As I continue my own health journey, carbs(and sugar) have been the enemy for me losing weight. During these last 30 days, I focused only eating good carbs and eliminating as much processed sugar(and very little fruit) during that time.
Carbohydrates (carbs) are easily the most misunderstood macro-nutrient. With the recent popularity of paleo, gluten-free, and grain-free diets, it's easy to fall into thinking that all grains and grain-based carbs are bad.
That's simply not the case. carbs must be chosen and used strategically. That means choosing the right carbohydrate sources at the proper time.
Cereals, crackers, pretzels, granola bars, and a wide variety of other processed carbs don't make the cut!
Let's classify our carb intake into two distinct types; Vegetables & Fruit sources versus Starchy Carb sources
Vegetables and Fruit
Vegetable and fruit sources are simply that; veggies and fruit. They're extremely powerful carb sources in that they provide a tremendous amount of vitamins, minerals, and fiber at a relatively low calorie and sugar ratio.
In other words, for the amount of calories you eat from veggies and fruit, you get a ton of bang for your buck!
How much veggies and how much fruit you ask? Recommend at least 5 servings a day *NOTE: if you are not losing weight, limit the fruit to 1 serving a day*
Starchy Carbs
Starchy carbs still can provide a high fiber, vitamin, and mineral content for your body, but they typically come with a higher ratio of calories.
These are things like pastas, breads, potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, rice, and other whole grains.
Serving size - Should fit in the cupped palm of your hand. Most potatoes we are getting in the store are 3x that size. We have to downsize.
So what are my top 5 Carb sources?
- Vegetables and Fruit
The wide variety of vitamins and minerals will keep you body feeling healthy and your metabolism peaked.
- Old Fashioned and Steel Cut Oats
Old fashioned oats are still able to be cooked rather quickly in the microwave, but they not nearly as process as instant oats. Steel Cut Oats (slow oats) need to be cooked for a while on the stove top of over night in the crock-pot.
Old fashioned oats are my go-to. I will eat them at breakfast or add them to any meal that's missing a high-quality starch to fuel my workouts.(Note the serving should be 1/2 cup serving of uncooked)
Just stay away from the instant flavored stuff. There's way too much sugar in there!
OLD FASHIONED OATMEAL, BROWN RICE, QUINOA
- Quinoa and other whole grains.
Quinoa, Long-grain/wild rice, brown rice, barley, etc. These guys are all power-packed and high quality. NOTE: You can buy these very reasonable at Aldi's.
- Ezekiel Bread and products
Toast, English muffins, tortillas, sandwiches... these guys are great for all. Sprouted grain breads are probably the single best type of bread you can eat. A sprouted grain has superior nutrient content and will digest more readily than even whole wheat products.
- Potatoes
Sweet potatoes have been on my list the last 30 days. I have paired a serving of a potato with my protein at lunch. Can you say YUM?
With that being said, potatoes are certainly a top-notch starchy carb and they taste awesome!
Hope you find this helpful.
xoxox
Colleen
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