Buffalo Humps?!?!?
Buffalo Humps!!
Well – I’ve heard it all!
This week I’ve been on air with 96.4FM The Wave chatting and giving top tips on how to get going with weight loss, fitness and eating well.
Yesterday I was talking about carbs – I’ll go into that in a mo.
However I have to briefly mention today
BUFFALO HUMP!!
This is new to me:
I’ve heard the classics
Cankles
Muffin Top
Bingo Wings
Love Handles
Even Bridesmaid Bulge
But Buffalo Hump……I have to get onto that now and get a program for it.
What should we call it??
Anyway – as I mentioned on the radio it’s all about burning our excess fat through efficient exercise. I’ll tell you tomorrow what I said and what YOU should be doing NOW!!
Ok….Carbs
Do we love them or hate them?
Depends
What are carbs? Here are some facts for you:
1. They are more things than you probably know – fruit & veg are! So when we mention ‘carbs’ what we really need to focus on is the starchy ones – so I call them ‘starches’
2. You can have clean sources and not so good ones.
3. Everyone responds differently to starchy carbs. Some can tolerate them more than others, so monitor how your progress is going and how you feel after a low starchy-carb meal or medium starchy-carb meal.
The problem is, too many people eat too many processed, high sugar ones and the portion size is just CRAZY.
I’m going to try and show you super briefly but super easy to understand how you can optimise your fat burning.
WHAT TO AVOID (High starch / High sugar)
Packaged cereal, white bread, rice, pasta, chocolate, huge jacket potatoes, muffins, bagels, ‘low calorie’ cereal bars, crisps, biscuits, processed muesli’s.
WHAT TO HAVE INSTEAD
Oats, sweet potato, quinoa, fruit, butternut squash.
So here are the things you should do with ‘carbs’
- Time them well: Eat your clean carb sources after a workout when your body will use the calories to refuel your muscles.
- Monitor your portion size: Aim for a portion the size of your fist
- Swap High starches for non-starchy veg: you can fill your plate up with these for awesome nutrition and plenty of fibre!
This is a classic I get
Client response:
‘But you can’t have a meal without a bit or potato or rice! What do you have instead?’
Me:
‘Yes you can! If you want optimum fat burning and pack your meal with nutrition, pile up on non-starchy veg (broccoli, sprouts, spinach, leafy greens for eg), protein and healthy fats. You’ll be surprised how full you will be AND how you will feel fuller for longer as you’re not riding the blood sugar lows & highs rollercoaster)’
Just make sure your meals are balanced
If you struggle to think of lower carb, optimal fat burning meals I’ve got over 60 here for you!
Click on this link for my recipes
Another thing I come across is people eating huge bowls of porridge because it’s clean so must help them lose weight. Again this is a ‘high carb’ meal, just because it’s ‘clean’ doesn’t mean your doing the optimum thing for your fat loss goals. You can still overeat clean foods.
When I mention clean carbs i.e oats, many then think they should have porridge for breakfast every day to lose weight. This will be a great start to the day if you’ve had a workout, but portion control and balance it with protein (greek yoghurt/whey) and some healthy fats (n 4-5 nuts / seeds).
Why are they such a problem?
When we digest them our body breaks them down into what it can use and it turns to sugar.
This in turn sends your blood sugar levels up high.
Your body then releases insulin to bring your blood sugar levels to a safe level so if it’s not being used, insulin will store it for later.
It will either go to your muscles or turn into fat.
When your muscles are full of energy – they won’t take anymore so it’s got to go somewhere.
Fat cells will take it – and that’s where it goes.
I hope that explains it well for you!
Keep fit & fab!
Tara x
p.s the buffalo hump is the fatty part at the neck inbetween the shoulders. You can help to melt it by storing your nutrition & exercising. These meals will help you!