Tag Archives: carbs

Carbs are not the enemy!

Sep 7 2012
Posted on September 7, 2012 by Your Host, Gina

As you hopefully know by now, after reading my article on carb cycling and hearing me talk about carbs in my diet, carbs are not the enemy. You just need to choose the right kinds, at the right time of day, and utilizing the carb rotation or cycle and you should NOT avoid them! They should be your best friend, not enemy! Why would something that gives you energy be an enemy?

People are often surprised at how simple it is: choose natural carbs over processed carbs that are loaded with sugar!!

Natural or complex carbs are anything picked from the ground or the tree is natural, such as fruits and veggies, potatoes and yams, beans, brown rice, oats, etc. And anything processed should be limited or avoided, such as white bread and pasta, chips and crackers, pretzels, etc. Basically my rule of thumb is anything white! (that means sugar and flour, etc.) If you stay away from those two things, you are on your way to success!

I want to mention one thing about The Glycemic Index (GI) that can be a little misleading. The GI ranks foods based on how much the blood sugar increases after it is consumed. The higher the number on the GI scale, the greater the increase in blood sugar. When blood sugar goes up, insulin levels rise. And because high levels of insulin are associated with increased fat storage and suppressed fat burning, it is said that eating high GI foods can make you fatter than eating low GI foods. This is all fine and dandy and definitely true but it is based on those carbs being eaten by themselves and or on an empty stomach. I always recommend you eating carbs with some type of lean protein in order to lose fat most efficiently. This is mostly what we do but just to reiterate its importance. Hence, oatmeal and egg whites or brown rice and lean protein. Most of our meals do contain at least two macro nutrients so we don’t have to worry too much.

A sample of this food combining can be seen in this example. A potato rates high on the GI but if you combine it with a lean protein, the GI of the combination is much lower than the potato by itself!

Needless to say, when you combine a protein source with the meals you eat carbs and you eat frequently throughout the day, like you should for fat loss, the GI becomes insignificant.

So, instead of focusing on using the Glycemic Index as the criteria for choosing your carbs, focus more on what type of carbs, when you are eating them and your carb rotation/cycle program.

MOST OF ALL, DON’T BE AFRAID OF CARBS because NOT ALL CARBS ARE CREATED EQUAL!

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Food Find: Julian Bakery Carb ZERO Bread

Apr 24 2012
Posted on April 24, 2012 by Your Host, Gina

Yes, you can have your bread and eat it Too & STILL reach your goals with this Carb Zero Bread! Loaded with 9 grams of protein, zero net carbs and only about 50 calories per slice!!

            Because of its high fiber content, oat fiber is equal in both fiber and carbs; canceling out those pesky carbohydrates to create a rich and fiber hearty bread that won’t raise your blood sugar.

So what IS in CarbZero Bread?

Carb Zero is a blend of Purified Water, Certified Gluten Free Oat Fiber, Psyllium, Egg White Protein, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, and a pinch of baking soda.

-gluten free
-yeast free
-sugar free
-dairy free,
-soy free
-gmo-free
-guilt free and Gina Approved!! 

INGREDIENTS:

Oat Fiber—Oat fiber is high in fiber, low in cholesterol, and has no affect on blood sugar. Additionally, our oat fiber is made with certified organic, gluten-free, non-GMO oats, making it the perfect addition to any gluten-free diet.  Studies also show that beta-glucan that is in Oat Fiber has beneficial effects in diabetes as well. Type 1 & 2 diabetes patients given foods high in this type of oat fiber had stabilized blood sugars throughout the day. That’s why Carb Zero bread is ideal for diabetics and all customers in the morning as it can help them all day long.

Psyllium— Derived from plants, psyllium has extremely high fiber content, and several studies have indicated that a diet containing fiber from psyllium lowers cholesterol. In fact, research also indicates that “psyllium incorporated into food products is more effective at reducing blood glucose response than use of a soluble-fiber supplement that is separate from the food.” What does this mean for you? Benefits from fiber for your stomach, and the added potential of some assistance to your blood too, making psyllium an ideal fiber to shape and mold a flat stomach.

Egg White Protein—Looking to build lean muscle while knocking out fat? Then this is the bread for you with 9g of protein per slice derived from egg white protein for maximum muscle building potential. Egg whites contain no fat or carbohydrates. Additionally, egg white protein is labeled a “high quality protein,” meaning that it is “rate well on the PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score)—the most accurate measurement of a protein’s quality.” Having trouble digesting traditional proteins? Egg white protein is one of the easiest to digest—making this high protein bread an easy way to meet your protein needs.

Olive Oil— The health benefits of moderate olive oil consumption are bounding. From potentially lowering cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, blood sugar, and insulin level control; the natural olive oil in CarbZero adds a rich and flavorful layer of texture. Rich flavor, and health benefits? Sounds good enough—but there’s more! During research, olive oil consumption has also been linked to colon cancer and heart disease prevention.

Comes in Regular OR Cinnamon and can be found at www.JulianBakery.com.

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Carbs and Carb Cycling

Oct 18 2011
Posted on October 18, 2011 by Your Host, Gina

Are you experiencing a fitness “plateau”? First of all, I do not believe in plateau’s but rather believe that plateau’s are due to a lack of consistent change in your program. Our bodies are very smart and adapt to whatever it is we do. It is essential to constantly create change in your routine and program. If you don’t constantly create this change, not only will your body adapt but you will get bored and lose motivation to keep moving forward. Consistency is absolutely key but consistently changing, within that consistency, is going to be the ticket to success. If you have been on a program that tells you to do and eat the same things, day in and day out, that may be where you are experiencing this “plateau”. It may be that your body has adapted or the fact that you are just flat out bored with what it is you have been consistently doing. Maybe it is time to change things up and find something that is going to offer you constant change. Change will not allow your body or your mind to adapt to any one thing and therefore keep your body responding and your mind fresh and motivated! How do you create constant change in your fitness program? One way can be done through cycling your carbohydrates. This is a sure way to keep your body guessing and consistently changing things up with your nutritional program. The first thing though is to NOT be afraid of carbs and to trust in the carb cycling program. Maybe you are afraid of carbs and have been following a very low carb program for several weeks, months or maybe even years. This may be where your “plateau” is coming from. Do you see the lack of change and the problem here. The problem is not the carbohydrates but the lack of change in any program, with or without carbohydrates. If you decided to follow a low carb program, it most likely worked for you, for the first several weeks or even months, but then there became a time where your body adapted and the low carbohydrate program wasn’t working anymore. How could this be? This is due to the lack of Change! The low carbohydrate program worked, at first, because it was Change to your body and a shock to your system. Then all the sudden, your body learns what it is you are doing and adapts. Adaptation is something we have been experiencing from the beginning of time and evolution. It is a scientific fact that adaptation takes place and occurs in mother nature and within ourselves. You have to keep things changing to ensure your body and mind don’t adapt. In essence, it is constantly tricking your body so it does’t have time to adapt.

Once you become fearless and start to understand and are willing to trust in carbohydrates, you are ready to start cycling. Are you ready for the challenge? Carbohydrate cycling is constantly changing your amounts of carbohydrates from day to day. It is shifting your ratio of carbohydrates to fats throughout your weekly program. Maybe you lower your carbs for 1-2 days and then bringing your carbs back up for 2-3 days, instead of just keeping your carbohydrate ratios the same every day. Not only does this cycle allow the constant change we need to keep responding to any program, but carbohydrate cycling helps your body to burn more fat, making your body go to other fuel sources, such as stored fat, for energy. On the higher carbohydrate days, your body is able to replenish your glycogen stores (stored energy) and then replenishes your carbs. This keeps your body guessing, metabolism revved up and most of all, keeps your body responding which has a direct result to your motivation and commitment to your program. After all, who wants to follow a program where they are not seeing results and are doing the same thing day in and day out?

Carbohydrates are essential to our nutritional programs and are what provide our bodies with energy and quick go to fuel. The key is getting in good, wholesome, healthy, complex carbs. Those include foods such as brown rice, quinoa, whole grains, oatmeal, yams, sweet potatoes, etc. Basically think of things that are not enriched or processed. Another rule of thumb is to stay away from anything that is white, including white sugar and white flour. If you are new to your fitness routine, those are good basic rules of thumb to go by and will take you far!

When starting a carb cycling program, it is important to play around with different numbers and see what works best for you. Every person is different in their goals, body composition, metabolism, activity levels, genetics, etc. so things are not black and white, in term of what your carb counts should be. Now what is black and white is that constant change is going to help you avoid those “fitness plateaus” you may be experiencing. Remember those are not plateaus but rather lack of attention to constantly changing things up! It is time to make the change and start to play with your nutrient ratios. You need to start with some numbers and play with those amounts to find what works best for you. Maybe you decide to start with 100 grams of carbs on low days and simply doubling that amount to 200 grams of carbs on high days. That gives you a place to start and a place to go. Pay attention to how your body is feeling. If you are lacking in energy and feeling very weak, you may need to increase your healthy carbohydrate intake. On the flip side, if you have plenty of energy but are not seeing any fat loss results, pay with your ratio by slowly decreasing your carbs on both your low and high days.

Don’t be afraid to try different things and find what works for you. Changing things up, whether it’s your nutrition or your workouts, is always a good way to stir up your metabolism and keep things fresh and exciting! A few tips to think about before you begin to consider starting a carb cycling program.

TIPS:
-Give yourself a few weeks with the carb quantities you set up to see how your body responds and if and how you need to tweak your carb intake.
-Not only can you change your carbohydrate intake throughout the week, with high/low days, but you can tweak the amount of high and low days. For example you can do 2 days low, 1 day high or 3 days low and 1 day high, or even as simple as every other day changing between high and low.
-Constantly change the types of carbohydrates you intake. Not only does your body get use to carb counts it also can get use to the types of carbs you are eating. If you are an oatmeal lover, try not to eat oatmeal at every meal. Change things up and have oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, yams, etc.
-Give yourself time and be patient with the process.
-Listen to your body. If you feel weak and have low energy, you need to trust that your carb amounts may be too low for you. Take note on how you feel and use that as your determining factor in how you set up your carb cycling program.
-Have fun with your program and see this as an opportunity to learn more about yourself.
-Remember key times to eat your carbs. You definitely want to have your carbs for breakfast, pre and post workout!
-Cater your higher carb days on the days you exert more energy and are more active. Consider your lower carb days on the days you take off from working out or have lower intensity workouts.
-It is important to remember to remember your fats, good fats that is, on your lower carbohydrate days, having higher fat days on the lower carb days and lower fat days on your higher carbohydrate days.
high carb=lower fats
lower carb=higher fats

Remember carb cycling is one of several ways to change things up in your current program. Change is key in all areas of your fitness routine. Eeveryone is different so it is important to play around with your nutrients, give yourself time, be patient in the process and keep things ever changing!!

Don’t forget to read or re-read a past article on CYCLING YOUR CARBS!

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Mochi

May 12 2010
Posted on May 12, 2010 by Your Host, Gina

Untitled from Gina Aliotti on Vimeo.

What is Mochi?

Mochi is a nutritious bake-and-serve rice snack made from whole grain brown rice. Mochi is all-natural and without additives, preservatives or colorings. It’s also wheat-free and gluten-free. Mochi can be eaten in a variety of ways. Just cut into 1-1/2″ squares and bake in a pre-heated 450° F oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch them puff up before your eyes!

When done, they’re brown and crispy on the outside with a chewy interior. Eat Mochi puffs plain, or with dips or fillings of your own choosing. Mochi can be baked, pan-fried or added to soups just before serving. Mochi also makes great waffles!

Mochi comes in eight delicious flavors: Raisin-Cinnamon, Sesame-Garlic, Super Seed, Chocolate Brownie, Cashew-Date, Original, Wheatgrass with Mugwort, and Pizza.

How is Mochi Made?

Glutinous brown rice is steamed and then mashed and extruded. Customarily, the Japanese pound the steamed rice with wooden mallets in large wooden mortars.

After the soft Mochi comes out of the machine, it is flattened and allowed to cure. Mochi gradually hardens but becomes soft and edible again when you take it home and bake it.

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week of show carb q&q

Nov 17 2009
Posted on November 17, 2009 by Your Host, Gina

Q: when on your last week of prep what carb do you prefer to go up on the last days?
Example W,thurs.fri.? Sweet potatoe, rice cake, oats or brown rice

A: This is a good question but not an easy answer. Everyone is so different and it depends on your body and how it responds to each carb, just like fats and proteins. The time leading up to a show, you learn what sits well and what doesn’t. Some people do really well with oats and rice and not so well with the starchier, potato type carbs like sweet potatoes and yams. You want to find the carb that sits well with your tummy and doesn’t bloat you. For me it is all about the oatmeal. I love oats and they sit nice and tight in my stomach without feeling bloated. It really is trial and error. Rice cakes are super light in my stomach too. Also, because you cut back on water, the drier foods such as dry oats or rice cakes tend to soak up extra water in your body, rather than the yam/sweet potato and rice that carry water.

On another note, I do not play too much with my carbs the last week. I keep things pretty consistent. Some people do better with adding a few extra fats and staying away from the carbs and others vice versa. Again, it just depends on your body and how you respond to different foods but also where your physique is at, at that time.

Wish there was a more specific answer to your question but it is all so variable!

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fat and carbs q&a

Oct 29 2009
Posted on October 29, 2009 by Your Host, Gina

Q:
I’ve read this before about combining fat with carbs and I’m just curious what the reason is behind this.

*Meal composition– low-fat, high-carb meals are most effective at raising both insulin and leptin. You don’t want to combine a lot of fat with your carbs!

A:

Great question and there is lots of research on this. The basic idea is that you don’t want fat floating around the body when you have a high carbohydrate meal. Since a high carb meal will spike insulin, the insulin will then drive the fat into fat stores and you can then potentially drive the fat into the stores and stored as body fat. Fat, since it causes little, if any insulin spike, is diet friendly since without the insulin spike it’s very hard to store fat. The amount and potential to store fat depends on how much fat depends on how saturated your glycogen stores already are. There are so many variables depending on your diet, what you ate that day, the day before, exercise etc. Keep in mind, if you are following a specific program and have your calories in check, then the fat and carbohydrates together are going to be mot as detrimental and can are less likely to cause the storage of body fat but do you want to take that risk. I would rather stay on the safer side, myself so I always try to think about my food combinations. Remember not to be afraid of fat as you do need your healthy fats for the hormonal benefits and to keep things in balance but just be smart about when and how much you take in.

Everyone is different so people are able to play with nutrient combinations so I would keep a journal and see how things go for you! :)

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Gina Aliotti on Diets

Oct 12 2009
Posted on October 12, 2009 by Your Host, Gina

Setting up an entire diet based on percentages doesn’t really have any relevance to what that person actually needs. To me a diet based on percentages is old school and everybody’s diets should vary based on their activity and bodies!

A diet consisting of 30% protein may be too little for someone who works out 7x/day or is pre- contest or in the building phase, trying to gain muscle. On the other end, someone who is not working out hard may not need a ton of protein. Everyone is different and require different amounts of proteins, fats and carbs. I believe in constantly changing your ratios on a daily basis not following a set dietary program based on rations such as 40/40/20. It is also about trial and error and what works for your bodies needs.

Additionally, many diets are often slapped with a “high carb” or “high fat” label whenever a specific macronutrient is over a certain percentage. Keep in mind it is more about the type of carbs, proteins and fats that you eat rather than the amount. I could tell you to eat 20% fat but you need to be eating the right kind of fat. Not 20% saturated or trans fat. You may know the difference but not the average person who is told to eat 20-30% fat.

My dietary programs are not based on percentages or numbers but constant changing ratios of the macro and micronutrients. Save your mental energy for other things than adding up the calories, carbs, proteins and fats! We can easily get tripped up over numbers so my advice is to avoid numbers!! Learn from living, experimenting and taking notes but don’t focus on numbers! It is not realistic or practical!
-G

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