Article By: John Fontana

So your goal is to lose some weight and tighten that skin up around your muscles (a.k.a. tone up).  You know that diet is very important for this and that what you eat will ultimately make a major impact on the way you look and how much you weigh.  You also know there are thousands of diets out there and millions of articles written on weight loss, all typically telling you which foods to eat.  One person tells you to only eat cottage cheese, another to eliminate carbohydrates, the other to eliminate fats.  Your head is constantly spinning about what to do and I don’t blame you.

The truth is that nature gives us all these food groups for a reason.  We are supposed to eat fat, protein and carbohydrates every single day.  The percentage you should eat of each depends on your specific body chemistry. When you eat them should depend on a little hormone in our body called insulin.

Control Insulin, Control Your Body

When it comes to losing weight and obtaining a positive body composition (body fat %) your blood insulin level may be an important thing on which to get a handle.  Insulin is a hormone that is released into the blood and directs the carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The great thing about insulin is that it can bring the carbs and proteins to the muscles and promote lean muscle mass.  The terrible thing about insulin is that it can store those carbs as fat and promote a higher body fat %. Seeing how insulin doesn’t have a mind of its own and works off a chemical reaction, the food you eat combined with the time you eat it will determine how insulin reacts.

From time to time, we want our insulin levels to spike and if you can have high levels of insulin in the muscles then you are in a great position.  However, if you are in a chronic state of raised insulin levels throughout your body, you will likely end up developing diabetes.  Most people you see with diabetes are also overweight.  These obviously go hand in hand.

Time Insulin Releases

The best time to have spiked insulin levels is in the mornings and especially during and following your workouts.  This is because at these times, it’s easier for your body to utilize insulin toward building muscle instead of storing fat. In the morning, the insulin will direct your carbohydrates for energy use.  Before a workout, a spike in insulin can help store energy in your muscles, by way of glycogen.  After a workout the insulin spike will help deliver carbs and protein to the muscles, which will aid in recovery and in developing lean muscle mass.  Carbs are an important part of the equation because they ignite insulin and make it available to use in this positive manner.

What To Eat And When

An easy way to digest all of this information and put it to use is by following two rules.  The first is to only eat insulin-igniting foods in the morning, pre exercise or post exercise.  This way you will be able to use the insulin spike to your advantage.  The second rule is to do everything in your power to dodge these insulin-igniting foods at night.  A good rule of thumb is to eat carbohydrates in the morning and pre/post workout, but avoid them at night. If you prefer to exercise in the evening, get your carbohydrates in before your workout and use them sparingly after your workout.

Not All Carbs Are Equal

You may be wondering what foods cause a spike in insulin and which ones don’t.  All carbohydrates will cause a different hormonal response on the insulin in your body. Because of this, you should be concious about which the carbohydrates you eat and when you eat them.  Some carb-heavy foods that are traditionally eaten at dinner (such as potatoes) cause a major spike in insulin, while other foods that are rich in carbohydrates don’t have such a dramatic response.

Check out this chart to see the effects of certain carbs on the body. As you see, potatoes cause a higher spike in insulin than a Mars candy bar! The higher the number, the more you want to avoid those foods.
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