Carbohydrates are an essential part of our diet, but eating the wrong carbs can cause the body to store too much fat. There are good carbs and bad carbs. Dieting and losing weight is all about losing body fat. Reading the article below will give you some insight into losing body fat. It's not a quick process, but over time changing your diet and eating the right foods will help you reach your goals. You shouldn't get discouraged because losing fat happens over time, but there are ways to speed up the process. Even a small amount of exercise can speed up fat burning. Losing fat is about training your body to burn body fat to create energy. The mistake most of us make is eating the wrong carbs. Unknowingly, we have trained our bodies to burn the carbs we eat instead of burning body fat.
The body will find the easiest form of protein, fat, and carbs to burn for energy. Why is that you might ask? The body is programmed to use the least amount of energy to create more energy. That might be a little hard to understand. We'll say that our body creates 100% of the energy we use. Energy is measured in calories. Say the body needs 1000 calories a day. I'm just using that number for this example. Now we'll say the body uses 200 calories of energy to process your food and drink. So the body's short on calories. If you need 1000 for bodily functions the body must process 1200 calories to fill the need. But your body is programmed to use the least amount of calories to produce the largest amount of energy. When you are eating the wrong foods your body is using even a greater amount of the energy created just to produce the 1000 calories of energy.
The reason people increase their body fat is that the food they eat lacks the nutrition needed for the body to produce the amount of energy they need. So what happens over time is that your body has to decrease the amount of energy that is allocated for body function. Then as time passes, you become weaker, and your immune system becomes weaker. Your liver cannot process enough food and your health will begin to suffer.
The way I lost my body fat was to eat natural whole foods. Fresh foods that have nothing added to them. I didn't buy anything packaged. Fruit and vegetables came from the produce department in opens bins. I could see and touch everything I bought. The meat and fish came from the meat department. You can buy fresh frozen, or vacuum-packed fish. I prefer meat and poultry that haven't been frozen. Also, I stopped drinking anything with calories. Eating this type of diet and nothing else, you don't have to limit your food or drink and you don't have to count calories.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, about half your daily calories should come from carbohydrates. So that’s quite a lot. But, there’s more to it than how many carbs you need — some sources of carbohydrates are better for you than others. What they mean by “carbs” is vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, dairy, eggs, and whole grains.
First, what are carbs? Carbohydrates are mostly found in plants where they provide energy and structure. Sugars, starches, and fibers fall into this category.
And although animals need and consume carbohydrates, you won’t find any carbs in meat, fish, or poultry. But you will find carbs in milk and dairy products because they contain lactose, which is also a type of sugar.
How Many Carbs Do You Need?
Your carbohydrate need can be based on your caloric intake. If you know how many calories you need each day, you can figure out how many grams of carbs you need:
Start by determining your daily calorie need and divide that number in half. That’s how many calories should come from carbohydrates.
Each gram of carbohydrate has four calories. Divide the number you got from the first step by four.
The final number is equal to the number of carbohydrates in grams you need each day.
For example, a person who eats approximately 2,000 calories per day should take in about 250 grams of carbohydrates (2,000 divided by 2 = 1,000 and 1,000 divided by 4 = 250).
Tracking Your Carbohydrate Intake
Find the carbohydrate grams on the Nutrition Facts labels on packaged foods. You’ll find calorie information there too, but be sure to double-check the serving size and a number of servings per package.
Use the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference to calculate carbohydrate amounts for fresh foods. It’s a large database that’s regularly updated.
Keep a food diary to track your information. You can print out your own pages and keep them in a notebook.
Join Calorie Count to track calories, carbohydrates, and all the other nutrients, plus you’ll find suggestions for a healthy diet. They also have a great smartphone app so you can track your calories when you’re away from your computer.
Which Carbs are Best
Carbohydrates include complex carbohydrates, like starches, and simple sugars such as white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and honey. As far as plant-based carbs go, choose 100 percent whole grains, and fruits and vegetables for most of your carbohydrates. The standard tip is to ‘make half of your grains whole.’ That way, as long as you eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, you’ll add a substantial amount of fiber to your diet.
Of course, you don’t want to consume carbs only. You need protein and fat, just not as much. Balance your carbohydrate choices with protein sources such as lean meat, poultry, eggs, or fish, and some healthy fat such as olive oil, avocado or nuts, and seeds. Protein combined with high-fiber carbs helps keep you feeling full between meals. The protein that is recommended by most professionals is seafood and poultry. The fat in these two food groups won’t contain any animal fats.
Watch Out for Sugars
The worst carbohydrate sources may be sugary foods, including things made with sugar, honey, corn syrup, or maple syrup. These foods usually have too many calories and little or no nutritional value.
Avoid sugary snacks, pastries, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, candy, and cookies. Watch out for heavily processed foods that often contain added sugars, even those that don’t taste sweet. A good rule of thumb is “don’t drink your calories”.
Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.
If you want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.
There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans.
Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.
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