Curb Carb Cravings to lose weight

For many of us avoiding our favourite foods can seem impossible! When we have been too strict we start to crave sugars, salt, caffeine and chocolate, generally carbs.
We then binge on what we have been denying ourselves for so long. This then puts us on fast track to weight gain & poor health and so the cycle begins…

There are many theories why we get cravings. One is that a craving is an attempt to supply the body with a nutrient that we are lacking or another could be an emotional comfort. Because treats are used as rewards when we are younger, as adults we then rely on comfort foods when we are down as a pick me up reward. Diets, hormones, tiredness and lack of food after exercise can all attribute to our desires for certain foods.

We need to be aware of our individual triggers and what moods or situations we are in when we get cravings. Keeping a food diary detailing when you crave foods and what is going on at the time, this can help you later identify these things and avoid overeating when you get these cravings again. Knowing why and when you get these cravings is the first step in getting over them.
Having to fill in a diary and understanding your emotion and identifying details about everything that you do, can be a drag-Life is to short.

Just by following some simple rules we can curb those carbs and stay lean.

Always eat Curbs with Proteins/Fats
Carbs on its own tends to spike blood sugar levels and raise the insulin levels in the body, particularly refined carbs(white bread,donuts etc) When your insuline levels are high you will not burn fat,by adding Proteins and fats to carb , this slows down the digestion process in the body allowing for a better insulin performance.Naturally all high fibre carbs are okay on there own especially Fruit/vegetable since they have a low GI factor.

Not allowing to get Hungry
You would think that staying comfortable full would be easy, its our busy lifestyle that makes this sometime hard to achieve. By waiting to long between meals our sugar levels drop, we become desperate and tend to eat, eat, eat, what do we eat, who cares. We can avoid this situation by eating often every 3-4 hour is ideal and it also keeps our metabolism functioning at a optimum level. Always keep healthy snack in your fridge and office.


Never give up your favorite foods
By giving up your favorite foods we deny ourself one of the basic pleasures of life. Indulge but make a trade off, walk longer, train harder just remember its not forever. Use Food as a reward for reaching milestones particularly with exercise.


Drink less Carbs -they pack loads of Calories
Those soft drinks have loads of sugar in them and have a contributed towards the obsity problem in Australia. Have you looked at the labels of a fanta it has more calories then a entire roast dinner for two people. yuk, and to think your Liver and Kidneys will now have to go through the process of elimating it from your body.
If you find this just impossible to do then go for no sugar drinks(zero coke)


Carbs before or after your workout
Avoid drinking energy drinks before a work out or dont load your body with to much carbs if you can manage to do a workout on a empty stomach, this will allow the body to use fats as fuel and not the current energy that you just ingested. This will work well especially doing a long slow exercise rountine(walking) which has its benefits of burning fuel strictly from fats stores and easy on the body because of the less demand on carb stores.
I would strongly suggest trying this form of training over a shorter time frame until your body gets used to the process.


Eating at night
So you have had dinner but something is missing, mm Chocolate!!
Never an easy choice, i think it should be reflective of your goals, if it is weight loss then a protein snack would be for you- yogurt/small smoothie, if you still hungry, i suggest a glass of water.
I would also strongly recommend that all starchy type carb should be eaten during the day(potatoes/rice/pasta/bread) excellent form of carbs and does combine well with protein however they do pack a punch in the calorie department.
If you are a regular exercise junkie, go for it!unless you are trying to lower your body fat levels. If you exerise late at night becuse of your hectic lifestyle then topping up on Carb at night should not have any effect on your body or sleep!As long as it s not beer! My favorite carb but disastrous on my sinus!!

Remember; Sacrificing everything to stay lean is a huge mistake.