Posted on by Sabra

Lose and Maintain Healthy Weight With Carbs

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Did you know that you can lose weight and/or maintain a healthy weight and still eat carbohydrates? And, did you know that carbohydrates should be 45-65% of your daily calorie intake?

Whereas protein should only be 10-20% of your daily calorie intake and fat should be around 20-35%. As you can see, your carbs are pretty important for a balanced diet.

But everybody says you should cut carbs to lose 
weight, why is that?

Unfortunately, majority rules regardless of whether or not the tale is actually true, and carbohydrates are bad is a very commonly understood “fact”, that is in fact not a fact at all. 

When I studied for my personal training certification, the above percentages of daily calorie intake were in my textbook, and all personal trainers that are certified should have learned the importance of a balanced diet of carbs, proteins and fats.

The problem is, it’s such a common-knowledge statement: “cut carbs to lose weight”, that even the educated tend to jump on the bandwagon of no carbs.

The reason everybody says carbohydrates are bad is because (without further digging and true knowledge on the subject) it is understood that carbs are low in fiber; carbohydrates are linked to a lot of health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

This is partial truth. This statement is based on one side of the story. This side of the story is talking about a certain kind of carbohydrate. 

There are two different kinds of carbs. There are complex carbs and simple carbs. It’s important to understand the difference between the two before you throw out carbs in an attempt to lose weight.

Throwing all carbohydrates into the rubbish bin is like saying drinking is bad, and throwing water, soda and alcoholic beverages all in the same category.

Water is very healthy and the others aren’t. See the difference? This comparison may seem weird, but this is how drastic of a difference there is between good and bad carbs.

It’s not the carbs that are putting the fluff over your body, covering your gorgeous figure, it is the kind of carbs you eat and drink.

So let me make it simple for you. These are the carbohydrates that make you fat:

Simple carbs are:

  • White (table) sugar
  • Corn syrup
  • Candy
  • Ice cream
  • Cake
  • All baked goods with white flour
  • Bread with white flour (you should eat a lot of 100% whole wheat/grain bread!)
  • Pasta made with white flour
  • (Most) packaged cereals
  • ALL sodas
  • etc.

These are the carbs that don’t make you fat, the ones you need for energy and the ones that should be 45-65% of your balanced diet. Daily!

Complex carbs are:

Carbohydrates, at the chemical level, contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. And yes – they take the form of sugars,  starches and cellulose (fiber).

Your body needs sugar for energy and brain function.  Sugar is essential for your body to create energy to survive.

The catch is, it’s not necessary to include sugary foods (simple carbohydrates) or added sugars (again, simple carbohydrates) in the diet in order for your body to make energy. For our bodies to be healthy, we need to feed it healthy food, that includes healthy sugars. A diet with adequate complex carbohydrates (from  whole grains and legumes – list above) as well as foods containing natural sugar (fruit) will fulfill this role.

In conclusion, all the fun sugary sweet things we like to eat and drink, are the bad carbs.

Potatoes, pasta, whole grain bread, fruits, brown rice, etc. are the good carbs and will not make you fat nor should you take them out of your diet. You need these for fiber and energy!

If you’d like more information, please reach out. I am on Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.