How To Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels Normal Glass

Insulin is a hormone that signals yourbody tissues to pick up sugar from the bloodstream. When you have a large meal or sugary snack, insulin levels quickly rise to control the rise in blood sugar. Fat tissue stores extra sugar as fat. Muscle tissue stores extra sugar as glycogen, which is exercise fuel. As you complete digestion of a meal, the insulin level drops along with the absorption of food from the intestine. After a sugary snack or other high glycemic index meal (see below for a list of glycemic indices of some common foods) that is very quickly absorbed and gives you a burst of energy, insulin remains high after the absorption is completed. Since insulin tells tissues to scavenge sugar from the blood, blood sugar levels drop and you feel hungry again. High GI foods also cause more of their glucose to be made into new fat and less into glycogen than lower GI foods. Oops. Protein, complex carbohydrates, fibrous foods and fat, all of which are absorbed more slowly than sugar or starch, tend to keep the blood sugarsteamed or boiled vegetables and salads. Avoid over-consumption of raw spinach however. (Raw spinach contains oxalic acid, which will chelate calcium preventing it from being absorbed from your gut into your bloodstream. A spinach salad now and then is okay, but a daily bag of spinach will eventually cause cramping. ) In the long run, weight loss or weight maintenance is about behaviors, so the rest of these rules are about eating behaviors and the psychological states that trigger them. These are especially valuable to those who seek to lose weight or to keep weight off, and will not be relevant to those who naturally arrive at a good racing weight. Rule #5: No matter what your mother said, and no matter how many children are starving in Africa, you don’t have to clean your plate. Never eat to the point where you are uncomfortably full. Always leave the table still able to eat more. Rule #5A: No monster salads or monster plates of veggies. Even though a whole head of lettuce may haveonly 75 Calories, that doesn’t make eating one a good idea. A bulky meal that stretches your stomach makes you less sensitive to the bulk of your next few meals. Your stomach then has to be fuller before you feel satisfied so you stay hungry longer and eat more. Rule #6: Eat in courses. Take a small amount of food on your plate at one time. After you finish, ask yourself if you are still very hungry. If you are not hungry or barely hungry, be done eating. If you are still hungry, take another small serving of something else. Don’t take the whole loaf, package or pot of anything to the table or couch with you. Put some of whatever in a bowl so you’ll have to be conscious about refilling it. Don’t put yourself in the position of being full but having to eat more because there is some dish you haven’t tasted yet. Rule #7: Don’t eat to be polite. You don’t need to try a little bit of everything that someone makes when you are a guest. Heap on the praise for what you do eat and then declareyourself full. Rule #8: In restaurants, assemble a meal out of salads and appetizers. Given the huge portions in many restaurants, you can get enough nutrition from salads or an appetizer-sized portions. In Mexican restaurants, pick one thing you like rather than go for the four-item combination. You can always come back again and try the other items. Order the smallest pizza that might satisfy you. You can always get a salad to fill you up. Rule #9: Don’t go overboard. Anything that makes your diet difficult to stick to increases the chances that you won’t be successful in losing weight or in keeping it off. It’s better to lose half a pound or a pound per week until you reach your target weight than to lose two or three pounds a week for two or three weeks. If you lose more than one pound per week, (half a pound for some people) you may lose strength and power, so reduce slowly. Rule #10: Identify your triggers. Many people diet well until some emotional situation comes up and thenlook for comfort in food. Do you eat in response to stress? Boredom? Relationship troubles? Fatigue? Try to identify what’s happening before you finish the whole box. Go for a walk or call a friend instead of overeating. Rule #11: Weigh yourself daily, but average the weight weekly. Your weight will fluctuate by a few pounds from day to day, especially when heavy training is affecting hydration. Rather than being concerned about your weight each morning, keep track of your average weight for each week. That will be a good indication that you are really gaining or losing weight. Rule #12: Athletes need salt. Athletes need salt. Unless you have diagnosed high blood pressure or a family history of high blood pressure, you don’t have to go out of your way to avoid salt. Salt to taste, but don’t go overboard, either. Rule#13: Think about nutritional needs as you plan your meal but before you begin to eat. Don’t eat to the point of being comfortably full and having eaten enough calories andthen realize that you’ve left something out like your protein or fiber. Plan variety in every meal and cover all you bases on the first go round. Some closing comments: Adopt these rules as lifestyle changes. You can’t think of them as something you are just doing now to lose weight. We are trying to get you onto a sustainable regimen of healthy eating. When you reach your target weight, you can relax the rules a little, but you’ll have to be vigilant not to regain the lost weight. For people who need to lose weight for their riding, all the rules are supposed to help you eat less. It is quite possible to follow all the rules and still eat more. If you do this you will gain and not lose weight. Take control of your eating. Recommended Training and Racing Foods (Test any possible race food in training several times before using it in a race. Race foods need to be easy to open, not too messy, easy to digest and tasty enough that you will eat them with enthusiasm. ) Fig bars BananasBoiled potatoes (in plastic bag with salt) Yams (Microwaved until very soft) Dry fruit Pretzels Crackers Sandwiches (PB & J, Jam and cheese, meats only on cold days) Energy bars (but not protein bars) Energy gels (but plan to use one every 20-40 minutes once you start) Fresh fruit (tends to be low-calorie so combine with other foods) Cookies Banana/Zucchini or other bread-cakes Recommended Training and Racing Drinks (Test any possible race drink in training several times before using it in a race. Race drinks need to contain carbohydrate and electrolytes and taste good enough that you will drink them with enthusiasm) Any athletic energy drink (nor recovery or protein drink) Diluted fruit juice with a small pinch of salt Recommended Pre-race or Pre-Training breakfasts (Test any possible pre-race food in training several times before using it in a race. Pre-race meals should be easy to digest, low in fat, high in carbohydrate, moderate in protein, easy to prepare and available anywhereyou travel. Practice with several possible pre-race meals in case your favorite is not available at a particular race.) Unsweetened Oatmeal or whole grain(1-2 servings) w/ yogurt/cottage cheese/milk and cut fresh fruit Whole grain toast with butter, 1-2 scrambled, boiled or fried eggs and fresh fruit Bagel w/ cream cheese, bowl of cottage cheese and fruit Meusli (not sweet granola) with milk and cut fruit Rice gruel with peanuts, feta and olives Recommended Non-Exercise Day Breakfasts for those losing weight (These meals are lower in carbohydrate that the exercise day meals Cut fresh fruit with yogurt and walnuts (optional fresh or dry mint) Half grapefruit or slice of cantaloupe with cottage cheese AVOID Pre-race or Pre-Training Foods (These are foods to avoid before hard exercise) Bacon, ham, sausage or other fatty meats Pancakes (except before very long rides where you don’t need to be strong early in the ride) Sweet stuff AVOID EXCEPT DURING TRAINING FOODS (These are high glycemicindex foods that will decrease y

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