Insulin Resistance: The Silent Disruptor Sabotaging Your Health

Have you ever felt like you’re doing everything right — eating clean, working out, watching your portions — yet the weight won’t budge? Your energy crashes mid-afternoon, cravings feel out of control, and you leave the doctor’s office with labs that say “you’re fine” even though you don’t feel fine at all?

You’re not crazy. You’re not broken.
You might be dealing with insulin resistance — and you’re not alone.

What Is Insulin Resistance, Exactly?

Insulin is a hormone produced by your pancreas. Its main job is to act like a “key” that unlocks your cells so sugar (glucose) from your food can enter and be used for energy.

But when your cells stop responding to insulin efficiently — like rusty locks that don’t open — your body starts pumping out more insulin to try and compensate. Over time, your insulin levels rise higher and higher just to keep blood sugar in check.

This condition is called insulin resistance, and it can be brewing for years before your blood sugar ever rises or shows up on a typical lab panel.

How to Spot Insulin Resistance (Before It Gets Worse)

Insulin resistance often goes undetected — especially if you’re not yet overweight or haven’t had blood sugar issues show up on labs. But your body might already be waving red flags.

Here are common signs and symptoms to look for:

• Stubborn belly fat
  
  
• Cravings for sugar or refined carbs
  
  
• Energy crashes — especially mid-afternoon or after meals
  
  
• Skin tags or dark velvety patches on the neck or armpits (acanthosis nigricans)
  
  
• Hormonal imbalances like PCOS or irregular cycles
  
  
• Brain fog, fatigue, mood swings
  
  
• High blood pressure, low HDL, or high triglycerides
  
  
• “Normal” fasting glucose or A1C but something still feels off
  
  

The Labs You Should Ask For

Unfortunately, most conventional screenings miss early insulin resistance. Fasting glucose and A1C can remain in the normal range for years while damage is silently accumulating.

Here are the lab markers that actually matter:

• Fasting insulin — optimal range is typically 2–5 µIU/mL
  
  
• HOMA-IR — a calculation that estimates insulin resistance (aim for under 1.5)
  
  
• Triglyceride:HDL ratio — keep it below 2
  
  
• Ferritin, ALT, GGT — markers of liver stress and inflammation
  
  

If you’ve never had your fasting insulin tested, advocate for it. It’s one of the earliest windows into your metabolic health.

What Insulin Resistance Leads To (If Ignored)

Left unchecked, insulin resistance becomes a domino effect of dysfunction. It’s at the root of nearly every modern chronic disease, including:

• Type 2 diabetes
  
  
• Cardiovascular disease
  
  
• Fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
  
  
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
  
  
• Infertility in women and men
  
  
• Alzheimer’s disease (now often called type 3 diabetes)
  
  
• Certain cancers, especially breast and colorectal
  
  
• Chronic fatigue, depression, inflammation, and accelerated aging
  
  

It’s not just about blood sugar. It’s about every system in your body that relies on balanced insulin signaling — which is all of them.

Why Early Intervention Matters Most

The good news? Insulin resistance is reversible — especially early on.

This condition doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t have to become your destiny. In fact, insulin resistance often begins 10+ years before a diabetes diagnosis. That’s an incredible window of opportunity to change your trajectory.

The sooner you detect it, the more likely you can avoid medications, prevent disease, and reclaim your energy, fertility, focus, and metabolic flexibility.

How to Start Reversing Insulin Resistance Today

Here’s where to start — and what I teach inside my Lifestyle School for Weight-Loss:

1. Eat Real, Whole, Nutrient-Dense Food

Remove the refined carbs, seed oils, and ultra-processed junk. Focus on protein, healthy fats, and colorful veggies. Aim to balance your meals in a way that keeps blood sugar steady — not spiking and crashing.

2. Use Fasting Strategically

Intermittent fasting lowers insulin levels and helps your body become more metabolically flexible. You don’t need to start with 24 or 36-hour fasts. Even a 12- or 16-hour overnight fast is a great place to begin.

(Inside Lifestyle School, I guide you through fasting in a way that actually works with your lifestyle.)

3. Walk After Meals

A simple 10-minute walk after eating dramatically reduces blood sugar spikes — without requiring your body to pump out more insulin.

4. Strength Train Weekly

Lifting weights or doing resistance workouts improves how your muscles respond to insulin. Muscle is metabolically protective — and critical as we age.

5. Sleep Like It’s Your Job

Lack of sleep makes your body insulin resistant in just a few nights. Prioritize 7–9 hours of quality sleep, ideally between 10pm and 6am.

6. Reduce Chronic Stress

Stress hormones like cortisol directly increase insulin resistance. You need regular moments of calm — whether through deep breathing, prayer, nature walks, or setting boundaries in your life.

Final Thoughts: Your Body Isn’t Broken — It’s Adaptable

Insulin resistance is a message from your body. It’s not failing you — it’s adapting to a modern environment that overwhelms it. But the incredible news is that you can reverse it. You just need to give your body the inputs it was designed for.

Don’t wait until you’re diagnosed with something to take action.
The earlier you begin, the easier it is to correct course.

🎧 Ready to Go Deeper?

Tune into this week’s episode of the Lifestyle School Podcast, where I unpack this topic in even more depth and give you practical next steps.

🎙️ Listen now: Click here to listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
💻 Learn more about working with me inside Lifestyle School: www.hopeplackcoaching.com