Think of your diet like your budget. The currency is calories a lot of which come from carbohydrates (carbs). Unfortunately, the easiest, cheapest and most harmful calories do come from simple carbs.
In general, these “bad carbs” come from sugar and refined starches. The sugar is like the single dollar bill (glucose) which you get in larger bills (starch).
For successful weight loss, you want to get rid of your “stored energy depots”; so the first thing would be to stop throwing in more of the bad guys that got you there in the first place.
Eat less, and at least, try switching to healthy “good carbs”, or what is known as low glycemic index (low GI) carbs.
Bad carbs
Boycott these
“It’s not easy… just give it a try”
- Soda and all commodities with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup)
- Excessive Sugar (and sugar containing juice, drinks and foods)
- Sweets (cake, cookies and candy…)
Avoid these
“it’s not easy at all… use your will power”
- Bread and baked goods with refined white flour (doughnuts, bagel and pizza included)
- White rice (it is a refined starch too)
- Pasta and processed grains (especially those big portion sizes)
- Potatoes (worst are the chips and french fries)
- Corn starches (baked foods and thickening agents e.g. sauces, gravies, custard)
- Condiments like ketchup, BBQ sauce, pasta sauce, jams and jellies (all have lots of hidden sugar)
- Alcoholic drinks (high in calories and highly metabolized!)
Good carbs
Always choose
“Trust me…you will enjoy eating healthy after a while”
- Whole grains (or multi-grain breads and cereal), other high protein grains (brown rice, quinoa…)
- Leafy green vegetables (lettuce, cabbage, spinach…)
- Cooked or raw vegs (broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, asparagus, artichokes, cucumber, carrots…)
- Legumes (peas, beans, and lentil…)
- Nuts and seeds (also high in fiber and protein! )
Then maybe
- Seasonal fruits (apples, banana, oranges, berries…)
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