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This may very well be one of the most important articles you ever read. Seriously. Many commercial “sales pages” start this way so note that this isn’t one.

Insulin resistance deprives you of your energy. It sets you up for diabetes and cardio-vascular disease. It prevents weight loss (fighting it is one of the cornerstones of my free weight loss plan), no matter how hard you try. It causes depression. It ruins careers and relationships. It makes lives more difficult and less enjoyable. It sometimes ruins them.

It affects a very large percentage of the world population.

Insulin resistance is the enemy. One of the worst 21st century ailments, and practically no one ever talks about it, because it isn’t deadly. Not directly anyway. Yet 8% of the US population has diabetes (90% of which is type II). All type II diabetes patients developped insulin resistance prior to diabetes setting in. Quietly, unknowingly.

Diabetes has been officially declared an epidemic at the turn of the century. Insulin resistance is a pre-diabetic condition. It becomes type II diabetes later down the road. Estimates from 2004 tell that 25% of the population has mild to severe insulin resistance. It has only been getting worse, so the figures may now be much more alarming.

Yet insulin resistance isn’t a fatality. It is rather easy to reverse, given people affected by it know what it is, how they got it, what it is doing to them and how to get rid of it.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. I am not a doctor, and am not qualified to either diagnose or prescribe treatment. This article is meant to be used in collaboration with a qualified physician. No guarantees are made as to the results you should expect from applying its contents.

That being said, insulin resistance is characterized by high sugar, triglyceride and fatty acid content in the blood. It can be diagnosed easily with a simple blood test.

Insulin resistance will often cause weight gain, because it prevents sugar and fatty acids from being transported to cells that need them for energy. Instead of being used, they stagnate in the blood and ultimately end up being stored. Without insulin resistance, people that are affected would have more energy, would be likely to use it, and not store it. This energy could be used for better family, social and / or career life, but it isn’t so these improvements aren’t made.

People with this condition do not necessarily put on weight. Some people never get fat, and for entirely different reasons. If you read that (short) article, you understand that people that never put on weight may actually be more at risk. Not being overweight isn’t reason enough to conclude that there is no resistance to insulin.

Insulin resistance causes digestive drowsiness, especially if meals have a high carbohydrate content. An uncontrollable urge to sleep after lunch is a rather reliable symptom of advanced stages of insulin resistance.

 

Causes of Insulin Resistance.

 

Insulin resistance, like the name suggests, is a developped immunity to the effects of insulin at the cellular level. The pancreas has, for too long, produced too much insulin. The cells have in turn gradually stopped responding. The role of insulin is to cause sugar and fatty acid uptake by cells that need to replenish glycogen and energy supply, liver cells that metabolize or store them (glycogen)  and fat cells that store fat and sugar that isn’t immediately required. Insulin resistance causes these excesses to stagnate in the blood, affecting arteries and ultimately causing cardio-vascular incidents and other complications.

The pancreas releases high amounts of insulin when sugar content in the blood spikes. The large amounts of insulin causes that excess sugar to be stored quickly if the fat and liver cells are healthy. This causes a sugar low. The sugar low causes a craving for more sugar, which leads to the next spike in sugar content.

As this cycle repeats itself, an addiction to sugar sets in and the pancreas grows more efficient. More sugar intake is caused by the addicition. More sugar and a stronger pancreas cause insulin spikes to reach much higher levels . A vicious cycle that causes cells to start to develop immunity. 

 

Worsening factors.

 

Sugar intake and pancreatic response may or may not be enough on their own, but there are worsening factors.

 

Weight gain.

 

With weight gain, fat gets stored in the muscles and around vital organs. Intra-muscular fat storage mechanically impedes sugar and fatty acid uptake, duplicating the effects of insulin resistance.

Trans fats and low density lipoproteins (LDL, or “bad cholesterol”) are more likely to penetrate such confined storage places (as well as vascular walls).

 

Too much fructose.

 

Fructose directly causes the creation of LDL when it is catabolized by the liver (hepatic cells are the only cells in the body that can process fructose). Too much fructose in our diet is another worsening factor.

This article and video go into the details of the effects of fructose. Note that excess fructose in our diet isn’t caused by fruit. We actually don’t have enough of those, but fructose is used as a substitute for sugar in virtually all industrially processed foods.

 

When sugar is absorbed in the blood too fast.

 

This is due to the nature of the sugars in our diet, or more precisely their glycemic and insulinic indexes. This article goes into the details of good vs bad carbohydrates, and it is mostly based on those two measurements:

Glycemic index: How fast the sugar is digested and absorbed in the blood stream.
Insulinic index: How responsive the pancreas is to that sugar when it is detected.

If the sugars in our diet have a low glycemic index and insulinic index, the previously described insulin spike / insulin low cycles that lead to addiction to sugar, then insulin resistance and ultimately diabetes and other complications never happen. Switching to them is probably the best prevention for children and young adults that aren’t affected yet.

 

How to reverse Insulin Resistance.

 

The following measures are, as stated above, listed for informational purposes only. All undertakings aimed at improving your health must be carried out under proper medical supervision.

 

Slow carbs.

 

Switching to “slow” carbs is one of the required measures to successfully reverse insulin resistance. It does so by first preventing the insulin spikes that make it worse. With time, cellular immunity to insulin should wear off.

The free weight loss plan lists the foods I used myself, and the Montignac GI tables will help you determine acceptable foods for yourself. Use the search box to test foods you are considering, or the <35 GI table (green) to find foods that can fit into a slow carb diet.

As stated there, dairy products have a low GI but the insulinic index of lactose is extremely high. Milk is not an acceptable source of slow carbohydrates.

Remember however that insulin resistance isn’t only about weight loss. Even if body shape is of little concern to you, there are still very good reasons to look into it.

 

Omega-3 fatty acids.

 

Omega-3 fatty acids are required to build healthy cellular walls. When a resistant cell reaches the end of its life cycle, it can be replaced by a healthier, non-resistant cell.

They can be found in flaxseed oil (also called rapeseed, canola and colza), krill oil, wild salmon and mackerel.

 

Micronutrients.

 

Magnesium plays an essential part in lipolysis (more on that in a future article) and has been said to have beneficial effects on insulin resistance. Magnesium defficiency is common, so bear this in mind when discussing with your physician.

Chromium and vitamin D are also said to have beneficial effects, but I have found no explanation as to why.

 

Reduce fructose intake.

 

Only get fructose from fruit. Read labels, and stay away from anything that says fructose syrup (or sucrose, which is 1/2 glucose and 1/2 fructose).

 

Exercise.

 

Exercise causes your body to create more glycolytic receptors. Those are cellular structures that enable sugar intake so as to replenish glycogen supply (essential for type II muscle cells especially). This has a direct impact on insulin resistance.

Exercise can be divided into two broad categories. It will either be an endurance effort or a speed/strength effort. Endurance relies on type I (red, or slow-twitch) muscle cells and it is mainly powered by the Pasteur Effect, which burns fat. Speed and strength rely on type II (white, or fast-twitch) muscle cells and it is entirely powered by glycolysis, which requires sugar and more calories.

My previous article on muscle type and exercise goes into more detail.

 

The Most Important…

 

Don’t forget: the first and foremost step to take to reverse insulin resistance is to elaborate a strategy in collaboration with a qualified physician. This article is meant to enable you to participate, not auto-medicate.

Whatever you do, do something. If it has been years since your last blood test, start there. If you struggle staying awake after lunch, can’t seem to lose weight, or never gain weight no matter what some investigation is required. Get your energy back.

 

 

Why is it some days action flows naturally while others we feel like we weigh a ton? What exactly is that weight, and how to drop it so you can carry on?

There isn’t one clear-cut reason. There are several possibilities, and chances are they are all at play to some extent. We’ll see that while there is always a way to drop the weight, it isn’t necessarily productive to do so. Sometimes it is there for good reasons.

Understand the slump, then work with the positive aspects to speed them up. Bypass the negative ones: those that are costing you time and energy without the benefit.

Whatever the cause, Z Planner and my productivity tool recommendations can make the difference. Moreover, as always, understanding the problem is the best first step to take to find the solution.

 

The slump can be positive.

 

My aunt is a psychologist. I had a very interesting conversation with her years ago when she said something that stuck with me ever since.

“Even when you are doing nothing, you are creating.”

It will come to no surprise to you that much of your work is done, or at least prepared, at a subconscious level. This is only true for things that you strive to accomplish. I am talking about goals that are your own. Those are the ones that implicate you, mind body and soul.

It is much less applicable to things you do because you are told to, or were led to believe that you had to. Those tasks may indeed need to be done (not getting fired, divorced, written off a will…), but will only implicate you at a subconscious level if you are dedicated to seeing it through.

You subconsciously sort out the best way to achieve a goal, given a goal is set that you want to achieve. If that goal is technically difficult to achieve, you will feel stuck as long as it takes for your subconscious mind to have set the course, and brought that plan to your conscious mind.

Rushing it will lead to a less than perfect plan. Waiting it out will probably lead to eternal procrastination. There has to be a compromise.

 

Your options, depending on the situation.

 

Option one: going with what you’ve got, and letting your subconscious know it.

I find it extremely effective to tell myself: I haven’t figured it all out yet, but I have a good enough plan to get started.

Count on yourself to find the missing pieces as you go along.

By doing this, you are communicating with your subconscious, telling it you think it has done its job and that you want to take the lead. It will continue working with you as you go along. More importantly, it will stop blocking you on the (sometimes) false pretense that you first need to find a better way.

Your first steps will determine if you really did need further preparation (option 2), or if things are going well enough to see things through all the way.

Option two: help your subconscious work it out faster.

Although lack of preparation can be an illusion, it can also be very real. If you aren’t ready, then you can decide to stay in the preparatory phase, and help yourself out.

Once again, the key is being aware that you are subconsciously working out a plan. Option two is simply deciding that that plan needs some work, and that you can act to get that work done faster.

Task breakdown is an incredibly effective way to do this. Create a Z Planner project. Use the task breakdown feature to work out a plan. Then create the same project again, with a different name. Make another task tree.

If things come out differently, then you may want to give yourself more time. Move on to something else, and give that particular goal some more time for processing. Rest assured, by running the task breakdown, you’ve sped things along and made progress. The next time around may be the right time for actual production.

 

Perfectionism.

 

It is very fashionable to call oneself a perfectionist. Most people consider it a positive trait. It is the best excuse for procrastination that was ever invented.

Your subconscious may block you because it hasn’t figured things out, and doesn’t want to go into the unknown (the fear, always the fear). Once this becomes a habit, a common manifestation of this habit is to blame it on perfectionism. Convince others of this if you like, but do not allow yourself to believe it. Your project may need further preparation and thinking before actual production can take place, but be sure you honestly ask yourself if it is really the case.

 

Laziness.

 

I honestly believe laziness does not exist. Fear, lack of purpose, or just a positive productivity slump that you can cure mostly by identifying it as such accounts for all cases of laziness from my point of view.

Do not let yourself believe that you are lazy. Laziness is a self-demeaning diagnosis that works like calling oneself a perfectionist. At least the latter doesn’t add guilt to the equation.

Just like perfectionist, it is OK to let others believe you are lazy. Just don’t believe it yourself. Look for a goal, kill the fear, figure out a good way (good should be good enough). Let your subconscious do much of the work, just give it a nudge from time to time and then decide to get started. Use all the tools you can find that work and will help you.

Repeat the process until all of your goals are achieved.

 

Other causes for productivity block.

 

There are other causes for being stuck, but when you analyse them, you will find they are often tied to the subconscious trying to build a perfect plan.

 

Lack of purpose.

 

The only exception I can see, because in this case the subconscious has nothing to work on, and no unknown to fear going into.

Yet even this isn’t fully an exception. It is a mirror image of the perfect plan syndrome. Nothing is safer than having no goal. It is by far the surest way to not have to step into the dark. It is the surest way to forget to live.

The first is stalling. Lack of purpose is refusing the very idea of movement.

It is also caused by fear.  Everyone has dreams. Many choose to forget them.

 

Being worn out.

 

There’s nothing like pushing too hard, wanting to finish, getting close to a deadline without making progress to wear you out. If the task at hand is important to you, ask yourself if fighting the positive slump described above isn’t the cause of lost energy.

If it isn’t, then we can explore the motivation equation again. Lack of desire? Lack of energy? Too much fear? Whatever the case, there is a binaural track that can help.

 

Indecision.

 

There may be two or three paths that lead to the desired result. Sometimes it simply boils down to things that can be done in different orders. Perhaps the problem requires a little more processing time (the positive slump again), but chances are you just need to do one of the tasks and stop worrying about the immediate consequences of chosing one over the other.

 

Technical problems.

 

All of your attention is drawn to one particular grain of sand that you think will cripple the entire plan (sometimes rightly so).

Or perhaps, once again, your subconscious mind is drawn to this problem and still busy trying to figure it out. If the problem requires a technical solution you do not know yet, you may need to apply some problem solving (ASIT!), or get help getting past the hurdle (friends, colleagues, outsourcing, consulting specialized forums, books…). I find that getting the tasks you know you need done will give you time to find a way past the perceived obstacle.

 

Perception of time.

 

I get this very often. To me, knowing the following helped a lot.

Oftentimes, you have just 20-30 minutes that you can dedicate to your project. It is very easy to let yourself believe it isn’t enough time to get started, build momentum and do something worthwhile.

It isn’t true. Your mind is playing tricks on you that cost you dozens of hours a month of preciously productive time. It can take 45 minutes to get into gear in normal circumstances, so the shorter time frames are viewed as useless, and ultimately lost. Yet each of these little time slots can contain a completed task. Or, simply 1/10th of a completed task.

If you’ve made a list of short tasks with Z Planner, and you are using binaurals for  immediate motivation, then focus, you can easily take advantage of those micro time frames that can add up to hours each day, and dozens of hours per month. They are one of the keys to achieving a personal goal on a limited “time budget”. 

Granted, Z Planner only has 1 hour time frames. If you’ve planned 1 hour a day, you may need to spread it over early in the morning, lunch break, and late at night. You may also need to make little arrangements, like leaving your computer on all day so everything is ready when you get back. Or you can carry your laptop around with you in sleep mode (that’s what those things are for!) Look for solutions, resist the excuses, and you can take advantage of the 20-30 minute breaks to get ahead on your goals.

I do not put off projects to when I have 4 straight hours available. I would rather use those 4 straight hours to relax and sacrifice the 20-30 minute breaks that do not relax me anyways.

 

Conclusion

 

Don’t underestimate the extra productivity tools. Immediate motivation and focus (binaurals) have been an invaluable help for me, adding thousands of 20-30 minute time frames for personal work (plus getting up much earlier when big projects are under development).

I am just starting to discover the effects of the creativity track, having focused my usage on motivation, focus and occasional training. Try it when you think you are slumped because still processing unconsciously. Do this in conjunction with Z Planner. You can’t imagine that feeling, and I cannot put it in words!

Occasionally, setting up timers with AM has helped me take full advantage of 2-3 hour time frames, so I could have time to unwind and still be satisfied of my day’s work on a day off.

And the systematic creativity course is just thrilling, especially when asymetrical thinking (for example) helps you solve a real life problem and get a project going again.

Don’t give up on Z Planner too easily. It really does take some time to uncover its full potential. Once you have, the combination of all these tools changes you forever: project after project.

 

I’ve been toying with a thought a while now, as to what motivation is made of.

 

 

I’ve come to a conclusion that seems right, and can’t seem to find the flaw, so I’ll leave it to you to make whatever you want out of it.

Motivation = Energy * (Desire – Fear)

If energy = 0, motivation =0.
If fear >= desire, motivation <=0, meaning it works against you and drifts you away from your goals.

And ideally, if fear = 0, and both desire and energy have high positive values, motivation becomes unstoppable.

 

A nice tidbit of theory, but what to make of it?

 

Energy is the outcome of good health, which itself is the outcome of a good diet and exercise, if disease is taken out of this picture (just for the sake of theorizing).

Desire is more subtle. If you’ve found your passion, you’ve found desire. If you’ve fallen in love, you’ve found desire.

But if you do not feel desire, does it mean it is not there?

Fear is complex. Within fear there is fear of negative outcome, or more deeply rooted, unexpressed fears with forgotten motivations. I think most people will agree that fear can exist, even if it is not felt.

If these postulates are accepted, then we come to the conclusion that there can be ardent desire and paralysing fear, both unfelt. Or perhaps, if you only accept that what exists is actually felt, high desire and fear can have worn each other out over time.

So the concrete application of this rant would be: cultivate energy, dominate and dissolve fear and both desire and motivation will emerge by themselves.

Diet, exercise, breathe and meditate on your fears, and you will see light on the path. You will have the motivation to travel that path, and find your heart’s content.

This has further meaning. You may currently be pursuing false desires, enduced by family or societal pressure. What if simply taking the time to relax, listen to the fear and dominate it, cultivate some energy brought forth the revelation that you are, unknowingly, going in the wrong direction?

Couldn’t that lead to an unprecedented turn in your life, and for the better?