How To Eat Carbs And Still Lose Weight
Carbs! Everyone’s favorite topic. No more sugar they say! No more rice! Carbs have gotten a lot of bad press in the past but the truth is you need to eat carbs to maintain good health. Seeing young girls getting rid of carbs completely to lose weight is saddening. I’ve had friends who were avoiding carbs whenever they can to lose a little weight.
Yes they lost weight but it was so fast that they looked terrible after two weeks. More over, they weren’t satisfied with the results because they claimed to have gained all the weight back once they “touch” carbs. That my friends, is a short-term goal to lose water weight, not fat.
Honestly, It is great if they know how to do paleo (no carbs diet) or ketogenic diet (very low carbs diet) properly by fueling with other essential macro and micro nutrients. In reality they don’t know what they are doing except buying into lies from what they have heard.
It was affecting their mental health as well. The trick is eating the right carbs and avoiding the ones that add unwanted fat around your midsection and on other areas of your body. That means to get rid of refined carbs by tweaking replacing your daily meal with a better choice.
Here’s What You Need To Know:
First, you must understand that carbohydrates deliver essential fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants that your body needs to thrive. In other words, you really need to have carbs in your diet to remain in good health. Plus, carbs also are responsible for providing your brain with the fuel it needs to function properly.
That means drop carbs entirely from your diet and you may also find yourself having difficulty focusing mentally. On the physical aspect, to build or maintain muscle mass, you need to restore your glycogen. Hey, losing fat only makes you look really flat without having muscle.
It is not just for looks (although that is what we are aiming for) as we need it to decrease risk of physical injuries, slow down muscle loss as we age older and increase bone density.
So What Healthy Carbs Should You Eat?
The answer is you should consume complex healthy carbs, which usually come from high fiber foods. Complex carbs break down slowly in your bloodstream, giving you a steady blood sugar level throughout the day. This in turn makes you feel less hungry and irritable during those periods of the day when you might feel hungry – like mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
On the other hand, the carbs you want to stay away from are simple carbs. These carbohydrates are more easily broken down by the body which results in your blood stream being flooded with simple sugars (glucose).This in turn prompts a surge of the hormone insulin, which is needed to carry the glucose to the body’s cells.
The main result of all of this activity is that your blood sugar spikes, making you feel jittery. Unfortunately, your brain gets addicted to these high glucose levels and the feelings that accompany them and sends you running back to the fridge or the pantry every few hours for your next “fix” of bad carbs.
Over time, having high blood sugar and high insulin levels can lead to several bad side effects, such as:
- Greater fat storage
- Much less fat burning
- Then ultimately organ damage and even cancer
Clearly, bad carbs are nothing to mess around with. They can make you fat and they can make you ill – seriously ill in some cases. That means you should stay away (not entirely) from such bad carbs as:
- Refined grains (this includes white bread, white rice and enriched pasta)
- Processed foods (this includes cakes, candy, cookies and chips)
- White potatoes
- Sweetened soft drinks
- Sugar in general
It is fine to consume it once awhile or in moderation. There is limit to everything. However if you have a goal to achieve, then you should consider what you have been eating. Instead, fill your diet with these good carbs/complex carbs:
- Fresh fruit
- Non-starchy vegetables
- Non-gluten grains (buckwheat, millet, quinoa and brown rice)
- Nuts
- Legumes
- Non-pasteurized dairy products (yogurt, kefer and butter)
Conclusion
If you have eaten the wrong carbs in the past and, as a result, have weight that you want to lose now … one way to do that is to go on a diet that focuses on your hormones – specifically insulin and three other hormones that have been shown to play a vital role in weight gain and weight loss.
Honestly, diet does not have to be bad. In fact you can eat right and feel good when you have proper meal planning.