Vanessa G Fitcast

Optimizing insulin and blood sugar is really the hidden gem for a lot of people’s hormone healing and weight loss journeys. After consuming food, especially carbs, blood sugar levels rise. The pancreas detects this increase and releases insulin. Insulin facilitates the update of glucose by cells, promoting conversion into energy or storage as glycogen in the liver and muscles. In periods of low blood sugar (fasting, between meals, or during physical activity), the pancreas releases glucagon to stimulate the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose, releasing it into the bloodstream to raise blood glucose levels. Blood glucose levels are constantly changing within the body, and feedback mechanisms adjust insulin and glucagon release accordingly. Over time, insulin insensitivity can occur when blood sugars are consistently high, and the pancreas keeps on secreting big dumps of insulin, and the cells start to become resistant to it. Meaning that the message is sent, but it’s never delivered or read.  To compensate, the pancreas will then secrete more insulin in order to push that message through. This can eventually lead to high levels of insulin and blood sugar at the same time! Insulin resistance can result in: Excess storage of fat, especially in the midsection (apple shape!) Reduced energy production. Less ability to burn calories and tap into fat stores. Poor blood sugar regulation. Muscle loss. Systemic inflammation and immune system issues. Other hormonal imbalances. It may also contribute to high triglyceride levels, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and propel you toward metabolic syndrome, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. In this episode, we want to take a deep dive into all things insulin and insulin resistance so you understand what your body is doing from a hormonal level and what you can do to counteract these potential consequences.  Everyone is different though so make sure you seek out those trained to handle more complex cases like us here at Vital Spark! Time Stamps: (2:14) Insulin Resistance (3:52) What Is Insulin? (6:20) Storage Forms of Glucose (8:29) What Happens When Blood Sugar Gets Low? (12:57) Omar’s Honest Thoughts Where He’s At (19:16) Common Signs of Insulin Resistance (24:44) Fasted Blood Insulin Marker (27:44) Normal vs Optimal (30:12) Tracking Blood Sugar---------------------Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. ---------------------Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program---------------------Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!---------------------Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!---------------------Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!---------------------Check out our Youtube Channel!---------------------Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

The REAL reason your weight isn't moving might surprise you... And that reason has to do with how you are measuring your weight in the first place: the scale. Most women will randomly step on the scale one day to see where they are at, or they weigh in at the doctors office. They’re shocked to see a number higher than they expected or heavier than they've ever been before. They decide to go on a diet, or to start exercising more and eating healthier. They continue to step on the scale each morning and at first they see the number go down… they feel excited. After a couple of days it goes up and now they feel frustrated. They continue like this… back and forth with weight up and down, and after a few weeks the scale is up even HIGHER than it was when they started… now she feels like “what the hell” this is pointless, and goes back to her “normal” eating routine. See how this could be a problem when it comes to weight loss?  In today's episode, we're going to breakdown how to use the scale properly as one tool for weight loss, how to be aware of normal fluctuations, how to use multiple metrics to assess progress, why you should also focus on performance goals, and much more! Time Stamps: (2:56) Using The Scale Incorrectly (7:02) Where To Start (10:47) A Pre-Scale Warmup (12:42) Identifying Your Emotions (15:42) Managing Expectations (22:20) Body Fat Testing (25:09) Have Performance Goals As Well (26:22) Other Ways To Track Improvement (27:52) Body Composition---------------------Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. ---------------------Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program---------------------Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!---------------------Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!---------------------Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!---------------------Check out our Youtube Channel!---------------------Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

Trying to lose fat with a slow metabolism is just a waste of time... Let me explain. Your metabolism can be changed. Genetics play a role, but not as much as people think. “Weight struggles run in my family” 73.6% of American adults aged 20 and older are considered overweight or obese, with around 40.3% classified as obese. Only about 100 years ago, only 3-5% of Americans were overweight. Obesity was extremely rare then. Our genetics as a species didn’t suddenly change causing everyone to feel like “weight struggles just run in my family”... our environment did. Obesity wasn’t prevalent until hyper-palatable ultra-processed foods became the norm.  There are things you can do to make your metabolism faster or slower. A fast metabolism means that your body simply requires more energy to function. Having a faster metabolism is a good thing regardless of your goals because in the modern day world it is good to have more of a buffer. In today's episode, we're going to discuss not only how to speed up your metabolism but share exactly why your metabolism might be slowed down. We'll also talk about how semaglutide (GLP-1's) like Ozempic are contributing to a slower metabolism once individuals get off of it. Time Stamps: (1:32) Losing Body Fat and Your Metabolism(7:22) Being The Hummer(10:30) Any Reason To Have A Slow Metabolism?(11:46) Eating Less(13:07) The Big Issue With GLP-1’s(14:02) High Calorie Exercise(16:34) Vanessa’s Experience With Running(17:42) How to Speed Up Your Metabolism(20:15) Please Share This Episode With Someone! ---------------------Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. ---------------------Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program---------------------Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!---------------------Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!---------------------Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!---------------------Check out our Youtube Channel!---------------------Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

It's that time of year again and we totally understand if this season is filled with both excitement and anxiety... There's a lot to look forward to for many people and these events have their positives and negatives. If this is the year you are going to stick to your nutrition goals and you want a blueprint for how to have those potentially awkward conversations with family and friends about it, we've got you! In this episode, we want to breakdown how to set boundaries with others when it comes to food and any other boundary you desire to set around this time of year. Omar recently gave this presentation at our retreat and everyone loved the content so we thought we'd share it here as well. We are going to go through 5 different real life scenarios and while we had fun with the reactions, these are real scenarios we know you might be faced with during this time of year and we want to arm you with strategies and tactics that allow the other person to understand where you are coming from and give you a firm boundary with sticking to your plan.  Time Stamps:  (1:22) Omar’s Specialty and Recent Presentation (4:27) Don’t Have To Tell Everyone Your Goals (6:29) Sharing Boundaries (8:42) The Conversation With Yourself (10:10) Scenario #1: Company Holiday Party (14:45) Scenario #2: Tracking Macros (17:40) Scenario #3: On Sale Halloween Candy and Leftovers (18:32) Scenario #4: Your Best Friend’s Christmas Cookies (24:52) Scenario #5: Family Tension Around The Holidays (29:07) Shoot Us A Message!---------------------Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. ---------------------Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program---------------------Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!---------------------Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!---------------------Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!---------------------Check out our Youtube Channel!---------------------Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!