Beginner’s Guide To Carb Counting
Losing weight can be difficult. There are various ways to approach it. Some people choose a traditional route of calorie counting. Others focus on eating healthier and cutting out food with added sugar and highly processed food. A third technique is carb counting. Calorie counting and carb counting are very similar. Many high-calorie foods, like those with added sugar, such as pastry, and products made with white flour, are often high in calories and carbs.
Carb counting is about focusing on macronutrients.
There are three groups of macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Most diets, including low-calorie and other traditional diets, usually allot the calories with 45 to 65% of carbohydrates. Low carbohydrate diets reduce that amount to 25% from carbohydrates and the rest from fat and protein. Extremely low carbohydrate diets or Keto diets cut that amount to as low as 10%. If you ate 2000 calories daily on a traditional diet, 900 to 1300 calories would come from carbs. In a low-carb diet, 500 calories would come from carbs. On a keto diet, only 200 calories would be from carbs.
Keto and low-carb diets should include healthy food.
You should include vegetables in your diet, even though they contain carbohydrates. The goal is to cut out highly processed food, food with added sugar, and starchy food that is high in carbs but contains few health benefits. It helps eliminate the consumption of simple carbs and focuses on eating complex ones that take longer to digest and are frequently higher in fiber. Fiber makes you feel full longer and reduces spikes in blood sugar. Low-carb diets also help train your body to burn fat.
Low carb diets offer other benefits besides weight loss.
You can use a low-carb diet to help control your cholesterol. It reduces the bad LDL cholesterol and increases the good cholesterol---HDL. It improves blood sugar levels and may benefit diabetics. Consuming higher amounts of protein fills you up and makes you feel full longer, which can help you eat less and stick with your diet. The increased protein also boosts your metabolism.
- The carbs you choose should be complex and higher in fiber. Beans, apples, and broccoli fit that description. Choose healthy sources of protein and fat like nuts, meat, fish, and avocados.
- One reason natural sugar doesn't spike blood sugar is the fiber. The fiber slows the absorption. Fruits and vegetables are in that category. Simple carbs include sugar and food with added sugar, like candy.
- You need to count the carbs in both your food and drink. Restricting carbs in food isn't enough. A soft drink, fancy coffee, or tea with added honey or sugar can dramatically increase carbohydrate intake.
- Always check with your healthcare professional before going on any new diet, especially if you already have health issues. Low-carb diets should contain healthy food and not be too restrictive.
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I commend people in Lakeland, FL, who push hard and exercise regularly. It's impressive when you stick with a schedule and keep your promise to get into shape or fine-tune your body when you're already fit. That doesn't mean you won't benefit from an occasional rest day. It's imperative if you're doing intense workouts. Constantly pushing too hard can make your goal more difficult to achieve. Sometimes, you need a rest day.
Science is constantly changing as more is known. Many studies of the past have proven wrong. At one time, eating too many eggs was considered unhealthy. Today, that's just one of the myths disproven by uncovering new information. The negative belief that eggs were unhealthy came from the cholesterol they contained. While they are higher in cholesterol, newer studies show that it doesn't affect the cholesterol levels of people who eat them. Eggs, especially eggs from pastured chickens, are incredibly healthy.
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