One of the main reasons people gain excess weight is because of carbohydrates, or as we call them today, “carbs.” There are many other contributing factors to weight gain of course, but eating too many of the wrong carbohydrates can drastically increase your chances of becoming obese. Some people may get discouraged when they hear that they have to give up their carbs in order to lose the weight, because they automatically think that they will have to stop eating everything that has carbohydrates in it. This is far from the truth however, and you can still enjoy some delicious meals and snacks everyday – as long as you are eating the “good carbs.”
Many people do not know that there are two kinds of carbohydrates. There are the “good” carbs and the “bad” carbs. Bad carbs give you a burst of energy that fades much too fast, and ultimately leave you feeling more tired than you were before you ate. These carbohydrates also turn to sugar once inside of your body and cause you to gain excess weight. The good carbs are the ones that give your body the nutrients and long lasting energy that it needs to have a productive day.
:: The bad carbs are the ones that appear in foods such as potatoes, white bread products and sweets. Basically any food that makes you feel guilty about eating it! However, if you have committed yourself to a low carb diet, you can still eat these foods as long as you keep your consumption to a bare minimum.
:: The good carbs are typically found in foods such as vegetables like carrots, lettuce. Spinach, broccoli and cauliflower, and whole grains like brown bread, oatmeal and bran. Other foods that contain “good” carbs are fruits like blueberries, bananas and apples. Also, anything with a decent amount of fibre in it will be loaded with good carbohydrates. Fibre is the best kind of carb you can eat, and it will provide your body with enough energy to last you for hours of daylight. In fact, fibre is such a good carb, that the grams of fibre located in your food actually cancels out some of the “bad” carbs in the food you are eating! For example, if the nutritional information of the food you are eating says that it contains 30 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of fibre, you can subtract the 5 grams from the 30 grams and feel better because you are actually only eating 25 “bad” carbs.
If you want success with the low carb diet, you need to minimize your carb intake, but you also need to keep your body in a healthy balance. You may have some of the “bad” carbs once in a while, but be sure you eat in moderation. Of course, you can also overeat with the good carbohydrates, so you need moderation in this area as well. Also, no diet would be complete without exercise, no matter how much you dislike it! If you dread time at the gym, just try to remember that the good feeling that always comes after exercise will be worth the pain. Also, when you’re feeling down about not being able to eat as much of the food that you like, you can think about how you’ll feel when you step on the scale and find that you’ve lost a few pounds.
By: Boone Swann
