreased inflammation, and potentially weight loss by taking a 20-minute walk after eating their last meal.
Walking after dinner provides several health benefits. It aids in digestion by stimulating the movement of food through the digestive system, reducing bloating and indigestion. It regulates blood sugar levels by increasing insulin sensitivity and promoting the uptake of glucose by muscles. It promotes better sleep by reducing fullness and helping to relax the body and mind.
Taking a brief walk after dinner is an enjoyable way to spend time with friends or family or de-stress after a long day. Twenty minutes is ideal but if that’s not in your schedule just shoot for ten minutes. As you make time for this new habit it will become easier to turn ten minutes into fifteen or maybe twenty.
As you can see, none of these habits are dramatic in their individuality. They are simple, inexpensive, and accessible. That greatly increases their chance of becoming life changes that last, instead of quick fixes that fizzle out.
In building a life of purpose and achievement, habit stacking can pave the way for continuous progress and personal growth. By focusing on small, incremental changes you can transform routines and behaviors, leading to profound and lasting positive outcomes. With a little consistency, your effort and perseverance will create a new satisfaction with yourself. Small and attainable goals result in great, big confidence and empowerment, which will help you in every endeavor.
Pick any version of these six habits and stack them together to see a dramatic increase in your health over time. It will definitely help you improve insulin resistance, but it will also help you improve your mindset. Taking control of your health in tiny increments builds powerful change, and that is what we are here to do.
The Fertility Resort wants to help you build your self-esteem and create a happier version of yourself as you travel the bumpy road of conception.
