Do you need to cut out carbs to get in shape? This article will shed some light on carbohydrates, the different types and functions, as well as their relationship with health and fitness.
Carbohydrates are one of the three main macro-nutrients found in food with fat and protein being the other two. Once consumed they are stored in the body as glycogen and called upon to provide us for energy to complete certain tasks.
You can probably look at a food group and know if it contains carbohydrates or not. Examples are bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, and oats. But there are other foods that also fall under the carbohydrate group: fruits and vegetables.
All of the above carbohydrates differ in their calories and nutritional value. It would not be appropriate to label all of them as ‘bad’ just because they are carbs without understanding their unique value and how they fit in to a person’s diet and goals. Context is important and that is what we will discuss in this article.
Are All Carbs Created Equal?
For fat loss, it is absolutely necessary to be in a caloric deficit; consuming fewer calories than your body needs to maintain it’s current weight. Since calories are so important, let’s look at the calorie content of different sources of carbohydrates. Keep an eye out for any insights.
100g (weight) of cooked white rice contains 28 grams of carbohydrates and 130 calories
100g of cooked spaghetti contains 25 grams of carbohydrates and 130 calories
100g of Quaker quick oats contains 70 grams of carbohydrates and 370 calories
"370 calories? I thought oats were healthy!"
And they still are. But overall quantity matters the most when it comes to fat loss.
100g of a banana contains 23g of carbs and 90 calories
100g of watermelon contains 8g of carbs and 30 calories
100g of spinach contains 4g of carbs and 23 calories
100g of tomatoes contains 4 grams of carbs and 18 calories
What do you notice? For the same amount (weight), carbohydrates like rice, oats, pasta, as well as bread, contain the highest number of calories with fruits and vegetables containing the least.
For the purpose of this article, we have listed calories per actual grams but in reality most of us don’t eat X grams of a food during Iftar for example unless you carry around a digital food scale with you at all times.
We scoop pasta into our bowl and nibble on the slices of bread at a restaurant until we think we’ve had enough. Little do we know that by the time we’re done with our meal, we’ve actually had far too much and are unlikely to be in a caloric deficit for the day.
So what’s the solution? Should you cut out ALL carbs completely? You could if you want to. But it’s not a requirement. The only requirement is to be in a caloric deficit. Including the right types of carbs in the right amounts could not only move you towards your goals but also provide you with other key nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber that is not found in other food groups.
For fat loss, the majority of your carbohydrate intake should come in the form of fruits and vegetables with starchy carbohydrates consumed in fewer amounts. This is because fruits and vegetables are lower in calories when compared to starchy or processed carbohydrates like rice and bread as demonstrated above. This will help you fulfil the #1 requirement for fat loss which is being in a caloric deficit.
Fruits and vegetables have other benefits as well such as their vitamin, mineral, and fiber content. All of which are vital for your health and daily function. Adding in vegetables consistently to your meals will also allow you to increase the volume of food consumed per meal which has been shown to increase an individual’s feeling of satisfaction after a meal. So more veggies can lead to more fullness and less hunger while keeping calories in control and moving you towards your weight loss goals.
Eat your veggies and good things will happen.
Recommendations
Do you think your consumption of carbs is limiting your weight loss progress or leading to weight gain? If yes, consider reducing the amount of carbs in your diet by following the guidelines below.
1- Start by replacing highly processed starchy sources such as bread and pasta with higher quality starchy sources like potatoes and oats (in the right amounts) and then adding in more low calorie nutrient dense carb sources like fruits and vegetables.
2- Work towards having half a plate full of vegetables with every meal. Pick any vegetables that you like. Examples could be spinach, tomatoes, steamed broccoli, or a mixture of different greens to be had as a salad. Experiment with different options and see what works for you.
If you still feel hungry after a meal or sometime during the day, have a piece of fruit.
3- If a particular source of carbohydrate is a weakness of yours where you can’t help but reach for the kitchen cabinet to have a few bites, get rid of the food entirely. It’s a lot easier not to have high amounts of bread when it’s not even in the house.
4- For some it might not be practical to eliminate starchy carbohydrates entirely due to cultural reasons or simply food preferences. If that applies to you, we highly recommend you purchase a digital food scale and see what different serving sizes of rice, oats, and bread look like (30g, 50g, 100g, etc.) so that you can adjust the amounts and hence the calories to fit your goals.
As you can see, there isn’t a straightforward answer to the amounts of carbs you should consume. One thing for certain is the overall amount should keep you in a caloric deficit. If your weight is decreasing over time, circumference measurements are reducing, and progress photos are looking better then keep doing what you’re doing.
If one or more of the above assessment tools are showing lack of progress, then take an honest look at your current eating habits, ask the questions above, and consider implementing some of the strategies we recommended. Apply some of the changes consistently for a couple of weeks and then re-assess your progress.
If you see improvements, great. That shows you have fulfilled the #1 requirement of being in a caloric deficit by consuming slightly less carbohydrates and replacing higher calorie sources with lower calorie ones.
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