“Naked carbs”—refined carbohydrates eaten alone without fat, fiber, or protein—are considered unhealthy because they are digested rapidly, causing sharp spikes in blood sugar and insulin. This leads to energy crashes, increased hunger, cravings, fat storage, and long-term risks like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 

Without fiber or nutrients to slow digestion, naked carbs quickly turn into glucose, creating a rapid, high spike in blood sugar, followed by a sudden crash. Which is why you feel hungry.  Because they digest quickly, they do not provide satiety, causing hunger to return shortly after eating and promoting overeating.

If you are not hungry right away, try these tips to avoid that 11:00 AM crash:

1. The “Breakfast Appetizer”: Switch your morning snack and breakfast. Start with something small: a handful of almonds, a piece of fruit, or a single hard-boiled egg.
2. Go Liquid: If food makes you nauseous early in the morning, try a smoothie with protein powder and spinach. It’s easy on the stomach.
3. The 15-Minute Rule: If you are too rushed, set your alarm just 15 minutes earlier. A piece of whole-wheat toast with peanut butter is enough to stabilize your blood sugar.
4. Prioritize Protein: A high-protein breakfast (like Greek yogurt or eggs) keeps you full and stops those mid-morning hunger pangs.

Dressing the Carbs

Pairing simple, refined carbohydrates with protein, healthy fats, or fiber to slow digestion, curb blood sugar spikes, and increase satiety. Instead of eating carbohydrates alone (“naked”), add toppings like avocado, nuts, nut butter, Greek yogurt, eggs, or cheese to snacks and meals. 

How to Dress the Carbs

• Pair with Fat/Protein: Add avocado, nuts, seeds, nut butter, cheese, or eggs to toast, crackers, or fruits.
• Add Fiber: Combine carbohydrates with vegetables, chia seeds, or leafy greens to slow down glucose absorption.
• Order of Eating: Consume fiber (veggies) and protein/fat before the carbohydrates to significantly reduce blood glucose impact.
• Smart Swaps: Choose whole-grain options over white flour products. 

Examples of “Dressed” Carbohydrates

• Apple + Nut Butter: Combines fruit with healthy fat and protein.
• Toast + Avocado + Egg: Adds fiber and healthy fats to simple carbs.
• Pasta + Vegetables + Olive Oil/Protein: Adds fiber and fat to refined pasta.
• Yogurt + Fruit + Seeds: Adds protein and fiber to fruit sugars.

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Now to understand why Tabata training actually works let peek into the history of this type of training. How it all started? Tabata training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. Tabata and his team conducted research on two groups of athletes. The first group trained at a moderate intensity level while the second group trained at a high-intensity level. The moderate intensity group worked out five days a week for a total of six weeks; each workout lasted one hour. The high-intensity group worked out four days a week for six weeks; each workout lasted four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set).

The results; Group 1 had increased their aerobic system (cardiovascular), but showed little or no results for their anaerobic system (muscle). Group 2 showed much more increase in their aerobic system than Group 1, and increased their anaerobic system by 28 percent. In conclusion, high-intensity interval training has more impact on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.

So if you want to Blast more fat but work out less: It may sound like a bogus claim to attract people, but dozens of scientific studies support the timesaving, calorie-zapping benefits of quickie workouts known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and Tabata bootcamp is a perfect example of this type of training.

There’s good reason why HIIT is one of the hottest workouts around: Its format – brief bouts of hard exercise paired with easier activity for recovery – burns off more calories per minute than doing a longer workout at a continuously moderate pace. And researchers at the University of Guelph found that women who trained with high-intensity intervals for two weeks increased their bodies’ capacity to burn fat while they exercised. HIIT also makes the heart grow stronger; a study from Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed that high-intensity intervals may be better for improving cardiovascular fitness in healthy adults than moderate steady-state exercise.

What makes HIIT work so well? One factor is the type of muscle fibers used. Studies have found HIIT recruits large, powerful muscle fibers that otherwise lie dormant in everyday life or during moderate exercise ,that means you get defined muscles faster. And the benefits aren’t all physical, either. HIIT can help you dodge de-motivating workout ruts. There are only so many ways to run for an hour on a treadmill, Interval training provides infinite variety, and it’s fun.

Ready to give HIIT a try? With the right approach, practically anyone can benefit from this calorie-incinerating cardio workout. So dial in to your next Tabata Bootcamp class with me

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