Did you know that we should all pay attention to our blood sugar levels? Controlling blood sugar levels isn’t just for people with diabetes. Keeping our blood sugar level in check keeps our sugar cravings, head fog, brain fog or our difficulty to lose weight for the birds.
These symptoms can occur from insulin resistance, which is what most blood sugar problems are. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas whose job is to help cells take in glucose to be used for energy. If our bodies are insulin-resistant, then we are left with blood sugar building up and excess insulin produced.
The good news is, exercise keeps our blood levels in check.
The human body can be easily stressed out. When our bodies are stressed out, it results in the production of cortisol and adrenaline.
When production of cortisol and adrenaline occurs, the blood sugar in our bodies rise in order to supply energy for the ‘fight or flight’ mode it thinks is occurring. The problem is, that even though our bodies are stressed it doesn’t actually need the extra energy and our cells might become resistant to insulin.
When you exercise your body releases stress as well as your ‘feel good’ hormones, endorphins. Not only does your body benefit but your mind sure does feel good afterward too!
Think about it, if you are at all like me after I exercise I feel better and make better decisions. Keeping exercise as a regular route keeps you regular with healthy choices. It is pretty unlikely that after a workout that you’ll go home and impulsively decide to eat sugar-filled food. Instead, you make better food decisions by choosing whole unprocessed low-glycemic carbs, healthy fats, and a fiber-filled meal with lean protein.
Better yet, take your workout outdoors. A study that focused on the sleep quality of 49 day-shift office workers–27 of which working in windowless workplaces and 22 working in workplaces with windows showed that the workers with windows slept on average 46 minutes more per night. Your body craves light and what better way to give your body the light it craves than from Mother Nature. The natural light can help you have a better night’s sleep, which in turn can help you balance your blood sugar levels.
So what are you waiting for? Will you be working out outside tomorrow?
