TL;DR: All successful “diets” will be sustainable habits, not short-term fixes. Habits that create a balanced metabolism will keep our BGLs steady, reduce inflammation, and help us reach our fitness goals faster. (about 9 min read)

Metabolic tips for building sustainable habits:

• Choose a diet/fitness plan that will keep your BGLs stable.

• Build habits that work with YOUR lifestyle, preferences, and goals!

• Adjust your simple carb intake to match your activity levels: less movement = less simple carbs.

• Burning fat reduces inflammation IF you are not introducing extra stress! Use the “rule of cool” to decide if something actually works for you.

Our most common actions will determine our results. This is true for when we invest in our health as it is for when we invest in other aspects of our life. We have three resources: our time, our money, and our health. We can use one of those resources to compensate for when we’re short on another - like if we’re really busy, we might spend more on prepared food or going out because we have more money than time. Or if we’re really trying to save money for something, we might spend more time preparing food at home because we have more time than money. We might spend some of our health by sleeping less to get something important done, and then later spend money or time on self-care. But what will ultimately determine our outcomes will be what we do most often with our money, time, or health.

If you want to be successful, you make consistent investments over time and avoid “get rich” or “get ripped” quick schemes. That’s it. There are no “get ripped quick” schemes that are successful because those diets or programs or cleanses are not sustainable. Now, that doesn’t mean that all crash courses are useless. We might want a hardcore shock to our system for a relatively short (ie, a month) period of time so we can reset what “normal” feels like when our habits have drifted too far from where we want them to be. This may be something like a “spending freeze” to raise awareness on how many little things we buy that we don’t actually value, or it may be a “30 day challenge” in the kitchen to remind ourselves that we can in fact get 25g of fiber a day, or it may be a “sober month” to raise awareness on how many one-drink-with-dinner’s we are actually drinking.

Investing in our health is just as boring as investing in our finances. Ultimately, we’ll see gains in our fitness when we consistently put in effort, just like we’ll see gains in our finances when we consistently contribute to boring investments that will grow slowly - but reliably - over time. Going all-in on single stocks isn’t a good financial idea and neither is going all-in on some fad diet that looks nothing like your regular life and doesn’t really work with your normal habits. Boring does not equal bad.

All successful diets keep BGLs steady and reduce inflammation. Okay, so you’re ready to build a sustainable practice. Where do you start? What type of diet do you adopt long-term for maximum benefits? This is going to depend on your personal lifestyle, preferences, and goals. But all successful diets will keep blood glucose levels (BGLs) steady and reduce inflammation.

For example, the ketogenic diet (a diet low in carbs and high in fat) will create a situation where your body doesn’t rely on dietary carbs and instead keeps BGLs steady by activating gluconeogenesis (making new glucose) in the liver. This also encourages breaking down fat to release ketone bodies that can be burned for energy instead of glucose, so BGLs don’t dip. The ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) will also reduce inflammation by suppressing the activation of a pro-inflammatory complex in immune cells*. Some people don’t like ketogenic diets because they want to eat more carbs - is there a way to get the same anti-inflammatory benefits without going keto?

Another example is intermittent fasting. When we’re fasting, we’re not taking new glucose in from our diet so our bodies have to make glucose to maintain BGLs. Once we use up our glycogen stores, we’ll activate gluconeogenesis and start burning more fat. The ketone bodies from burning fat will also help lower inflammation. “But, Sarah”, you might be saying to yourself, “I do not want to skip snacks. I am here for the snacks.” Same. I do not want to skip snacks either.

A third example is moving around enough to burn through our glycogen stores. How much you have to move depends on how much glycogen you have stored, but once you use that glycogen up, you will activate gluconeogenesis and start burning more fat. See the trend?

To reduce inflammation, you need YOUR BODY to keep your BGLs stable and not a continuous supply of tiny cookies. Maybe an occasional supply of tiny cookies. That you eat when you know you’re going to move around, so that your muscles will take care of that tiny glucose spike and stop your insulin levels from rising. Yes this is how Teddy Grahams become part of my marathon training. I love graham crackers.

Burning fat reduces inflammation IF you are not introducing extra stress. If you find that you are trying a “sustainable” diet/fitness plan and you (a) feel really tired or light-headed during the day or after work-outs, (b) start taking longer to recover, (c) stop seeing progress in your goals, or (d) are just not having fun because you’re worried about eating the wrong thing at the wrong time, you are introducing extra stress.

If this happens, it’s time to take stock of whether or not your habits are actually sustainable (hint: they’re not). This can be tough for some of us who really really want to be successful and end up putting too much pressure on ourselves. Just like it’s important to have an accountability buddy or coach to help set ourselves up for success, it can be helpful to have a coach help us make sure we aren’t over-doing it, having a bad time, and setting ourselves up for failure.

Use the “rule of cool” to help you build sustainable habits. If we are starting from a place that’s really far from where we want to end up, we’ll need to make incremental changes along the way. This will allow us to build up to our final habits so that the place we end up in is sustainable. Use the “rule of cool” - if you are miserable, that’s not cool. It’s okay to adjust over time. It’s your fitness journey, not your fitness race.

Metabolic tips for building sustainable habits:

• Choose a diet/fitness plan that will keep your BGLs stable.

• Build habits that work with YOUR lifestyle, preferences, and goals!

• Adjust your simple carb intake to match your activity levels: less movement = less simple carbs.

• Burning fat reduces inflammation IF you are not introducing extra stress! Use the “rule of cool” to decide if something actually works for you.

*A reminder that ketogenesis (aka ketosis; making ketone bodies) is different than ketoacidosis (making so many ketone bodies that it changes our blood pH and we die).

Youm et al., (2015) The ketone metabolite B-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory disease. Nature Medicine.