Losing Weight the Healthy Way: Part 2 Carbs and Proteins Explained

If you missed yesterday’s post {part 1} of losing weight the healthy way go HERE.

Today Ayrial explains why all foods are not created equal. They say that the hardest work you will ever do in losing weight is in your own kitchen. It is in your daily choices. The simple question of “Am I going to go for a bowl of cereal, or find a lean protein with a complex carb to start out the day right?” Okay, maybe you are not thinking in those terms exactly, but after reading this post you will know why you should and why making those decisions make ALL the difference in the world.

CARBOHYDRATES

Your body needs the energy made from consuming carbohydrates. This is why I refuse to eliminate carbs from my diet. How can I expect my body to work hard enough during my workouts if I’m not properly fueling it with healthy energy boosting foods?
When you eat complex carbs, you are giving your body carbs that are more easily turned to Glucose, which is then used to support your muscle and give you energy. If your diet consists of mostly simple carbs, then you will get the energy, but it will be followed by a crash. Your blood sugar will spike and then plumit. According to researchers at Yale University, bad carbohydrates such as sweets and biscuits cause falls in blood sugar, affecting the part of the brain that controls impulse. This leads to a loss of self-control and a desire for unhealthy, high-calorie foods. YIKES!
So, good carbs = energy and health. Bad carbs = dumb brain that tells you to continue eating junk.

FATS

Although fats used to be considered a major no-no, researchers are now finding that healthy fats like Omega-3’s can actually improve brain function and your emotional state. Not all fats are created equal. You just need to know which are good for you and how to read the nutrition labels. There are four major types of fats:
• monounsaturated fats
• polyunsaturated fats
• saturated fats
• trans fats
When you look at the nutrition label on a type of food, lets pretend it says there are 10g of fat per serving. You might think, holy cow that’s a lot and immediately put it back on the shelf. But have you checked out the next few rows on the label below that? If is says 10g of fat per serving, but the next row says 0g saturated fats and the row after that says 1.5g trans fats, then the majority of those 10g of fat, is most likely coming from a good, healthy type of fat and it’s probably okay to eat.
Here’s a list of good fats:

PROTEIN

Earlier I talked about the importance of weight training. You can lift all the weights you want, but if you don’t repair your muscles and feed them with protein and sufficient calories, your body will not retain the muscle. That’s why I don’t recommend cutting tons of calories in order to lose weight. If you don’t eat enough good calories and you are exercising, your body will start to eat the muscle. If you are eating a ridiculous amount of calories each day, then yes, reduce them. Just be sure to make it a gradual process. If you are significantly over weight and used to, let’s say, 3000 calories each day, you shouldn’t drop down to 1200. It could cause your body to go into starvation mode. This means your body is worried about getting enough, and it holds onto the fat as protection. You will not see the results you want, and you will feel extremely hungry all the time and possibly weaker. Take time to adjust your caloric intake, and vary it each day.
Okay, back to protein. I really believe that just by adding more protein to my meals, my body finally started to change. I had been stuck at the same weight and body fat % for months. After I adjusted my protein levels, I dropped 6% body fat in two months! It was crazy how quickly my body reacted. I saw muscle definition I had never seen before.
If you’re like me then when you hear, ‘eat more protein’, you’ll think more meat. It’s true that meat gives off a lot of protein, but there are so many other sources out there to choose from. Most of them are not meat and they don’t take much prep time at all.
Here is a list of my favorite proteins:

Tune in tomorrow for part three to learn about exercise and some healthy simple snacks and healthy family-friendly meals (recipes to come!)