Are you stuck in a miserable yo-yo diet cycle because of diet and carb myths you’ve been told? These carb myths may be holding you back from your weight loss goals…and it’s time we banish them once and for all!!!
I’m not sure when it all happened, but somewhere along the lines of nutrition and diet advice over the years, carbs became the devil and source of all your weight loss problems. Of course, if you’ve been following me on Instagram or are a member of the Facebook group, you know by now these myths aren’t true.
But maybe you’re a new Busy Gal fan (Yay!!!) and you’ve been trying to distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to carbs. If that sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place!
Not only can you lose weight eating carbs, it’s CRUCIAL that you have them to lose weight. And lets shoot straight here, who in their right mind doesn’t enjoy eating carbs?
So let’s get right down to it and address carb myths you may have heard!
1️⃣ The first myth to address is that carbs are “fattening”.
Side note: I hate this term and I think it needs to be squashed immediately. The truth is that anything in excess of your maintenance calories can cause fat gain. This includes excess protein and fat intake. Instead, we should be focused on having a serving of nutrient rich carbohydrates at each meal to help us stay full and energized, which actually helps with weight loss!
- When building your meals, think of fruits, vegetables, and grains as nutrient rich carbs to include. And of course, try to think of foods within these categories that you ENJOY!
2️⃣ The second carb myth to debunk is that sugar should be avoided at all costs.
If this were the case, that would mean we needed to avoid fruit as well and that is just CRAZY to me! But FUN FACT (and it truly is a fun one), you can fit a sweet treat into your daily weight loss plan if you wanted and still be successful long term.
Of course, sugar in excess isn’t going to make you feel great. But learning how to include fun foods that you enjoy in moderation (yes, even cookies 😋) will help you achieve lasting weight loss results without being bored and miserable!
3️⃣ The third carb myth I’d like to address is that eating carbohydrates makes you crave them more and “lose control”.
My eyes can’t roll any further over this one! Making sure that you’re having balanced meals that include high fiber carbs and plenty of protein will help regulate your blood sugar to keep cravings at bay and help you feel in control around food. Quite literally the exact opposite of causing you to crave them more and lose control!
4️⃣ The fourth myth, and one of the most popular ones recently, is that a low carb diet will lead to more weight loss than other eating plans.
Sorry keto lovers, but this one is for you! At first glance, it may seem that people following a low carb diet lose more weight. But that is only because carbohydrates cause water retention. Therefore, much of the initial weight loss when going low carb is just water weight, not true fat loss.
Research shows there is little to no difference in amount of weight lost after a year of following a low carb diet versus other healthy eating plans. BUT, this doesn’t take into account the other negative effects on your overall health that low carb diets may lead to… not to mention your sanity!
5️⃣ The fifth myth to address is that carbs are less important than protein and fat when it comes to macronutrients.
While each macro has their own important purpose (which you can learn more about in this blog post), did you know that carbohydrates are the key to many of our body’s functions?
It’s true! They’re our body’s primary source of energy and are quite literally fuel for everything in our bodies from our muscles, to our organs, to our brains! Trust me when I say, carbs are a VERY important nutrient.
Carbs aren’t just important for healthy, sustainable weight loss. They’re crucial for energy, hormones, sleep, mood, performance, and productivity. They are a Busy Gal MUST!
I truly hope this helps you better understand the importance of carbohydrates for your weight loss goals. They certainly don’t need to be feared, or induce guilt.
If you have a friend who has been thinking about starting keto in the New Year or is limiting carbs because they believe these myths, I highly encourage you to share this post with them! Because after all, life is too short to cut out bread unnecessarily💁♀️
