thank you to my dear fitness friend Kerry Kraynak for being a guest blogger this week! She always is my go to for fitness and nutrition questions!
Sugar Sugar!
by Kerry Kraynak, RN, BSN
Facts about carbs...the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Over the dietary decades, we've seen all sorts of trends. For many years the huge fad was "fat free". This led to the use of all sorts of chemical food replacements, and overall an increase in sugar and their sweet counterparts (like high fructose corn syrup) to make convenience food fat free and more palatable. We were a carb nation, and our bodies learned to crave sugar in a whole new way. As the nation became fatter, the low-carb craze began. Suddenly everyone was afraid to eat carbs, and people became worried about not only bread, pasta, and potatoes, but fruits and sometimes even vegetables caused concern. The result has been utter confusion, a country where folks just don't know what to eat anymore. So they bounce from one fad diet to the next until desperate hunger and the crazy pace of life forces them back to the drive thru. Today we're going to discuss the truth about carbs, and how they fit into a clean eating diet plan.
why your body needs carbohydrates
Sugar (glucose) is a main source of energy for the brain and cells that make up your muscles and other tissues. Glucose comes from two major sources: carbohydrates in food and extra stores in your liver. Carbohydrates come in the form of sugar, starch and fiber. After you eat or drink something with carbs, your body breaks down each type of carbohydrate in essentially the same way, converting it into sugar — except for fiber, which passes through your body undigested. The sugar then enters your bloodstream. From there, it enters individual cells throughout your body to provide energy. Extra sugar is stored in your liver and muscles in a form called glycogen.
Two hormones from your pancreas help regulate the level of blood sugar. The hormone insulin moves sugar from your blood into your cells when your blood sugar level is high. The hormone glucagon helps release the sugar stored in your liver when your blood sugar level is low. This process helps keep your body fueled and ensures a natural balance in blood sugar.
all carbs are not created equal
Some carbohydrate rich food is thought to disrupt this natural balance by creating large spikes in your blood sugar level. When your blood sugar and insulin levels stay high, or cycle up and down rapidly, your body has trouble responding and over time you may develop insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is associated with a host of health problems, including:
Type 2 diabetes
Obesity
High blood pressure
Stroke
Heart disease
Researchers discovered a way to measure how quickly certain foods are broken down into glucose and enter the bloodstream.
This is called the glycemic index, or GI.
Foods ranked by the glycemic index are given scores:
Items with low glycemic index rankings are digested more slowly, raising blood sugar in a more regulated and gradual way.
Because low GI foods are absorbed more slowly, they stay in your digestive tract longer. This may help control appetite and delay hunger cues, which can help with weight management. Balanced blood sugar also can also help reduce the risk of insulin resistance.
Here are some examples of common foods and their GI index:
High:
70 and up:
instant white rice,
brown rice,
plain white bread,
white skinless baked potato,
boiled red potatoes with skin,
watermelon,
pumpkin,
french fries,
bagels,
cheerios
Medium:
56-69:
sweet corn,
bananas,
raw pineapple,
raisins,
popcorn,
oatmeal,
couscous,
blueberries,
greek pita,
barley,
mango
Low:
55 and under:
most vegetables and fruits,
nuts,
skim milk,
beans and lentils,
al dente pasta,
peas,
tomatoes,
dried apricots,
pears,
yogurt,
lentils,
soybeans
Proteins and fat sources are not given a GI because they have little to no effect on blood sugar. ,For a complete list of foods and their GI , here is a database to reference:
http://www.glycemicindex.com/
Not the whole story, of course!
So it would be pretty great if we could just select foods from the low glycemic index list and be guaranteed stable blood sugars and weight loss. But it's not that simple. The AMOUNT of carbohydrate that a certain food provides makes a difference. For example, the glycemic index of watermelon (a healthy food) is 72, which makes it a high GI food. But the total amount of carbohydrate eaten per serving is still LOWER than that of a carbohydrate dense, low GI food (like pasta which has a low GI of 42 but carries a large amount of carbohydrate per serving). This measure of glycemic index vs. total carbs per serving is referred to as
GLYCEMIC LOAD. here is a handy table to help explain this better:
http://www.mendosa.com/common_foods.htm
Here's another example to make this concept clear:
Let’s take a single apple as an example. It has a GI of 40 and it contains 15 grams of carbohydrate.
GL = 40 x 15/100 = 6 g
What about a small baked potato? Its GI is 80 and it contains 15 g of carbohydrate.
GL = 80 x 15/100 = 12 g
So we can predict that our potato will have twice the metabolic effect of an apple. You can think of GL as the amount of carbohydrate in a food ‘adjusted’ for its glycemic potency.
SO WHAT SHALL WE EAT???
Overall, the focus should be on
clean , whole unprocessed foods. In terms of carbs specifically, one must not rule out nutritious foods based on their glycemic load or glycemic index. The best time to eat higher glycemic load carbs is immediately after exercise (best combined with a protein) to aid in replenishing blood sugar and glycogen stores.
Pre-workout, however, it's great to have a low to med GI carb so the plasma glucose doesn't peak and fall too quickly during the workout. Talking a bit more food specific, pasta often gets a bad rap, but is actually a low glycemic index food when cooked "al dente". When the serving size is kept to 1 c and mixed with plenty of vegetables and protein, pasta is an excellent choice.
Is it Ok to eat high GI foods like potatoes and bread? Yes, in moderation. If you combine these foods with lower GI foods , fats, or proteins, it slows the absorbtion of the sugars to help you avoid spikes.
In summary, keep your focus on whole grain, whole food sources, and educate yourself about the GI of your favorite foods for better blood sugar stability.
Low Glycemic Index Food List: Vegetables
Artichoke 15
Asparagus 15
Broccoli 15
Cauliflower 15
Celery 15
Cucumber 15
Eggplant 15
Green Beans 15
Lettuce 15
Peppers 15
Snow Peas 15
Spinach 15
Summer squash 15
Tomatoes 15
Soy beans 15
Dried peas 22
Boiled beans 16
Boiled kidney beans 29
Boiled lentils 29
Zucchini 15
Chickpeas 33
Black-eyed beans 41
Boiled haricot
beans 38
Carrots 39
Yam 51
Sweet potato 54
Onions 10
Cabbages 10
Low Glycemic Index Food List: Fruits
Apples 38
Apricots (dried) 31
Avocados 44
Cherries 22
Grapefruit 25
Grapes 46
Kiwi fruit 53
Bananas 54
Pear 38
Plum 39
Peach 42
Oranges 44
Low Glycemic Index Food List: Cereals
All bran 42
Porridge 49
Pearl barley 25
Rye 34
Wheat kernels 41
Parboiled rice 48
Cracked barley 50
Low Glycemic Index Food List: Others
Whole grain bread 50
Multi grain bread 48
Low fat yogurt 14
Chocolate milk 24
Fat free milk 32
Whole milk 27
Skimmed milk 32
Low fat ice cream 50
Soy milk 31
Peanuts 15
Marmalades and jams 49
Canned tomato soup 38
Chocolate bar 49
Macaroni 45
Spaghetti 41
Fettuccine 32
Vermicelli 35
Pound cake 54
here's what's going on in Bootcamp this week!!
Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.
-Pablo Picasso
Tuesday night 6 pm
5 rounds
YEAH BABY!
run the club with a heavy dumbell
50 dumbell swings on the front steps
run to the back
50 air squats
50 shoulder presses
50 reverse crunches/abs with a ball against the wall/ghd sit up/
cool down with handstand holds 30 seconds on 30 seconds off.....8 rounds
Weak or strong... your choice
Thursday morning 9:45 am
Round 1 = DB Thrusters (20% of BW) / Situps (8 minutes)
Round 2 = Lateral Jumps / DB Swings (8 minutes)
Each round is 8 minutes of tabatas (20 sec work, 10 sec rest). Mash-up means you go back and forth between the two exercises, so round 1 would be thrusters, situps, thrusters, situps, etc. until youve done 8 sets of each. There is no rest between rounds; total 16 minute workout. Workout will be scored by total # of reps.
Run, Forrest, Run!
This is a partner WOD. One person will begin with box jumps while the other begins the 400m run. Player 1 will do as many box jumps as possible till the other person gets back from the run, then the players switch. Your rep count is continuous through the entire workout and it is for time also. Your score is your time and your total reps..
Box Jumps 20
run 400m
lunges
run 400m
Burpees
run 400m
Push Ups
run 400m
wall Ball Abs
run 400m
5 rounds
5 Manmakers (DB 30#)
12 1 arm swings r/l
12 shoulder presses
This is an extremely challenging workout. Manmakers are definitely one of the hardest movements (burpee to squat clean to thruster and for added torture, we will add in a renegade row and a standing lunge).
Move it and lose it! Commit to 30 to 60 minutes of daily exercise — anything goes. Go to the gym, take a walk, join an exercise class, follow along with a workout video, or ride your bike. I like to encourage friends to find a workout buddy. Keep each other accountable and motivated. When I had my son, I met a friend three times a week with our jogging strollers and we ran together with our babies strapped in and dropped those baby pounds together. 
