Sep 10
14
Good Carb, Bad Carb!
Probably the most difficult (and most confusing) part of trying to reach your fat loss fitness goals is understanding proper nutrition and having the discipline / internal strength to stick to your meal plan.
**NOTICE** – If you’re on a “diet”, you need to get off of it immediately and get on a sound meal plan. If you’re on a “diet”, you’ve already conceded to yourself and everyone else that it’s not something that you’re going to stick with for the long-term. And without knowing it, you’ve also conceded that you’re willing to return to where you are right now a few weeks or months after your “diet” is over. NOT a good idea … AND a waste of time.
So if you’re like most, you’ve probably given various “diets” a shot and they haven’t worked. You may think they have worked, but I’m telling you that they haven’t. Any type of meal plan that helps you to lose they weight, but then ends in you putting the weight back on is a huge failure. I always get a kick when prospective clients say something like, “Well, I did the South Beach Diet and it worked really, really well, but I put the weight back on once I went off of it.” I quickly tell them that clearly the diet DIDN’T work, or they wouldn’t be sitting face to face with me talking about how we can get them into better health.
Anyway, probably the most confusing part of the macro-nutrients is carbohydrate. Protein is complicated, but for the most part, people get it. They understand why they need to eat protein and when they need to eat it.
Carbohydrates are complicated because people don’t understand which types to eat. Is it high glycemic index carbs, or low glycemic index carbs? What is the glycemic index? When should you eat carbs? Should you avoid carbs?
Everyone needs to eat carbs. They’re a prime source of energy and without them, you’re going to be sapped for energy throughout your day and especially during your workouts.
WHAT ARE HIGH & LOW GI CARBS
The glycemic index (GI) is, put simply, a measure of how quickly a carbohydrate turns to sugar in your blood. The quicker it turns to sugar, the higher its GI. When a carbohydrate turns to sugar in your blood, it produces a spike in insulin levels in your blood. This is bad, especially at night, because insulin is the fat loss halting hormone that tells your body to store fat, not burn it!
What you want to do is consume low GI foods that will turn to sugar in your blood slowly, keeping your insulin levels normal to low, giving your body the optimal chance to burn stubborn fat.
Some examples of great, low GI foods include:
- Raw/Boiled Carrots
- Broccoli
- Green Beans
- Red Peppers
- Soya & Linseed Bread
- Whole Grain Pumpernickel Bread
- Rolled Oats
- Natural Muesli
- Hummus
- Cherries, Plums & Peaches
On the other hand, some foods with a high GI that you should steer clear of include:
- Cheerios
- Corn Flakes
- White Bread & Bagels
- French Baguette (95 … BAD!!!)
- White Rice
- Mashed Potatoes
- Watermelon & Dates
While this isn’t a complete list of the “good” & the “bad” GI foods, it gives you an idea of what makes up low and high GI foods. Anything that is refined, such as pastries and baked goods, is going to have a pretty high GI and will create a spike in your insulin levels. Anything that is whole grain and “natural” or “clean” is going to have a low GI and will keep your insulin levels right where you want them.
WHEN SHOULD YOU EAT YOUR CARBS
Now that you know which carbs are good ones and bad ones, it’s important to know when to eat them. As a rule of thumb, try NOT to eat any type of high GI food close to bed time. The reason being that you do NOT want a spike in insulin levels while you’re sleeping. This will not only inhibit your ability to burn fat, but it will make it more difficult to sleep AND it will affect the release of GROWTH HORMONE while you’re sleeping.
Growth hormone is a VERY important hormone because it affects your ability to build muscle and burn fat. Growth hormone is secreted by a section of your pituitary gland in pulses throughout the day, with the biggest pulse being about an hour after you fall asleep.
SO … knowing that hyperglycaemia (elevated blood carbohydrate) will decrease the release of growth hormone and increase the release of insulin, we can conclude that eating high GI carbohydrates close to bed time will not only inhibit your ability to build new muscle and burn fat, but that additional spike in insulin will DOUBLE your body’s desire to store all those carbs as fat … BOOOOOOO!
If you’re going to eat high GI carbs, do it right after your workout so that you can get the carbs right into your muscles, and make sure that you consume a generous amount of protein along with it.
If you feel like eating before bed time because you find that you’re just too hungry to wait til the morning, eat something that is almost ENTIRELY made up of protein.
Still got questions? Feel free to leave a comment!
