woman eating bread | How to Lose Weight While Still Eating Carbs

It’s no secret. Carbs have a bad rap for contributing to weight gain. Let’s face it. They are vilified. There are so many dieting trends out there preaching that people should cut carbs. Some even suggest eliminating carbs altogether with no carb diets.

Yes, it’s true that by reducing your consumption of carbohydrates (and protein and fat) it can lead to quick weightloss. But you don’t have to cut carbs completely from your diet in order to lose weight fast. The truth is carbohydrates, protein, and fat are actually important macronutrients that need to be included in everyone’s diet.

Did you know? It’s actually more important to find ways to eat carbs while sustaining your weight rather than eliminating it from your diet altogether. The key is understanding carbs and knowing which ones are healthy to consume.

Without carbs, your body won’t have the energy it needs to workout or function properly. There are different types and sources of carbs. What’s important is learning how to spot the good from the bad. The right carbohydrates can give you the energy you need to exercise and help each body part to do its job.

So today, I’m sharing practical and health tips on how you can lose weight while still eating and enjoying carbs.

How To Lose Weight While Still Eating Carbs.

Eat whole foods

When you say eat carbs, most people think of bread, pasta, and sugar. But that’s not the whole picture. Not all carbs are bad. In fact, whole foods like starchy vegetables and fruit are primarily made of carbs for example. So are beans and lentils and other foods!

Carbohydrates by definition just mean it’s food that contains hydrogen and oxygen in the same ratio as water (2:1) and typically can be broken down to release energy in the body. Carbs are an important macronutrient. So is protein and fat. You should not eliminate any macronutrient when trying to lose weight otherwise you could become nutrient deficient. So yes, you should definitely eat carbs to lose weight. One way to do that is when you eat carbs that are whole foods!

Practice portion control

Once you’ve learned which carbs are the right ones to eat, next it’s all about your portion sizes and learning to have portion control. Portion sizes is important because when it comes down to it, reducing your caloric intake is the biggest factor that affects whether or not you gain weight or experience weightloss. It’s simple math. If you burn 1,500 daily calories and eat 2,000 daily calories, you will gain weight. If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight.

Portion control is the holy grail when it comes to weightloss. Eat carbs, protein, and fats in your meals. Just practice burning off more daily calories than you consume. One way to do this without drastically changing your lifestyle is by eating smaller portion sizes to lose weight.

Use carbs to fuel workouts

Carbs help give your body the energy it needs to carry out your normal day to day activities. In fact, according to a study published called Carbohydrates and the Brain, our muscles and brain prefer carbohydrates more than any other source of energy!

Carbs are the primary fuel for workouts! Use carbs to give you the extra boost of energy you need to burn additional calories and trim body fat without feeling super sluggish.

Drink green tea after a high-carb meal

Did you know? According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, drinking green tea after meals helped individuals with obesity lose weight. Another study published by Obesity Research found that the mix of caffeine and EGCG in green tea helped increase metabolism and fat burning, and thus weight and fat loss, compared to consuming a placebo.

Drinking green tea after a high carb meal works! But only if you don’t consume dairy at the same time you drink the green tea since milk protein inhibits the effects the tea has on the metabolism.

Add healthy fat

As mentioned before, protein and fat are macronutrients we all need to consume regularly in order to thrive. Healthy fat can help you lower your blood sugar levels, reduce your risk for heart disease, and promote weightloss. Some examples of healthy fat to eat include fatty fish like salmon, sardines, albacore tuna – all which offer higher sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

You should get about 30% of your daily calories from healthy fat. You’ll want to stay away from trans fat, which according to a study published by the Mayo Clinic shouldn’t make up more than 1% of your diet. Saturated fat should make up less than 7% of your daily caloric intake.

Put down refined carbs

Refined carbs are the main types of carbs that should keep their bad rap. Refined carbs are grain-based foods that go through processing to have the bran and germ extracted. Think of white bread, refined sugar, white rice, donuts, and breakfast cereal to name a few. The process these foods undergo removes the fiber and much of the food's nutritional value, including B-complex vitamins, healthy oils and fat-soluble vitamins. For this reason you’ll want to put down refined carbs. They don’t have much nutritional value!

Opt for complex carbs

When you want to know how to lose weight while still eating carbs, you’ll want to limit your intake of simple carbohydrates and opt for complex carbs instead.

Complex carbs, or starches, are made up of long chains of sugar molecules that your body then breaks down for energy. Examples of complex carbs include whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, barley, and oats and starchy vegetables like corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes to name a few.

Choose resistant starches

By definition, a resistant starch (RS) is a type of carbohydrate that escapes from digestion in the small intestine of healthy individuals. When starches are digested, they break down into glucose. Why this is beneficial and why you’ll want to choose resistant starches is because unlike other types of starches, a resistant starch does not get digested in the small intestine and therefore does not turn into glucose.

When resistant starches ferment in the large intestine and act as a prebiotic to feed the good bacteria in the gut. Some examples of food that are resistant starches include plantains, sweet potatoes, brown rice, oats, barley, beans and lentils to name a few!

Avoid no carb diets

As you can see, there are so many good reasons why you’ll want to eat carbs to lose weight. Avoid those diets that try to convince you to make radical changes like cutting carbs altogether. Carbs can be good for you! What’s key is making sure you pick the right ones.

All in all, you’ll want to stay away from refined carbs and opt to eat carbs like whole foods, complex carbs, and resistant starches, and practice portion control! If you get stuck and need additional support, you can always consult with a Registered Dietitian near you. Good luck!