Eating Energy for Weight Loss: Carbohydrates

OK, we should all know it by now: your diet is the key to your weight loss.  Along with exercising, it is a tried and true way to achieve these types of goals.  Carbohydrates are kind of a big deal, even though they sometimes get a bad rap.  They do wonders for your body, and finding the right carbohydrates and steering away from the not so good ones will help you go in the right direction.

Your body needs energy to work, anything from performing daily functions like pumping blood, digesting food, moving around to meeting the demands you place on it during exercise.  The role carbs play in this production include providing nutrition that protein and fats cannot, keeping you feeling full, maintaining cellular fluid balance and spare protein breakdown for building muscle.  Carbs are the first nutrient the body uses for energy, and prefers to use it as much as it can.  They point fat and protein into use in the body, and even help to burn excess fat away.

So what makes a “good” carb?  Many have weighed in on this subject, and I’ll do the same.  Keep in mind that these points are for the general population, any special circumstances should be discussed with your medical provider or a registered dietitian.  A “good” carb should be complex in nature, or should have more than one benefit.  Whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables provide fiber as well, so those are on the good list for sure.  Yep, that’s right, vegetables are good sources of carbs.  As with all foods, the less processed foods tend to be better. Whole grain brown rice trumps white bread, and fresh apples beat canned fruit.

What about not-so-good “carbs?”  Processed foods like those I just mentioned are better than, say, a piece of cake, but still consider the value of what you’re eating.  I like to tell my clients that junk in equals junk out.  You will notice a difference in your energy levels if you have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast versus a blueberry muffin.  The muffin will be processed by the body quickly (think sugar rush) and if you haven’t used that energy, it will store it as fat just in case you don’t eat ever again.  Then you’ll be hungry again soon, adding insult to injury.

A quick word about high fructose corn syrup: it’s bad. And it’s everywhere.  Not only is it in sodas, but you can also find it in some yogurts (yes, yogurts), condiments like ketchup, store bought bread and some snacks.  The problem is that the body doesn’t recognize it as sugar, so it doesn’t release insulin to process it.  It just hangs out and basically gets turned to, you guessed it, fat.

Moral of this story is that carbohydrates are necessary and good for your body, so eat them, especially in the form of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.  Get that weight loss engine started!