Carbohydrates are needed for the body to produce energy. Even if you are trying to lose weight you cannot treat carbohydrates as if they were your enemies.
They play an integral role in your energy production that fuels you to exercise and go about your daily activities in life. You just need to make sure you eat more complex carbs and less refined carbs.
According to Mackie Shilstone, the author of “The Fat Burning Bible”, refined carbohydrates such as pasta, white bread and white rice are quickly converted into simple sugars within the body. These sugars are then easily absorbed and converted into fat.
Complex carbohydrates on the contrary contain fibers. They help slow down digestion and prevent insulin spikes caused by eating too much refined carbohydrates. Fiber also prevents body fat storage.
When choosing the sources of your carbohydrates, knowing their glycemic index (GI) determines how your blood sugar will react to them. Low GI diets are associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, depression, chronic diseases and cancer. Eating foods that rank low in their GI values will help you lose weight in the healthiest possible way.
Below are some of the strategies for facing carbohydrates to help you lose weight faster and healthier.
Carbs At Breakfast
It is important to jumpstart your metabolism for the day by eating the right foods in the morning.
Your breakfast should contain carbohydrates and protein. You can eat more carbs in the morning as your body has just gone through a fasting state from sleeping for hours. You will need to uptake your carbs in the morning as you are more likely to utilize them for energy later on in the morning.
Choose low-glycemic carbohydrates to provide your body with a gradually distributed energy all throughout the morning. Oatmeal topped with fresh fruits is a great example of a low-glycemic breakfast.
Protein At Every Meal
Insulin does not only regulate your blood sugar, it is also responsible for your fat storage. By adding 20g to 30g of protein to each of your meals, your body will naturally reduce the release of insulin and prevent weight gain. You can source protein from lean meats. Since lean meats require more calories to be digested, they provide a thermic effect in the body.
Stagger Your Carbs
Some people have a metabolism fast enough to eat carbohydrates at every meal and still slim down. But if your metabolic rate is naturally slower, you can benefit more from skipping carbohydrates every other meal.
By staggering carbohydrates, your body will dip into your fat stores for energy thereby making you lose more body fat. It is up to your to either skip on carbohydrates at every meal or simply replace them by adding more proteins to make sure that you are hitting your daily calorie requirement.
Taper Your Carbs
As mentioned earlier, staggering your carbohydrates can help you lose weight. However, some people need the extra boost to actually lose excess body fat. Tapering your carbohydrates on your meals will help you lose weight faster.
For example, you may choose to reduce your usual serving size of carbohydrates. You may also experiment on when to reduce your carbohydrates to see what works best for you in terms of losing weight without feeling like you have no energy.
No Carbs For Dinner
Since you are about to end your day and will be sleeping soon, your body does not require the same amount of energy as it does when you wake up in the morning. You can still enjoy some carbohydrates for dinner but you need to make sure they are low in their glycemic index.
If you truly want to see good results, try to eliminate carbs for dinner. Never eat bread, pasta or rice in the evenings again. Choose vegetables that have the lowest amounts of carbohydrates and get some healthy fats from olive oil, fish, nuts, seeds and avocados. They will help stabilize your blood sugar and prevent you from midnight snacking.
Wise Midnight Snacking
Staying up late to finish a presentation for work or finishing a paper for school can make you feel hungry. And yes, hunger can sometimes get in the way of an optimal cognitive function. If you truly wish to snack at the wee hours of the night, make sure to snack on lean proteins, vegetables and nuts.
You can munch on carrot sticks or a palmful of almonds. If you must take in carbs, choose fruits like watermelon, avocados or berries. They are low-glycemic and have a fat-burning effect in the body.
If you truly want to keep the weight off, you still need to incorporate some carbohydrates in your diet. Though cutting them off will help you rapidly lose weight, it will not help you stay slim for the longer term.
According to Dr. Darwin Deen, a senior attending physician at Montefiore Medical Center’s Department of Family and Social Medicine, New York, the problem with a low-carb diet or no carb diet is that they do not provide the correct physiological nutritional balance.
As soon as you start introducing carbs to your diet again, your body will immediately replenish carbohydrate stores and the lost weight you have worked so hard for will come back.
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