Don’t Cut The Carbs
I remember being fresh out of high school entering my first year of college. I was getting more serious about my fitness, working out consistently with Shaun T Insanity DVD workouts. Ohh those were the days. I remember those days and even for a bit after college that I thought carbs were my enemy. I was following what even my mom and friends did and cut carbs out of my diet, whether it was getting on low-carb diet, Keto diet, Atkins diet, and all the others just to name a few.
Went months at a time not enjoying my favorite bread, pasta, rice, ohhh all the carbs I am naming. The thing is when I was reunited with these specific carbs it was like I couldn’t stop stuffing my face in them, which then followed with guilt and the never-ending cycle of feeling I was never going to reach my goal.
Fun fact: I eventually did reach the goal of the weight I desired from cutting out my favorite carbs with a combination of hours of exercise in a single day. The result was consistent fatigue, which then turned made me ask why isn’t my muscles growing or becoming stronger?! To eventually the breaking point of “Wow I reached my goal and I am still pick-pointing my body and I am hungry at the gym once again ☹️”
My 3 and half hour workout at the gym will usually consist of a pre-workout snack of either an apple, protein shake, or banana with PB. At the time I really thought I could still grow a dump truck that way.
The thing is Carbs are not the enemy they are actually our body preferred food choice for a source of energy. Just 130 grams of carbohydrates alone is needed for brain function daily!
Now take a moment to reflect on a day where you had very little carbs in your body, where you fatigue, moody, not energized for work, when you went to the gym felt weak and not in the head game for your workout?
You see carbohydrate is needed to get us through the DAY and NIGHT. As our body preferred energy source, according to the acceptable macronutrient distribution range for carbohydrate, should make up of about 45% to 65% of our daily calories. As mentioned earlier that 130 grams is the minimum of carbohydrate that the recommended dietary allowance suggested for brain function; however, for energy maintenance for your today’s on the go individual needs more than 130 grams of carbohydrates.
For instance, let’s take about 325 grams of carbohydrates that an individual consumes that’s about 1,300 calories alone in carbohydrates. However, this person is using this carbohydrate as a food source to get her going through her morning routine, work day, cleaning the apartment, workout, and any other tasks to give her energy for the day.
Finding the right amount of carbohydrate for your unique body needs depends on several factors such as gender, total daily energy expenditure, and even environmental conditions to maintain blood glucose during exercise. Which could feel at first a little blehhh to take in 😕 and doing your best to understand what all of this means to answer the question we at all one point may have asked ourselves, “how much should I eat and where do I even begin”
Let me simplify it for you, start small. Let’s start with breaking the misconception that carbohydrate is bad for your health and waistline. One my favorite examples to share is take two medium apples and an 16oz Coca-Cola Soda, both have the same amount of carbohydrate. Yet, the two medium apples is providing more minerals, nutrients, and vitamins, making it overall nutrient dense. Compared to the Coca-Cola which has a higher glycemic load, meaning it enters the bloodstream rapidly causing large glucose spike.
It’s all about the TYPE of carbohydrate you decide to fuel your temple with.
Lately, it seems popular to hear and say, “I need to lose 10 pounds I am going to cut out carbohydrates” I mean yes, cut out the white rice, the white bread, the refined carbohydrates and replace it with the brown rice, whole grain bread, sweat potatoes, veggie pasta - it all goes back to the TYPE of carbohydrate one decides to fuel their body with.
There’s so many fun and healthy alternatives, cool ways to turn your favorite dishes into a healthier and better versions that will keep you energized, reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.
Each day one gets to choose how to fuel their temple - from food, television, music, and people. Each day you get to choose wisely. Choose one that leaves you feeling good but never feel the need to restrict yourself to many tasteful options for your palate to experience.
If there’s anything I truly want you to get out of this message is there’s really no need to cut out carbs from your life and never enjoying your favorite pizza again. But please never eat less than 130 grams of carbs ever again.
I hope you find this information useful and if you’re looking for guidance in nutrition coaching be sure to set up a consultation call for more info on my 1:1 coaching services
Xoxo,
Coach Ilia Maria 💋
