Are Carbs BAD!?

I am going to do a podcast on this to really allow myself to go deep into this. I am at the cottage with $hit Internet so recording and uploading a podcast is out of the question. It takes 4 hours for a post to load

 

But inevitably when I talk about carbs there are people who have bought into the fear mongering of carbs.

 

First, I just want to say: The media used to believe fats were bad. Protein has been targeted. Now it is carbs.

 

Keep in mind there is big money in selling and producing keto, paleo, atkins, intermittent fasting, etc books, products, diets, pee tests strips if you are Keto.

 

Use discernment. Ask yourself "does this make sense?". 90% of the food related crap can be immediately cut out just asking ourselves that simple question.

 

And I just want to say: NO FOOD GROUP makes you gain weight!!! Over eating does.

 

You can gain weight on watermelon and broccoli (although it would take a higher volume to go over your calories ) just the same as you can rice and pasta.

 

Nutrition is critical to you living a vibrant life to your full potential. I heard Tony Robbins say "It is shocking how little people know about their food".

Agreed.

 

Carbs are needed, and in the right mix, to properly fuel your muscles, brain and to optimize training.

 

I know for myself when I was put on low carb diets in the past I had MAJOR BRAIN fog and low energy. Not to mention my hormones were out of whack and I was just a PEACH to deal with

 

But we look for so many other reasons, right? "I must be out of alignment". "My iron or B12 must be low", etc but when I look at someone's diet it is very clear the problem is not eating enough carbs (which often also shows up in low calories overall).

 

ESPECIALLY athletes, low carbs will create fatigue, reduced precision, lack of power and dead muscles.

 

If you always feel exhausted, if your muscles just always feel tired. I can nearly guarantee if I was to look at your meals you would be low carb.

So let's get into some fun facts, bullet point to keep it reading friendly, and I will dive deeper into this more in my podcast.

 

Carbs are the only fuel that can sustain moderate to high level effort that is required in most sports. I HIT A WALL dieting and training hard, which is why I picked the weight I am at and switched to an athlete diet. I went from 150 carbs a day to 450 overnight.

 

Carbs are the preferred fuel for the brain and central nervous system. Brain fog is very real on low carb Diets.

 

Research shows time and time again that muscle and whole body fatigue kick in when glycogen stores are low. Especially if you are an athlete the body simply cannot burn fat as rapidly as carbs so you are focused to slow your pace.

 

Diets rich in carbs increase your capacity to exercise longer before exhaustion and maintain your ability to sprint/ get a second wind, near the end.

 

For athletes: Carbs can maintain an optimal bioenergetic state, the balance between high energy creatine phosphate (PCr) and its breakdown products, in exercising muscles longer than fat can.

 

Research shows carb level in diet may effect your mood. But I mean, obviously, right? Researchers found those on low carb diets not only had their performance impacted but their mood as well, which can impact decision making, relationships, business, etc.

 

Determining carb needs

 

This isn't a blanket statement and is part of what I help my clients with from a nutrition standpoint.

 

It has several factors to take into account.

 

Body size

Fuel demands of your sport, if you are an athlete.

Training adaptation

Body composition goals.

 

I highly recommend, ESPECIALLY in the beginning tracking calories. Get over the whining of it being inconvenient. It is a way to properly fuel your body. It is a way to reach max vitality.

 

If you are an athlete also keep a training log. My high level athletes keep logs for both. Why? If we have their carbs at a certain amount and they feel tired, dead legged, or like a run wasn't what it should have been we can cross reference the two and adjust nutrition.

 

This was how I so quickly met my nutrition and training perfectly while maintaining my leanness.

 

It isn't by accident, by luck or because of good genes.

 

Grains vs fruit vs vegetables

 

I honestly get a twitch when I see people justify diets as being high carb because they have lots of veggies.

 

Your diet should have a mix of veggies (starchy & non starchy), fruit, whole grains and some processed carbs.

 

Say Whattttttttt.

 

This is probably where I will get the hate mail

 

ESPECIALLY post workout your meal should be quick digesting carbs and protein.

 

And not some bullshit quick digesting carb a company is selling you.

 

A bagel, low fat ice cream, white bread, etc.

 

For me I will eat my right arm off if I try to live off of veggies & beans as my carbs. My body simply DOES NOT operate correctly.

 

The diet industry would like me to believe I am just not disciplined enough.

 

The reality is sure, some athletes & peeps do fine eating mostly fruit, veggies, beans & nuts with few grains. NOT EVERYONE.

 

And a big problem I see in fitness groups is people telling others to stop complaining because they aren't low carb because they eat a ton of veggies.

Some bodies just do NOT operate on low grain diet.

 

Simple.

 

Listen to your body.

 

Whole vs processed

 

The American College of Sports Medicine concluded that focusing on whole grains was not a good idea for athletes because of the low energy density of whole compared to processed grains and that other whole foods made it more difficult for athletes to meet their energy and carb needs.

 

I mean, even myself. Hitting 450 carbs a day would literally be impossible eating beans and broccoli. Plus my gut would likely explode from all the damn fibre.

 

But you say "I am not an athlete"

 

1) I recommend everyone set physical goals, maybe not from day 1. That may be too overwhelming to take on a new lifestyle PLUS focus on weight loss PLUS a physical goal. But eventually set one. A 5k, a Spartan race, powerlifting, etc. You would be shocked at what this can do for all areas of your life. Plus focusing on the sport specific goal helps the body composition happen without you even noticing!!!!

 

2) Everyone needs to eat properly. Everyone. And I think mums chasing kids around probably could classify themselves as athletes!!

 

Gluten Free Diets

 

Unless you are Celiac or legit gluten sensitive (which very few people are, most just aren't understanding how to fuel themselves properly and eat foods that irritate them then blame gluten) there is no evidence of weight gain, reduced energy levels, or correlation to chronic disease from gluten.

 

Sooo what about keto?

 

I am not your girl to coach you on keto, intermittent fasting, Paleo, any of it because I don't believe in any of it.

 

Keto forces yourself into a state of ketosis and requires pee test strips to keep your body in ketosis.

 

There is very limited evidence to support that this is a good idea, especially for athletes, and the reality is fully adapting to a keto diet and maintaining it long term is a bit ridiculous. If ketosis isn't reached and maintained the body just won't adapt to using fat.

 

In my opinion keto isn't sustainable and does not provides enough proven benefits to justify this.

 

In my opinion why is it that people see fast results with it?

 

Carbs are calorie heavy. If you are eating like crap, with sky high calories, then suddenly cut out all carbs what will happen?

 

You will lose weight.

 

But what would happen if you tracked your calories, ate within 10-12x your body weight and kept carbs?

 

You would lose weight.

 

It is the same with intermittent fasting.

 

Sure, you could cut out the 400 calories from breakfast and lose weight and starve, I mean fast , for 16 hours. Or you can simply track your calories and remove 400 calories from the course of your day.

 

Do you NEED breakfast? I support the research that shows protein immediately upon waking. That is too long to get into here but I have tried skipping breakfast/ intermittent fasting in the past to see what it is about and get personal experience and my mood, performance, etc was negatively impacted.

 

The reality is no fad has increased weight loss benefits.

 

In fact, if you are an athlete these fads will more than likely have negative effects on your performance. If you are a normal human person they will have negative effects on your mood, energy, brain function, etc.

 

I have DANGEROUS CURVES AB & Butt Camp coming out in Sept which will include meal information.

 

I also have a plant based nutrition book coming out later this year with some surprises up my sleeve.

 

Or you can stop putting shit off and jump into my 1:1 personal training container and simply change your life NOW.

 

 

xoAE