GREATER JOLIET AREA YMCA

After selling out two weeks beforehand, the Greater Joliet Area YMCA’s Giving Gala welcomed a record-setting 500 guests into the Bolingbrook Golf Club on Saturday, February 28. By night’s end, a whopping $140,000 was raised—the most in the event’s eight year-history.

Those in attendance were not only treated to an elegant dinner and top-notch entertainment, but were also invited to bid on a number of silent and live auction items, including signed sports memorabilia, exclusive getaways and premiere golf packages.

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Why Sugar Makes Us Fat

“Eat less sugar.” We all know this basic guideline, as sugar has become Public Enemy Number One in our nation’s health problems. And yet, while that sounds simple on paper, cutting sugar out of our diets is tough. When the low-fat craze hit in the 1980s, manufacturers simply replaced the fat products with sugar. As a direct result, we’ve been steadily gaining weight as a nation, and finding it harder and harder to avoid sugar. Unfortunately, the simple truth is that sugar makes you fat, and here’s why.

What is a Sugar?

Sugar is the simplest form of carbohydrate, a type of organic molecule occurring in many foods. There are three varieties—glucose, fructose, and lactose. Table sugar (“sucrose”) and high fructose corn syrup are both nearly 50-50 mixes of glucose and fructose. The sugar found in fruits is primarily fructose, and lactose is found in dairy.

Other simple forms of carbohydrates, like the white flour used in most processed foods, are very quickly broken down in your stomach into glucose. In terms of your body’s response, there is very little difference between a handful of pretzels and a spoonful of sugar.

Insulin Response

Whatever the source, all sugars are converted to glucose and enter your bloodstream in that form. Glucose is often cited as your body’s preferred energy source because it’s so readily available, and can convert quickly into energy. Your brain does require glucose to function, as do all the other cells in your body.

However, your immediate-use fuel tank is very limited, and any excess glucose floating around in your bloodstream after your immediate needs are filled are put into your long-term primary storage facility—also known as your fat.

Before you even swallow a bite of sugar or other simple carbs, your brain begins preparations to process the sugars you are consuming. Enzymes in your stomach break it down into pure glucose, and it is released into your bloodstream. When the amount of sugar in your blood rises, insulin is released.

Insulin’s job is complex, but one of its main functions is to take any sugar that your body can’t immediately use—which will be most of it—and put it into your fat storage. The higher the dose of sugar or other simple carbohydrates, the more insulin is released and the more energy will be stored into fat. As you continuously eat high-sugar foods, insulin is continually present in your blood and is continually adding to your fat storage.

After all the sugar is stored away, insulin still remains. The higher the sugar burst, the higher the insulin spike and the more insulin remains after processing. Insulin wants a job to do, so the lingering excess causes you to become hungry again within a very short time, usually craving more sugar, so the insulin can be put to use. This is why you often feel hungrier after you eat a high-carb meal or dessert.

What’s even worse is that insulin inhibits your body’s ability to release stored fat. This means that even if you’re limiting your calories, eating a diet high in carbohydrates will thwart your efforts to lose body fat. If insulin is present, you won’t burn fat.

Even worse than making you deal with stubborn body fat, continuously high levels of insulin in the body can lead to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the cells become resistant to the insulin present. Therefore, the body needs to release even more insulin, and an even higher percentage of the blood sugar is stored into the fat.

To summarize: Eating sugar or simple carbs releases insulin proportional to how much you ate. Insulin puts the sugar into your fat storage, and makes sure no fat leaves storage. High levels of insulin over time can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Carbs and Weight Loss

The reason why low-carb diets work is that consuming fewer carbs allows your insulin levels to stay low. When insulin levels are low, your fat stores are not being built up, and you can even mobilize fat OUT of long-term storage. The added benefit is that when your blood sugar levels are kept even, you experience far less hunger and cravings, making it much easier to stick to your goals.

Certain extreme low-carb diets, such as Atkins, have left a dark stain on our collective understanding of “low carb”. The typical American diet is around 60% carbohydrate or more. Reducing that percentage can make a big difference in terms of weight loss.

But take note! As you reduce the percentage of carbohydrates, you will have a higher percentage of calories from fat. This is okay. Despite decades of being told fat is bad, current research has found unequivocally that consuming fats does not make you fat.

It may seem odd to replace the foods we typically think of as healthy, like whole grain breads and brown rice, with high-fat foods we’ve been taught to stay away from, like full-fat salad dressings and butter. But the only way to lose weight is to keep your carb intake low enough to keep your insulin low enough to allow the fat to be mobilized outward.

How low your carbohydrate consumption needs to be to allow that to happen depends on many factors, such as your current level of insulin resistance, weight, and genetic factors. Some people may be able to lose with only a minimal of carb cutting, others may need more severe cuts.

Good Carbs

As aforementioned, you brain and body does require glucose, and it is an important energy source. But you do not need to consume glucose to feed your brain; your body is highly skilled at creating the glucose it needs from more complex carbs, and even from fat. Sugar and processed grains are very small molecules, broken down into pure glucose nearly instantly.

This means that the sugar enters your bloodstream very quickly, and insulin spikes rapidly in response. However, carbohydrates are also present in fruits, vegetables, and dairy, in a much more complex form. This means the carbohydrate molecule is much larger and requires more time to break down and digest. Ultimately they do break all the way down to glucose, but this takes time and therefore the sugars enter your bloodstream much more slowly, meaning a much smaller dose of insulin will be released in response.

To use a metaphor, when you eat sugar and white flour, your insulin reacts like the scariest roller coaster at the amusement park: up fast, down hard, over and over. You get off feeling a bit dazed and shaky. Eating complex carbs is more like the little kiddie track rides, gently rolling along with a few little bumps. It’s an easy ride and you walk away feeling comfortable and stable.

If you’re trying to lose body fat, your best bet is to avoid sugar and simple carbs. If you need something less drastic, you can help even out the insulin response with food pairing. Fats, proteins and fiber digest very slowly.

Therefore, if you can’t give up your pasta, scale back on the amount of noodles and make sure to pair it with some good fats, protein, and fiber, like olive oil, chicken, and veggies. If pretzels and crackers are your go-to afternoon snack, scale back your portions of those and add in some hummus or guacamole to slow the digestion, increase fullness, and slow the release of insulin.

Our bodies are designed to love simple sugars. Thousands of years ago, when food was scarce, it was in our best interests to load up as much as possible on these things, which would be stored as fat to be used in lean times.

Unfortunately, now they are available at all times, and we never experience a famine period to use up that stored fat. Our sugar-loving bodies haven’t evolved much, but our understanding of how our bodies work has. Hopefully a little understanding of how sugar and other simple carbs affect you can help you chose to cut back, for the sake of your health.

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Nourishing Thoughts is written by Julie Miller, an expert on nutrition and fitness instructor at the C.W. Avery Family YMCA.

We all have a Y story to tell. Kevin Washington’s begins as a 10-year-old in an after school program at the Christian Street YMCA in south Philadelphia. His story continues as he steps into his role as the 14th President and CEO of YMCA of the USA. Watch the video above to hear Kevin’s story in his own words.

Sarah Porzel, the program and membership director for the new Morris YMCA, has set a lofty goal for 2015: To know each and every member’s name.

Sitting in her office, tucked away in the back of the Y’s aerobics room, she suggests her goal is almost complete and lets out a laugh—probably because the Morris Y, which opened just four weeks ago, already has 1,700 members (and counting).

But if anyone can do it, it’s Sarah, a self-described “Y Geek” who has plans for a lifelong career with the Y.

Sarah first got started with the Y during her time at St. Ambrose University in Iowa, where she had an internship at the Davenport YMCA. After earning a degree in physical education, she spent time at the LaGrange YMCA before finally settling in full-time with the Greater Joliet Area YMCA.

In under two years as the C.W. Avery Family YMCA’s youth and family coordinator, Sarah introduced a variety of new programs to the Y, while also taking the lead on summer day camp, one of the Y’s largest youth programs, as well as the Fab 50 Club, an increasingly popular social program for seniors. Then in December 2014, Sarah accepted her new role at the Morris Y.

“I got bit by the Y bug,” she says. “I get up everyday and I’m happy to go to work. I love who I work with. I love the members. I love that I get to come into work and not feel like I’m working.”

From Monday to Saturday, you can find Sarah at the Y. Sometimes, she mans the Membership Desk, interacting with members and answering questions. Other times, she stays behind the scenes, developing new programming for youth, teens, adults and seniors.

In fact, some of those programs are set to officially premiere at the Y next week.

“The fact that I can basically create these programs—ones that I always wished I had when I was little—and give them to the community is probably one of the best feelings in the world,” she says.

Starting February 9, the Morris Y will begin offering preschool programs such as “Tiny Tot Two’s” and “Fine Motor Fun,” among many others. Youth programs set to begin include “Lego Mania” and “Little Artists.”

The best is yet to come, however. Sarah says a lot more programs are in the works for 2015. While she didn’t dive into specifics, Sarah did mention that she just placed a big order for tumbling equipment.

“What we have going on here is pretty amazing,” she says.

With Sarah leading the way, we wouldn’t expect anything less.

Winter is the season for roots and other hearty vegetables, and there’s no better way to prepare them than roasting. It’s easy, delicious, and nutritious.

Why Roast?

Dry cooking methods like roasting allows the vegetables to retain more nutrients than steaming or boiling, where the water can leach away important vitamins and minerals. Tossed in a bit of olive oil prior to roasting, heart-healthy fats help make those veggies tastier and more fulfilling.

But perhaps the best reason of all is that roasting is delicious. That beautiful golden brown color that develops is the caramelization of natural sugars within, so it enhances the natural sweetness and adds a distinctive texture. Roasting also browns the proteins within, bringing forth a more complex flavor than wet methods can create.

Think you don’t like Brussels sprouts? Kids gag at cauliflower? Roast them, and they will be completely transformed from what you think you know.

What to Roast

Winter is the season for hearty roots and other tough vegetables, and these are perfect suited to the high temperatures of roasting. Any vegetable can be roasted, but the veggies available in winter are especially good. Try roasting familiar ones, like carrots and potatoes. Transform cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Rethink winter squashes and beets. Try something totally new like fennel or parsnips.

How to Roast

Roasting is about as simple as it gets:

• Get your oven to a very hot 450 degrees—this will get the sugars caramelizing on the outside.
• Get a nice flat baking sheet so the pieces can spread out. If they’re too close together or in a deep baking pan the hot air can’t get to each piece properly and they’ll steam instead. Line the pan with parchment to make clean up easier, but stay away from foil! It will interfere with browning and the foods will stick to it like crazy.
• Cut the vegetables into even-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
• Toss them in a bowl with a bit of good olive oil, and season liberally with salt.
• Spread them out on the baking sheet, being sure to leave plenty of open space. Use a second sheet if you’re making a lot—your efforts will be rewarded.
• Roast until browned on the outside and just cooked through, flipping or tossing at least once during the cooking time.

You can roast different vegetables at the same time, but it’s important to note that they may have different cooking times. Butternut squash is going to take a lot longer than broccoli, for instance. Refer to this handy roasting reference guide for prep tips and cooking times.

From simple to extravagant, roasting elevates plain ole vegetables into something special. Try your favorite vegetables in a new way. Or, be brave and give something you don’t particularly like another shot, and you may be surprised. Try sweet potato or butternut squash “fries” to up your kids’ veggie intakes. Get fancy with some brown butter and herbs—you can find plenty of elegant roasting recipes online. Crank that oven, brown up those veggies, and enjoy!

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Nourishing Thoughts is written by Julie Miller, an expert on nutrition and fitness instructor at the C.W. Avery Family YMCA.

On a cold December day, Cheryl Sanchez and her six-year-old son, Alex, an avid participant in YMCA swimming lessons, approached the Galowich Family YMCA Membership Desk with a donation.

The two of them decided to give half of their earnings from a summer 2014 lemonade stand to the Y. To Community Engagement Director Kate Nichols’ surprise, the donation totaled 76 dollars. The other half? That was donated to another nonprofit: The Guardian Angels.

“I’m always touched when children do selfless things and was so thrilled that Alex knows about the great work that we do at the Y,” Kate said.

The generosity of others is at the core of the Y’s existence as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. The Greater Joliet Area YMCA embraces the Y’s mission and furthers its cause thanks to the support of our members, staff, community partnerships, volunteers and generous donors. To learn how you can give to the Y, please click here.