Insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance
Insulin Sensitivity: Why Calories Don’t Affect Everyone the Same Way
1. Introduction: Same Calories, Different Results
Two people eat the same number of calories.
One stays lean.
One gains fat easily.
The difference is not discipline.
It’s not genetics alone.
A huge part of the equation is insulin sensitivity.
You eat right.
You work out.
But your body refuses to let go of fat.
In many cases, the problem isn’t just calories, but a formidable hormonal duo: cortisol and insulin.
When these two hormones go into overdrive, they create a vicious cycle that promotes fat storage, sugar cravings, fatigue, and weight loss.
In this video, I explain simply:
How this double vicious cycle works
Why it blocks weight loss
And most importantly, what concrete actions you can take to break free
I also share my perspective on what truly effective coaching should look like.
👉 Stress, hormones, inflammation, cravings, and practical solutions.
2. What Is Insulin Sensitivity? (Simple Definition)
Insulin is a hormone that helps move nutrients from your blood into your cells.
When you’re insulin sensitive:
- Carbs go to muscle and liver glycogen
- Fat storage is limited
- Energy stays stable
When you’re insulin resistant:
- More nutrients are pushed toward fat storage
- Blood sugar regulation is impaired
- Energy crashes become common
Think of insulin sensitivity as nutrient partitioning efficiency.
3. Signs of Poor Insulin Sensitivity
Common signs include:
- Fat gain mainly around the waist
- Energy crashes after high-carb meals
- Strong sugar cravings
- Difficulty losing fat
- Feeling sluggish after eating
These are not character flaws.
They’re physiological signals.
4. How Insulin Sensitivity Affects Fat Loss
When insulin sensitivity is low:
- Refeeds lead to fat gain more easily
- Carb-heavy days feel “dangerous”
- Diet breaks become stressful
- Reverse dieting feels chaotic
When insulin sensitivity improves:
- Carbs refill muscle glycogen
- Training performance increases
- Fat gain is minimized
- Dieting becomes smoother
This is why some people can eat more without gaining fat.
5. What Damages Insulin Sensitivity
The biggest drivers:
- Chronic overeating
- Long periods of inactivity
- Excess body fat
- Poor sleep
- High stress
- Repeated crash dieting
It’s not carbs themselves.
It’s context.
6. My Experience: Why I Stopped Fearing Carbs
There was a time when I avoided carbs.
Fat loss felt fragile.
Any increase felt risky.
Once I focused on improving insulin sensitivity through training, steps, refeeds, and structured calories, everything changed.
Carbs became a tool, not a threat.
Fat loss became more predictable.
Performance improved.
That shift changed my entire approach.
7. How to Improve Insulin Sensitivity (Practical Tools)
What consistently works:
- Resistance training
- Daily movement (NEAT)
- Adequate protein intake
- Carb cycling
- Refeed days
- Diet breaks
- Reverse dieting after long cuts
- Good sleep hygiene
No extremes.
No detoxes.
No carb phobia.
here somme advice for reverse diet or how you can improve your NEAT.
8. Insulin Sensitivity vs “Low-Carb Forever”
Low-carb diets can temporarily improve blood sugar control.
But permanent carb avoidance does not automatically fix insulin sensitivity.
Training-driven glucose uptake matters more than carb elimination.
Muscle is your biggest glucose sink.
Build muscle.
Use muscle.
You improve insulin sensitivity.
What you need to understand is that if you are insulin resistant, the problem might seem to be sugar at first glance. But in reality, it’s the ratio of sugar to your ability to use that energy. The more you build an energy system, the better you’ll utilize energy from sources like fats or glucose. With sufficient energy expenditure and enough carbohydrates, but especially slow-release carbohydrates, your insulin problem will begin to disappear.
Here you can read Metabolic Flexibility: Why you struggle to burn fat and carbs efficiently to learn more about that.
9. Precision Section: The Science Behind Insulin Sensitivity
Research shows:
- Resistance training improves insulin-stimulated glucose uptake
- Muscle contraction increases GLUT4 translocation independent of insulin
- Weight loss improves insulin sensitivity primarily through fat mass reduction
- Carbohydrate availability interacts with training status and glycogen storage
Insulin sensitivity is not binary.
It exists on a spectrum and is highly trainable.
10. Conclusion
Calories don’t affect everyone the same way.
Not because of magic.
Not because of destiny.
Because physiology adapts.
Improve insulin sensitivity, and fat loss becomes easier, carbs become useful, and dieting becomes less stressful.
But don’t worry too much, insulin resistance usually resolves itself very well when you stop consuming fast sugars too frequently during the day, when you consume your carbohydrates before and after training, and when you do regular physical activity.
Sources
- DeFronzo & Tripathy — “Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance.” Journal of Clinical Investigation (2009).
- Richter & Hargreaves — “Exercise, GLUT4, and Skeletal Muscle Glucose Uptake.” Physiological Reviews (2013).
- Hawley & Lessard — “Exercise Training-Induced Improvements in Insulin Action.” Journal of Applied Physiology (2008).