Carbs

Something that comes up often in conversations with others is goals and accomplishments.  This conversation is a good one to have with yourself, and with someone else you are being accountable to.  We all know that having someone to be accountable to is a great idea and will help you accomplish your goals with your “diet”  (For the record, I hate that word, dieting is a fad, lifestyle change is what we should strive for.)  But for the sake of this article, we will use that horrible, terrible word as a catch-all for what you’re doing.

First, it is not reasonable to expect busy adults to actually count calories or measure out grams of protein or carbs or fats.  If you have time for that, then more power to you.  Most people will not take that kind of time to do that, they will want something that fits into their lives without actually disrupting their lives on such a scale.  Now, that is not to say that you need to just throw caution to the wind and eat whatever you want, but it’s less stressful than you think it is.  Here’s how:

• Start reducing your fast carbs that do not accomplish anything.  By these I mean the following, and in this order:  White Bread, White Rice, Bleached Grain products (think pastas), White Potatoes, Whole Wheat Bread, Heirloom Grains, Brown Rice, Whole Grain Breads, Whole Grain products (think whole grain pastas), etc.  The reason to remove these and in that order is simple.  White Bread has little to no nutritional value.  They fortify it during the process of making it, prior to the baking process (which basically extracts all the fortified nutrients that they add) and it has little nutritional value.  Basically, if you take a small piece of white bread and chew it up, and then chew it a little longer, you will notice that it will get sweet in your mouth, there is a reason for that.  It’s basically sugar.  Also, if you eat white bread now, switch to wheat bread.  It is not perfect and if you could greatly reduce bread in general, that would be better, but switching from a “white” grain to a colored grain is a start.
• Increase the colored carbs that you don’t think about.  Vegetables are carbs.  That is true, but the amount of fiber in most vegetables neutralizes the carb load you experience when you eat them.  For example, look at a carrot.  People will scream about the amount of sugars in a carrot, forgetting that it digests so slowly due to the fiber that your insulin response can easily respond in such a way that you do not immediately store it as fat.  Vegetables are also your best source of overall nutrition in your diet.  If you are being encouraged to eat fewer vegetables and you are over the age of 30, you need to question this.  Lettuce, spinach, kale, broccoli, celery and cauliflower are very close to calorie-even when you get down to it.
• Satiety is the most important factor to a successful food plan, regardless of how complex or simple it is.  If you are hungry all the time, you will stray.  The importance of being able to eat without it feeling like a task is the key.  You can do this by eating protein throughout the day, but more importantly, keep your stomach full and you will be happy.  The easiest way to do this is to drink a lot of water.  I am not saying replace your meals with water, that is crazy.  But if you drink water throughout the day, your stomach will stay full and you will have better success.  Eating vegetables throughout the day is also helpful.  I get funny looks all the time at work for my “garden bin” that stays out at my desk for the whole night.  It is a 1/2 gallon plastic container that I fill with mini-peppers, carrots, celery and whatever.  I snack on it the whole night.
• Most importantly there is a key thing to remember.  You are going to stray.  You are going to pass up someone who has a container of chocolate covered something or other and have a couple.  Don’t beat yourself up about it.  It is not the end of the world.  Look at everything else you changed in the day.  If you eat a crapload of veggies during the day, your body has already won the battle.

The important thing about what you are doing is that you are consciously trying to increase your health.  Contrary to what articles say the research out there supports health over weight loss.  Firstly, one leads to the other, that is a fact.  If you replace McDonald’s’ with celery, you are going to lose weight.  But more importantly, you are going to have a few positive changes that will occur.  You will get nutrients that your body craves.  You will get the fiber your body craves.

Second, nobody wants to take the time to measure things out and do complex calculations about glycemic index and glycemic load to figure out what the best thing to do is.  An easy way to look at it, taking protein as the example, is this:  If you are not trying to be a body builder in your spare time, you are probably taking in too many carbs and too much protein.  When you look at a chicken breast that you just cooked, there you go.  Not two, not three, not a small bite of another one.  Just that one.  When you are given a choice between the 1/2 pound burger and the 1/3 pound burger, choose the smaller one.  Then don’t put bacon on it.  These are the kind of things that are easy to do.  Sensible even.  Better yet, split it with someone else at the table that way you can get the big burger and add the bacon to it.  Don’t get fries, get a salad.  Don’t drink soda, better yet, drink water.  You have just taken a carby-meat meal of about 1200 calories and changed it to about 450 calories and you did not suffer any kind of loss or denial of what you think you crave.  My wife would kind of chuckle when we went to a steak house because I would order a steak and two house salads.  What?  I like salad and I did not want a potato.  4 years ago, it would have been different, but now, I crave salads.  Simplify things in your “diet” and you will find that you make better food choices.

Third, I will always argue that you should be eating for health and not for any other reason.  There are lots of terrible ideas out there that are there to take money and self-esteem away from people.  If they are eating a food plan that subscribes to a food plan and does not subscribe to a lifestyle change, they are barking up the wrong tree.  If you do not change your habits, change your ideas and change your lifestyle, you will not achieve what you are trying to achieve in your goals for your body.

As always, if you have questions or comments please comment below.  If you need help with these types of choices and decisions, we run an all online class that lasts 12 weeks and starts every 2 weeks.  If you need help, it’s here.