ARE CARBS THE DEVIL?

Carbs = Energy.

This is a simple solution as to why you feel like crap when you don’t eat them. In this society we can some times be lead to believe that carbs are making us gain weight and we should cut them completely from our diet, yes this is sometimes true but only because the carbs you are eating are cake and chips. Our problem isn’t that fact we eat carbs our problem is the fact we over indulge REGULARLY on the wrong carbs. Ka-peish!

Okay so you wanna loose weight and carbs are the devil and you stop eating them altogether. We all know 4 days in you are a walking junkie carb zombie looking for their next hit. Don’t be stooopid and do this to yourself! Listen to your body! Fuel it! Stop looking for a quick fix by cutting all food groups but still eating chocolate because you’re not really sure which food group it belongs in and it has been four days since you have had any so you deserve it. Stop doing the same dumb sh*t and just eat GOOD foods!

>>>>Sorry – I could rant endlessly about this stuff!<<<<

If you train (at Royale Fitness of course because you are a bada** athlete) you use energy and a lot of it – you need to replenish the body to help muscles recover, to keep your body functioning properly and to continue training like a bada** athlete.

So with this said when should you eat carbs and what carbs should you eat?

Here is my opinion on what I find has worked with clients and myself – please note if you would like proper personal food advice I train a couple of smart chicks who know there shizzz in this area (dietician and nutritionist) as this is more of a general broad over view.

TRAINING DAYS

Pre-training: You want carbs that are not going to leave you feeling too full and sluggish. You also don’t want anything to complex as it will take to long for the body to absorb so low GI carbs with minimal fat and fibre are a great choice – a general guideline is to have a snack 1-2 hours before training – you’ll need to trial what works with you on this one.

A great pre-training snack is fruit – it isn’t too heavy and it is mostly low-medium GI meaning it won’t give you a spike of energy then crash mid-sesh.

BUT I train in the morning and I’m not hungry?

If you can’t get down some fruit in the morning before training and you haven’t eaten since dinner you will be training in a fasted state (8 hours since last meal) which means fat is being used as fuel during exercise. This can be good and bad depending on your goals. If your goal is strength, speed and performance training in a fasted state is not ideal because you will not be able to train as fast and as hard on an empty stomach so try your best to get some food in. If your goal is fat loss this method may work well for you, as you are burning fat directly just make sure your next meal is nutritious!

Which leads me toooooo…..

Post Training: After training we need to think about a couple of things;

-Re-fuelling the muscle and glycogen (carb) stores.

-Replacing the fluid lost in sweat.

-Creating new muscle protein and other cellular components and apart of the repair process.

Sorry in English?!?!

After training your body takes a hiding – you use energy and a lot of it, you sweat like a crazy person and your muscles actually breakdown. The meal after training needs to help the body repair and replenish.

Okay so what should I eat? You’ll need to eat a meal with carbs and protein.

Here is a list of carbs (used to refuel) I use:
Oats
Sweet Spud
Rice (I use basmati)

Multigrain wrap

Here is a list of protein (used for muscle repair and rebuilding):
Chicken breast

Turkey
Lean mince
Kangaroo
Eggs
Fish/Tuna

So please DO NOT deprive your body of what it needs – you’ll feel and look amazing if you just stop listening to every diet advertisement and start listening to YOU! Trial it out record how you feel and train over a weekly period and make adjustments as needed!!

I’ve tried no carbs. It sucked; I looked and felt weak. I now eat the RIGHT carbs at the right times and I have so much more energy, my body is now looking leaner, stronger and works like a gem - so NO - carbs are NOT the devil!

Stay Strong & Stretch,
Tel x


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