If you want to naturally increase your GLP-1 then here are some ways I have been incorporating it in my day to day as an Army Active Duty girl!
Front Loading Heavier Meals To Maximize Energy Use
Typically it’s best to eat to a bit heavier in the morning to process your macro and micro nutrients.
It’s best to get at least 40g of protein in the morning so you can front load a good portion of your protein while you are fresh and revving to go! It’s typically when you’re less tired too so you can be more intentional with your protein intake. And you should up your fat in the morning and decrease it throughout the day and rely more on protein for the evening (minimize carbs in the evening).
The whole point is that your body is more insulin sensitive in the morning and be more efficient in processing a heavier carb load than in the evening when it’s beginning to power down accordingly to your natural circadian rhythm.
To see if the timing of your meals have metabolic effects the U.S. Army stepped forward to carry out an investigation
In their first set of experiments, Army researchers had people eat a single meal a day either as breakfast or dinner. The results clearly showed the breakfast group lost more weight, as you can see in the graph below and at 1:35 in this video. When study participants ate only once a day at dinner, their weight didn’t change much, but when they ate once a day at breakfast, they lost about two pounds a week.
Push-Pull-Legs Workout–Keep it Simple
Inflammation is a real thing if you are working out 5-6x time a week. You may look like you are lean but you are not allowing your body to recover properly to gain the maximum amount of lean muscle to get those curves.
Also, weight training is great for the mind and body but remember constantly stressing out our muscles daily will increase our cortisol levels easily in our bodies and it will result in more inflammation which can affect our reproductive health, our skin health and overall cellular health.
If you are not body building than stick to Push-Pull-Legs workout and throw in an outdoor cardio & abs day into the mix! Take a tailored holistic approach for you, your mind and your body!
My current favorite is Jeremy Either’s Push-Pull-Legs plan. He goes into the detail of how each exercises maximizes growth via body mechanics and physics. I absolutely love it! He also speaks about what just works better for beginners and why!
I highly suggest adding an APP like STRONG and get the pro version because it’s worth it if you want to create templates. If you don’t you can just create a new workout every time.
I simply drop the exercises into the app as a template and just hit the start workout button when I’m ready to execute and it shows me my previous weight and reps as well!
Science shows that GLP 1 production increases and insulin sensitivity increases with exercise! So if it’s a rest day still schedule a walk around the block–call a friend, listen to some relaxing music or a fun educational podcast!
Weigh In the Morning for Accountability
I think this is important because this keeps me accountable on my fluctuations. I can recount why there is added weight or plateau of weight (period, increased carb intake, and/or rest day).
The weight can come on quickly for me so I have to monitor it daily or every two days to gauge how I am doing and how my body is responding.
I don’t obsess over the number, I just am more concerned about the progress and overall journey. As long I am heading in the right direction, I’m okay if it takes a bit longer.
I use Arboleaf Smart Scale. I like the sleek design and the metrics accurately match what I got done at a nutritionist’s BodyScale fat analyzer.
I keep mine in plain sight because out of sight out of mind guys!
Replace Some Wheat Carbs w/Root Vegetables & Beans
Doing carb swap outs for your later evening meals I believe are super important because not only do you reduce your glucose intake you are also increasing your dietary fiber by a lot. And we all know how much GLP-1 loves fiber.
We want that slow gastric emptying and we want our food to process real slow. It tells our mind that we are full and do not need emotionally eat because we are just too stuffed!
My go to has been cooked baked carrots, sauteed zucchini or some air fried asparagus! Oh and full meal swaps will be like spicy lentils with some garnish on top!
Here’s a lentil recipe from Swasthi’s Recipes I tried and easily gobbled it up! It’s great to just cook it in the Pressure Cooker too and just have a tasty meal prep lentil meal ready! You can add some warmed up pita bread for lunch. 🙂
Protein Heavy Shakes & Fiber Rich Snacks
Let me tell you it is hard planning meals and eating when your meal prep runs out and by Thursday you’re depleted because work and domestic responsibilities have taken the best of you.
I also work outside a lot of the times in this 100+ degree weather in Texas on the Army base, so when I come home I just want an easy meal that doesn’t jeopardize my Sunday-Wednesday progress!
Keep that “easy protein” on hand with you for those days! And keep high protein frozen skillet meals on hand too!
Easy Protein Snacks
Protein Shakes with low sugar, Boiled Eggs or Starbuck Egg Bite Dupes in the Fridge, Roasted Mediterranean flavor Chickpeas and Greek Yogurt with frozen mixed berries, light granola and coconut flakes. You can also add lemon curd to your Greek yogurt and some berries to make it a Southern French treat!
Check out Dinner Mom for more amazing Quick Small High Protein Meals!!
Just think of it this way, do you want long-term happiness or temporary happiness? Waking up feeling healthy and confident cannot be replaced with any other materialistic riches.
