Habit Stacking: Insulin Resistance Part 1

Success can be attributed to the daily habits and routines we adopt in our lives. Habit stacking is a powerful concept that can significantly impact personal growth and productivity. From small changes to meaningful transformations, these practices provide a framework for developing positive habits and eliminating destructive ones. 

Ever since James Clear released his book “Atomic Habits,” people have applied his principles to lots of topics. Atomic habits are small, incremental changes that compound over time and ultimately lead to significant outcomes.  He suggests that trying to tackle large projects all at once is overwhelming and often leads to failure or giving up.

With habit stacking the focus is on the process rather than the end result, highlighting the idea that "tiny changes create remarkable results."   By breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks, individuals can establish a routine and reinforce positive behaviors.

Instead, find small changes that lead you toward your goal but aren’t overwhelming, and add them to habits you already have in place.  One of the theories I loved from the book is that we are defined by our habits.  Meaning that when we aren’t achieving our goals we often define ourselves as unsuccessful, unmotivated, incapable, or many other negative opinions. By redefining ourselves through our habits, we create a sense of alignment and motivation to maintain positive behaviors.  We start to believe in our abilities and reinforce our aspirations through incremental changes that suggest we are capable, responsible, and successful.  

This has worked very well for me personally and also helped me create a new approach with patients who wanted to make healthy life changes but couldn’t figure out how, or where to start.

Now I use groups of habit stacks to help people achieve their goals and build their confidence. Unlike radical changes or temporary fixes, habit stacks promote gradual progress and long-term sustainability. By making small changes that are easily incorporated into daily routines, individuals can build habits that last.

Tackling Insulin Resistance or PCOS is a daunting task.  Many things can improve the situation but so many women trying to conceive are confused about what they should or should not do, what is safe, what their doctor would want, etc. 

Most people feel lost or overwhelmed when taking on too many changes at once and they give up entirely. The Habit Stack approach gives us a format for making changes that feel doable, and add additional habits as you get comfortable and gain confidence. 

The biggest predictor for building sustainability is feeling empowered as progress happens.  

Here are three habit stacks for Insulin resistance, or IR.  Feel free to tackle them in the order in which they appeal to you or seem the easiest.  Add the next one as you see fit and watch how simple changes accumulate into something powerful. 

HABIT STACK ONE:

Perform 10-15 minutes of weight-bearing exercise before you eat any food or consume any carbohydrates. 

The most effective way to do this is before any food is consumed, even coffee creamer.  If the idea of attempting any movement is ludicrous before coffee, enjoy your cup first and then immediately do the weight lifting. 

Weight-bearing exercise doesn’t have to mean lifting weights, although that’s a great version.  Weight-bearing can be squats, lunges, wall sits, planks, tricep dips on a chair, push-ups… anything where you have to maintain your own body weight.  Grabbing light hand weights for bicep curls, shoulder presses, and chest presses will work too. 

The reason is that when your muscles are activated your body will move glucose into the cells to support the action.  The higher the demand, the more sugar is shuttled into those cells. If you do it first thing, before you’ve ingested food, your body will use the insulin that is present to move the sugar into the muscle cell and bring your fasting insulin level down. 

People with insulin resistance should do weight-bearing activity every chance they get, as it has a greater influence on insulin levels than cardiovascular exercise. If you aren’t a fan of the treadmill then don’t worry, you’ll get more from a 10-minute weight training exercise. 

HABIT STACK TWO:

No carbs for breakfast. 

Eat a fat and protein-filled breakfast with your only carbohydrates coming from vegetables.  Skip the fruit for now.  This habit prevents a morning insulin surge and instead only releases a small amount of insulin to deal with the vegetables.  

Every time you eat carbohydrates or sugar, your body has to release insulin to handle it.  The more refined the carbohydrates, the faster they are broken down into sugar.  This process promotes an excessive amount of insulin each time.  By reducing the carbohydrate load you reduce the insulin spike. By preventing the insulin spike you maintain a stable blood sugar and your body will rely on the glucose molecules that are already available, which brings your blood sugar levels down as well.

By eating protein and fat-rich foods you will feel full and satisfied for longer, decreasing morning energy crashes and carb cravings.  This simple change also helps improve mental cognition over time and reduces brain fog or reliance on caffeine.

HABIT STACK THREE:

Eat higher carbohydrate foods during the day and around lunchtime.

The more restrictive the diet, the harder it is to sustain.  Even when working on carbohydrate metabolism and insulin resistance, you can still eat the things you love.  The secret is to learn moderation and when to eat those foods for the best metabolic reaction. 

What makes this habit work is that prevents feelings of deprivation and contributes to delayed gratification.  Learning to delay gratification is very helpful when working on a metabolic reset.  It’s not that there will never be any treats, but treats are worth waiting for.  

Placing the higher carbohydrate foods in the middle of the day allows your body time to digest them while still using them up during your busy day.  Running around and being active during the day helps use up the glucose molecules and keeps insulin from building up in the bloodstream.

If there isn’t a blood sugar spike in the morning and the sugar becomes higher during the day then diminishes, the pooling sugar and insulin effect can be avoided. Even having s sweet treat or dessert is better for you at this time of day, instead of after dinner. 

None of these suggestions are difficult on their own, and coupled together they create a powerful course of action to decrease blood sugar and insulin levels. Simple strategies compound to improve your mindset and your health.  

Part 2 coming next week!