Your Belly Fat Struggle Might Be Blood Sugar

That tired, foggy, “why do I want something sweet right now” feeling might not be a willpower problem. I’m talking about blood sugar and how it quietly drives your energy, mood, cravings, sleep, and even your ability to lose fat, especially around your midsection. If you’ve ever felt like you’re working out and eating “pretty well” but still feel stuck, this conversation will help you connect the dots in a simple, practical way.

I walk through what happens when a carb heavy meal spikes your blood sugar, insulin rushes in, and you crash lower than you started. That swing can send you straight to coffee, snacks, or a second round of cravings, and it can keep your body feeling like it needs to store instead of burn. The goal isn’t restriction or extremes. It’s learning how your body works so you can work with it. We talk about easy upgrades like pairing carbs with protein and healthy fats, plus one of my favorite tools: five minutes of movement after you eat to help your muscles use glucose and steady the whole system.

Then we make it real with a story from a wine fest that went very wrong: dehydration, not enough food, too much sampling, and a next day that felt brutal. From that lesson comes a simple “before you go out” plan that supports gut health, steadier blood sugar, and better mornings: eat a protein forward meal first, keep water next to your drink, and treat water between drinks as part of the plan, not a suggestion. If this helps you, follow the show, leave a five-star review, and share it with a friend who always gets the 2 am regret wake-up.

Transcript

Welcome To Spandex And Wine

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Hello and welcome to the Spandex and Wine Podcast. I'm your host, Robin Hackney, and I'm so happy that you're here. This podcast is a place for conversations about balancing a healthy lifestyle and being happy. More specifically, happy hour. Together we'll explore all things wellness and wine. I hope you learn a little, laugh a lot, and along the way, know you're not alone on this balanced wellness journey. Ready to jump in? Pour something in your glass that makes you happy because it's time for Spandex and Wine. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Spandex and Wine Podcast. I am feeling so much better if you listened to last week's episode, which is only three minutes long. I was just feeling under the weather and it hung on for so long. I've been talking to other people, and it sounds like they've been dealing with the same issues. And thankfully, I was still, you know, able to get up, go to work, do all the things. I mean, sometimes you don't have a choice. But I, you know, if I really felt like I was contagious, then I would have stayed home. But I just feel so much better. It is amazing how when you're feeling under the weather, it affects you in so many different ways. It affects your sleep, it affects your mood, your energy level, um, your performance at work. And you know, I just feel so much better. But it kind of got me thinking also about um blood sugar. And I don't think that people realized how much that can affect them. I was teasing about this in the um newsletter this past Wednesday. That comes out at 3:30 Central every Wednesday. So if you'd like to be a part of that, please let me know. You can reach out to me. Um, I'll give all my contact information. You can also check the show notes. But so blood sugar. So before you tune out and you think it doesn't apply to you, that you're not diabetic, I want you just to stay with me and just listen and hear me out because blood sugar impacts everything. It impacts your energy, your cravings, your mood, your ability to lose fat, especially belly fat. So all those women out there that always say, I would like to lose that belly fat. Listen up. So I'm gonna paint you a picture. You eat a meal, and maybe it's quick, maybe it's carb heavy, maybe it's just what you had time for, your blood sugar spikes. And your body goes, Whoa, that's a lot. And it releases insulin to bring it back down. But here's the problem: it doesn't just bring it down, it often drops too low. And when that happens, you feel tired and foggy, maybe you crave something sweet. That's good for me. I've never been a sweet person, but now when I'm eating, I'm like, I want something sweet afterwards, or you're maybe reaching for coffee or another snack or an energy drink, something like that. And I'm sure that sounds familiar to you. And it's not a little color problem, it is a blood sugar. So I want to connect this to fat loss because I know that's where a lot of you are focused. When your blood sugar is constantly spiking and crashing, your body is in storage. It's kind of, you know, you probably have heard me say this before, and it's much harder to access your fat, especially around your midsection. You can be working out, you can eat what you think is healthy, and still be in that stuffed place. And it is so incredibly frustrating. I'm sure so many of you out there are just nodding your heads, yes. But the good news is you don't need to overhaul your entire life. Small, consistent shifts make a huge difference. So things like pairing protein and healthy fats with your meals, and not just eating carbs by themselves. One of my favorites is moving your body right after you eat, even if it's just five minutes, it could be a short walk, a few squats, something to get your muscles involved. I actually put a little five-minute movement in this last week's newsletter. And I know for me, like if I'm at the club and I eat, I either, you know, run around or do something here in the gym, or if it's really busy, then I will just go knock off five to six items on our cleaning checklist. So I am moving and cleaning and using my muscles because your muscles act like a sponge for glucose. So instead of that sugar hanging out in your bloodstream, it actually gets used. And that helps stabilize everything. This is the kind of stuff that I don't think gets talked about enough. I mean, again, if you think of blood sugar, I automatically would think diabetes. Um, but once you start to understand it, you start to feel more in control of your body instead of fighting against it. And that is always the goal. Not extremes, not restriction, just understanding how your body works and working with it instead of against it. I hope that helps. Okay, let's make this a little more fun. Well, yeah, kind of fun. I mentioned uh recently that I've been feeling more fatigue than usual, and I know I've been sick, and thankfully all of that has subsided, but I did have a little bit of a revelation. Um, and honestly, I hate to admit it because it involves drinking less and upping my water. I know it's not exactly the most exciting takeaway, but stay with me because we've all been that been there. We go out with the best intentions, and we're like, I'm going to eat a good meal. I'm just gonna have a couple drinks, no big deal. And then the conversation gets good, the stories start flying, the clock is just ticking away and just flying by, and you realize halfway through that you really didn't eat enough protein, and the whole I'll drink water between meals plan is gone. And then you wake up at like two or three in the morning thinking, why did I do that? I am never gonna do that again. And I know it's not just me. And in fact, it reminds me of a story years ago. Oh my gosh, I don't know, probably I don't know, maybe 10 years ago. I wanted to go to the wine fest. This is when I was still doing in-home wine tastings, and it was on a Saturday, and this was when I was still teaching my Saturday classes. So I would get up and we had a tight window to get to the wine fest. I splurged for the VIP tickets. I was super excited about this. And the night before, I don't remember what we did. I'm sure we probably had drinks at home or something like that. So I wasn't hydrated and I wasn't hydrated going into Saturday morning. And I was running behind. And so, of course, I didn't have enough to eat. I think I just grabbed a hard-boiled egg on my way to the workout and did the whole workout with them, had my clients afterwards, some personal training clients, ran home, took a shower, still didn't eat, and went to the wine fest. You can see where this is going. So we pull up to Union Station, all excited. We go through the line, we go in the room, and there are so many vendors. I wanted to say there were like between 50 and 55 booths, and all of them had between three to six wines that you could sample. I was in heaven and I saw these people walking around with these pretzel necklaces, and I'm like, what the heck is that about? Trust me, if you see a pretzel necklace, it's a good sign that you should have one too, or at least a snack in your purse or something. I went, I was like a kid in a candy shop going from booth to booth, and I wanted to try it all. There were varietals I hadn't tried yet. There were some that were my favorites. I just wanted to sample everything. And I sampled way too many, being dehydrated, dehydrated, not eating enough, having really depleted my glycogen storages with the workout that day, and it was not pretty. After we got done there, Dave and I were like, okay, we should probably get something to eat. Dave's like watching me closely. We Uber over to, oh my gosh, I don't even remember what it's called now. Stockyards Brewery, I do believe it is in downtown Kansas City. And we proceeded to have a couple more drinks. We did eat a little bit, but not a ton. And you guys, this at this point, it's like one o'clock in the afternoon or two o'clock in the afternoon. It is not late. And Dave's like, okay, this is going south fast. I just have to get her home. And so we get another Uber, and Dave is striking up a conversation with the driver as I am just trying to hold it together. And um, Dave's like, you probably don't like driving much on the weekends because of all the drunk people. Meanwhile, I'm sitting in the back seat, like really struggling. And the driver's like, Oh, yeah, that's why I just drive during the day. I don't have to deal with that. I don't have to worry about people throwing up in the car. And Dave looks back at me and he can see that I am really struggling. I at that point I had rolled down the window, my head was out the window, and Dave's like, um, yeah, I don't think my wife's doing very well. So the guy whips out one of those barf bags, and luckily I didn't have to use it, but I had it on my face because I was so worried that I would and got home. It took a while for us to get home, the state that I was in. Got home and I slept all that night. I slept all the next day. I'm pretty sure that I had alcohol poisoning because I did not set myself up correctly and I got a little too excited about the wine. I know it's shocking. I know it's shocking for you guys to hear that about me. So, one of the things from then and really recently is what I've been doing since I've been focusing more on gut health and blood sugar. And I want to challenge you to do the same is to make the decision before you go out. I know that's that sounds so simple, but make sure it's not in the moment. It's not when you're about ready to leave, it's before you ate a protein forward meal, not just a few bites, a real meal. This is big for me. This is a huge change because typically I like to have a glass of wine and then I make my dinner or go out to dinner. Um, but it is going to really save your life if you do this. So have a glass of water sitting right next to your drink once you get to where you're going. And not as a suggestion. This is part of your plan. Drink water between drinks. If you want, it can just be a sip here and a sip there, water, wine, whatever it might be that you're you're drinking, or you might have a pattern of I'm going to have an entire glass of wine and then I'm going to drink all of this water before I finish. Um, whatever your pattern might be, always end with water. It's not about being perfect. It's not about cutting everything out. I'm not asking you to not be fun. Um, I am all for having a nice cocktail. Um, you guys know that. You see my post, you know how I enjoy my wine and enjoying tequila and all of that, but it's also about supporting your body while you're living your life. So it's all about that balance because I can tell you from experience, your next day self will absolutely thank you. Okay, so that's it. A simple little plan. I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your day. You know, I would always love to hear from you. You can email me at infospandexandwine.com or feel free to text me at 913-392-2877. All right, cheers. Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying this podcast, be sure to follow Spandex and Wine so you don't miss an episode. To do this, just go to the podcast and click subscribe or follow wherever you are listening. Look for the plus sign or follow button. This is one of the best things that you can do for the podcast. If you'd also be willing to give a five-star review, that would be amazing and much appreciated. Lastly, please share an episode with a friend or five to keep the love going. And join the Spandex and Wine community in our private Facebook group by searching Spandex and Wine. Feel free to reach out to me at any time by emailing info at spandexandwine.com or text me at 913 392 2877. I appreciate you. Thank you.