Working out provides a host of body benefits: cardiovascular fitness, muscle tone, and—luckily for the well-conditioned—wiggle room for a sweet tooth.
“For a fit body, a candy bar will be pretty uneventful. Bits of sugar and fat will be processed, broken down, and shuttled off to cells. No biggie. The person will go and eat a nutritious dinner and move on,” says Ryan Andrews, R.D., a fitness, and nutrition coach.
The problem, then, isn’t one sweet, but the snowball effect of handful after handful. “It’s hard to give an exact number and say, ‘once you’ve hit this threshold, you’re officially overdoing it,’” says Andrews. But in general, he estimates 50 grams of sugar and 50 grams of fat in one concentrated, candy-filled dose is too much, even for an athletic body. (Two classic candy bars like Butterfingers or Milky Ways would put you over that sugar figure and almost halfway there in fat.)
“When we over-consume food beyond our needs, some negative things can start to happen,” Andrews says. “When that food is highly processed, like Halloween candy, it might be even more problematic.” Below, nutrition experts explain the physiological fallout of going hog-wild.
Your Brain: When sugar hits your tongue, the brain sends a message to the pancreas to produce insulin, a hormone that signals cells to either absorb sugar as energy (or glucose) in the muscles or store it in the liver, says Kristin Kirkpatrick, R.D., manager of nutrition services at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. Your brain then activates its reward system and levels of dopamine increase, which may be what’s telling you to eat more of the sweet stuff, she says.
This can lead to skewed perceptions of reward and hunger in the brain, says Andrews. (Even if you’re full, you might keep eating.) “Over time, it can create a reward cycle and reliance on sugar to improve mood.”
Your Bloodstream: Excess fat, sugar, and sodium from sweets can increase blood volume, making your blood more concentrated, says Andrews. “This means higher blood pressure, which is bad news for vessels, kidneys, eyes, and the heart.” It might also limit how much urine you produce—which means you’ll hold onto extra fluids, he says.
Ultimately, the flood of fats and sugar must go somewhere, says Andrews. “Once cells have what they need, sugars can be converted to fats, and incoming fat can be stored away—as fat.”
Over time, if there’s constantly too much glucose circulating (from a high-sugar diet), cells’ sensitivity to insulin can weaken or they can stop responding all together. That can morph into type 2 diabetes, Kirkpatrick says.
Your Heart: If you’re eating dark chocolate—which has caffeine—you may experience an energy burst and your heart may start to beat faster, says Kirkpatrick.
Ingredients matter, too. For example, Andrews adds: Dark chocolate with coconut offers decent nutrients (like fiber, iron, magnesium), contains less sugar, and has good-for-you monounsaturated fats. A Kit-Kat is low-quality chocolate, dairy, and sugar. “The fats in coconut and dark chocolate are less likely to promote heart disease and more likely to be processed by the liver for energy,” says Andrews.
Your Immune System: After such a high dose, your immune function will likely be compromised, making you more susceptible to an illness, says Andrews. (When the bacterial balance in your gut is out of whack—see above—your entire immune system can be dialed up or down.)
It happens to all of us. We do everything right: go to the gym, eat right, lift weights, do cardio, and crushing the lifestyle. Losing weight has slowed down, and we aren't hitting our max weights and feeling weaker. It's normal; YOU HAVE HIT FITNESS PLATEAU! While fitness plateaus can be frustrating, you need to know that they are not permanent and can be overcome.
A fitness plateau happens when the progress you've been making, like losing weight, toning up, or getting stronger, has stalled or even halted. The good thing is everyone experiences them. Look at plateaus as a good thing; you did some great work prior, and now the body needs another adjustment or change to progress.
Here are some helpful tips to get out of your fitness plateau and continue your fitness journey!
Note: Everyone's body is different and will respond differently. Try these tips to see what works best for you.
1. Ramp Up Your Workout Intensity
The body is constantly adjusting and adapting. A simple and easy way to break out of this plateau is to make your body work harder, NOT LONGER. Increase the weight you use and lower the repetitions. Make sure you keep proper form and perform the exercises safely, especially when adding a heavier workload.
2. Mix Up Your Routine
Give your body a new challenge outside of the normal. Make your body learn how to adapt to new movements and exercises. For example, if you do machines primarily, switch to free weights. If you jog on a treadmill, do an interval split or add incline. Do new exercises and movements to force the body to do something new.
3. Back Off on The Load
As I mentioned above, we wanted to increase the load. But if you are already lifting on the heavier side, lighten the weight for a week or short period. To make the workouts efficient and challenging still, add repetitions. By lowering the weight, you are allowing the muscles to recover and boost their growth as well.
4. REST & Recover
I can't stress enough that getting adequate rest is critical for development and allows the body to recover. Don't worry about missing workouts, and Overtraining can make you lose the progress that you have made so far. The body needs to rest and recharge.
5. What Are You Eating?
If you don't give your body proper nutrients, muscles will not be able to grow, and they won't have the fuel to power your workouts. All your training will go to waste without the appropriate levels of carbs, protein, fats, and nutrients.
Fitness plateaus are frustrating, and you go from tremendous results to seeing no changes. However, it is essential to know that plateaus are normal and aren't too difficult to overcome.
If you are struggling with a fitness plateau or want to talk more about these, contact me at tsprockhoff@yellowcreekspa.com, 330-665-2555 ext. 2262, or message us on IG: @yellowcreekgym and allow us to help YOU!