Hi Bootcampers! If you
haven’t already head on over and take the quiz to find out what type of burner
you are! We included the password in your weekly email!
Eating for your
metabolism is a quick way to boost your energy, fight hunger and cravings and
lose fat. Most of us don’t even realize that we should be eating a certain way
in order to optimize our bodies.
We think that feeling sluggish, exhausted, bloated, constipated etc,
etc. is normal, and we combat these feelings with coffee, or Pepto-Bismol
rather than addressing the real issues of why are bodies are reacting the way
that they are. In an ideal
environment your body would be full or energy, regular, and not puffy all of
the time. Well one of the things that the Metabolic profile does is allow you
to discover the way in which your body burns food and HOW this should impact
the way and the things that you are eating.
There are 3 types of
burners, Sugar Burners, Muscle Burners
and Mixed Burners and everyone will fit into one of these three
categories. Let’s take a peek into
what each of these profiles really means:
The
Sugar Burner
Sugar
burners tend to be overweight, often obese from a young age, and easily develop
metabolic resistance. It is very difficult for them to lose fat; the
traditional low-calorie diet and aerobic-exercise regimen actually worsens the
problem. Sugar burners have a primary defect in insulin metabolism and tend to
either overproduce and/or be resistant to the action of this powerful
fat-storing hormone.
Sugar
burners store fat all over their bodies, not just in one spot. They often look
puffy and somewhat waterlogged. Their diets are high in carbohydrates - often
up to 70 percent - from pasta, bread and potatoes. Sugar burners crave sweets,
coffee and chocolate, which may make them feel good for a short 10 to 30
minutes spurt, but quickly leave them feeling lethargic and tired. Sugar burners
tend to eat constantly. Headaches often occur during exercise. They can have
difficulty falling asleep at night and find it just as hard to get out of bed
in the morning. Finally, sugar burners tend to be procrastinators, frequently suffer
from fatigue and depression and are at increased risk for diabetes, heart
disease and other illnesses.
If
you’re a sugar burner, you’re body has become very inefficient at burning fat
for energy and relies almost exclusively on sugar. Your predominant hormone
balance turns off fat-burning enzymes while enhancing sugar-burning and
fat-storing enzymes. Hormonally, you likely have elevated cortisol and insulin
hormones to the point of hormone resistance (making you a very inefficient use
of fat and forcing your body to burn sugar instead). Also, your body is
probably not getting the signal the hunger hormone leptin is sending. You feel
hungry all the time and have frequent food cravings (foods rich in sugar and
fat). You may have diabetes or hypothyroidism in your family.
The
good news: you probably have plenty muscle on your body. Good because muscle tissue
is a prime mover of hormonal metabolism. Exercising and eating appropriately
will trigger your hormonal fat-burning machinery. The body burns what you feed
it. Switch your nutritional choices to PROTEIN, FIBER and the right FATS and
the body will shift from using sugar to burning fat.
Every
single time you eat according to your ‘proper plate’, you’ll set into motion a
hormonal software program that will elevate fat burning in the body.
The
Mixed Burner
Mixed
burners use sugar and fat as their sources of fuel, and their lifestyle choices
largely determine whether they burn sugar or fat. If they stay up too late,
they are tired. If they work too hard, they get sick. If they overindulge in
food and drink, they gain weight. Most of the people who come to us are mixed
burners and their metabolic tendencies are influenced by their chosen
lifestyles. High-carbohydrate diets, sedentary lifestyles, and especially
stress push these individuals into a sugar-burning state that causes them to
gain fat. Menopause and andropause (a loss of male hormones such as
testosterone as men age) can also trigger the fat-storing, muscle-burning
state. When it comes to food, they can skip meals without feeling hungry, yet
often have cravings. The low-calorie diets that worked for them at a younger
age lose their effectiveness over time. Calorie-counting diets and aerobic-based
exercises programs are effective for a few weeks, but once they stop, they
weight they lost returns as quickly as it came off and they regain more fat and
lose muscle each time.
As
a mixed sugar and fat burner, you have an advantage over sugar and muscle
burners. By changing what you eat, your hormonal signals trigger a fat-burning mode.
You naturally have a well-regulated metabolism, are probably not too thin nor
overweight and have a good amount of muscle on your body.
To
push your metabolism into a higher state of fat burning, you’ll need to
regulate your metabolic fire with sugar/ starch foods that are burned slowly
(low-GI) while providing plenty of protein to maintain your muscle mass. Enjoy
steel cut oats, brown rice and baked potatoes with their skins. AVOID bread,
pasta and sweets.
The
Muscle Burner
Muscle
burners are the envy of their friends. They tend to be thin, even though it
seems as if they can eat anything they want. Despite their thin appearance,
they have little, if any, muscle tone and loose, sagging skin. We call these
people ‘skinny-fat’ because they have a low muscle-to-fat ratio. They burn
sugar from muscle tissue due to an over- secretion of the stress hormones cortisol,
adrenaline, and noradrenaline. This gives them energy and can often make them
high-strung and anxious.
Muscle
burners are generally driven, type-A people who are always on the go. They
prefer repetitive exercise like running or riding the elliptical trainer, which
helps rid them of some nervous energy. They have difficult staying asleep at
night and will sometimes wake repeatedly or sleep very lightly. Muscle burners
crave sweets. They may have a few cocktails or wine at end of the day to calm
themselves down. These lifestyle choices can wreak havoc on their bodies. They
tend to have weak digestive systems and frequently suffer from irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS), ulcers and gastro-esophagel reflux disease. Muscle burners
often suffer from anxiety, attention disorders, mood swings, colds and flus,
and wild high and low swings in blood sugar.
Muscle
burners are often high-string, type-A people who seem to run on ‘nervous energy’.
They release a larger amount of stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline). They
tend to be think in their youth but often develop that ‘skinny-fat’ look that
appears to be thin though their bodies are flabby, with an unfavourable
muscle-to-fat ratio. Any pronounced fat storage is concentrated around their
belly. They often skip breakfast.
Muscle
burners can often go for long periods (3-6 hours) without eating and may suffer
from anxiety. Diabetes, loose connective tissue, osteoporosis, arthritis, sarcopenia
and fibromyalgia are often consequences for muscle burners who yo-yo diet and
don’t eat properly.
Muscle
burners need to balance out the biochemical overdrive created by the adrenal
hormones adrenaline, nor-adrenalin and cortisol. High amounts of these hormones
break down muscle tissue to supply the body with sugar. It’s crucial to eat a
balanced diet of protein and fat for a steady supply of energy (hence, why
breakfast is so important). Once the nutritional hormonal inputs are corrected,
the body will begin to spare its muscle stores and burn fat more readily,
leading to an overall toned body and more consistent energy.
For a more in-depth and specific look into what
you should be eating check out the resources page for each of these burner types
on our resources page. In the
meantime – here is a quick snapshot of what each of the Burner’s plates should
look like to maximize fat loss, increase energy and fight your hunger and
cravings!
Have a great week!
Source for all information and images:
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