Information is Key

I'm realizing that if I understand the "why," it is much more likely to resonate and stick with me.

I had a great teacher at the clinic the other day, a nurse, sit down and explain to me about insulin and carbohydrates. I'll try to summarize my learning...

When we eat carbohydrates, complex or simple, the body produces insulin to help regulate the sugar in our blood. It carries sugar to the cells, and the muscles (if you are exercising)... and they only will take a certain, fixed amount that they need. Then the door is shut. The reserve area, for any leftover sugar, gets taken to the fat cells. Fat cells have no limit. They just get bigger and bigger. And bigger.

Insulin spikes and lowers- the length and amount depend on the quantity and type of the carb. Complex carbohydrates like whole grains, for example, are lower on they glycemic index and the insulin leaves the body more quickly.

Insulin is also a hunger hormone, It's a stimulant that tells your brain that it's hungry.

The hormone that uses up fat and gets rid of it is called Glucagon.

So here's the kicker...

Glucagon doesn't work in the presence of insulin.

Raw Honesty

Photo Evidence 

Ok- time for some serious humbling. This is me at my heaviest. (The one on the left). 255. That's my thin, 6' mom beside me and then my dad beside her in the yellow.  Wonder if genetics play a part? Which parent's body shape did I get?

This was last summer. After a year of going to gym and thinking I was really "doing it." This pic makes me cringe but it's me, through and through. 245.

Okay, so the newer pictures are coming in some future posts. But I wanted to save it for a bit later.
But keep in mind I don't do drastic. I do slow and steady for the long haul.

(On a side note, damn I wish I could do drastic sometimes. I cannot. This is me doing the very best I can. )