TO CARB OR NOT TO CARB? Members and Instagram followers have been asking me about how to properly utilize carbohydrates in their diet for weight loss. Here are my thoughts: Understand first that if you have FAT to lose, you have stored energy to utilize in your workouts. Simple carbs (most breads, sugars, sweets, big ass desserts, greasy ass pizza, etc) need to be REMOVED, especially for and after dinner. The excess sugars and salts in these bad carbs will carry over past your calories burned and reside as fat--- almost nullifying your workout and keeping you where you are. You may get stronger, but your body fat might stay the same.INSTEAD, save your carbs for the morning (along with a good amount of protein) and stick with COMPLEX CARBS. These kind of carbohydrates will stick with you all day and will help give you energy while keeping insulin levels normal. By the time you workout you will have the proper amount of nutrients to hit it hard and burn fat because you have HEALTHY CARBS as your energy source-- no excess sugars and salts to stick around in your system and produce fat. If you want to lose weight, utilize that stored fat and start your day with complex carbs.A good metabolism is fueled I the morning first! AGAIN, THIS IS FOR WEIGHT LOSS. ON THE FLIP SIDE, if you are trying to GAIN WEIGHT/MUSCLE, you need to have a decent (not excessive) amount of carbs before AND after your workouts for proper muscle function and repair. BUT IF you arent working out like an athlete or power lifter, do not eat like one. Your input should compliment your output. I personally have not been eating enough carbs, so Ive kicked it up to the occasional dessert on the weekends or a pasta dinner the night before a morning workout ONLY because I already maintain around 9-10% body fat... Anything over that I start to take out the bad carbs to really attack the fat. Im also doing at least 200 pushups a day on top of my usual workouts. There are obviously more facts and points to this discussion... Let me know if you want to know more. IN SIMPLE TERMS: Breakfast: complex carbs, protein Lunch: smaller portion of complex carbs, greens, protein Dinner: lots of protein, greens See you in class! ---coach Zach
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 19:07:25 +0000