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!