Try a different carb (2024)

FAQs

Try a different carb? ›

Examples of complex carbs include starchy vegetables (white and sweet potatoes, peas, corn), legumes (beans, lentils), and whole grains. Choose these carbs to get the most nutrition with the least impact on blood sugar.

1. Sugary Foods. Most people already think of many of the foods in this category as unhealthy treats. Candy, soft drinks, and sweet desserts such as cake, chocolate, and ice cream are all expected entries on a list of carbs to avoid to lose weight.

Limit the processed stuff. What are some of the best sources of healthy carbs? Romito suggests these foods: Whole grains: Farro, quinoa, whole-grain breads and pastas, bulgar wheat, and brown or wild rice.

Carb cycling involves going back and forth between high-carb days and low-carb days. There may even be “no-carb” days. You would usually have a high-carb day when you plan on exercising hard. On those days, your body needs more fuel, so you might eat 2 to 2.5 grams of carbs for every pound of your body weight.

"Eating refined carbs like bread, rice, pasta and cookies [in excess] will increase our belly fat. If we want to lose it, we should focus on eating nutrient- and fiber-rich carbs such as vegetables and low-glycemic fruits," says Djordjevic.

The Best Carb to Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals. Answer: Whole grains, says Susie. Yes, that is an entire food category, but foods like brown rice, oatmeal and quinoa are too good to choose just one. Whole grains are grains that contain the entire grain: bran, germ and endosperm.

“Healthy carbohydrates that're minimally processed, such as whole grains, fruit, vegetables, and legumes, have been found to positively contribute to heart, gut, and brain health,” says Katey Davidson, a registered dietitian and founder of Taste of Nutrition.

They're also chock full of starch, which is a carbohydrate. But even though a potato is considered a complex “healthy” carb, your body digests these carbs faster than other kinds of complex carbs. These broken-down carbs flood your blood with sugar. This makes your blood sugar spike quickly.

These include protein choices such as chicken breast, eggs, plain yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese, as these foods are lower in overall calories but are high in protein to aid in an increased feeling of fullness, she explained.

What can I replace potatoes and pasta with? ›

1> Vegetables: Many vegetables can be used as alternatives to starchy foods. For example, cauliflower can be mashed as a substitute for mashed potatoes, or spiralized into noodles as a pasta alternative. Zucchini, sweet potatoes, and spaghetti squash are also popular choices for noodle substitutes.

Severe carb limits can cause your body to break down fat into ketones for energy. This is called ketosis. Ketosis can cause side effects such as bad breath, headache, fatigue and weakness.

Keto Weight Loss Results After 90 Days on Keto

“If the patient can maintain a steady calorie deficit, I expect them to lose one to two pounds per week,” says Dr. Seeman. So after 12 weeks, her clients are usually down around 20-25 pounds.

You'll Lose Water Weight

Glycogen helps your body retain water. You may also lose some salt along with the carbs you cut out. When you start to eat carbs again, the water weight comes right back. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for ketosis to rev up and start to burn fat.

Simple carbs are the bad kind.

These are carbohydrates that have many of their necessary nutrients removed. Simple carbs are digested quickly, causing spikes in blood sugar and making you feel hungry sooner. The short-lived fullness leads to overeating, weight gain, and conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Simply put, when you follow a no-carb diet, you avoid all high carb foods. Specifically, try to eliminate whole and refined grains, baked goods, fruits, milk, yogurt, beans, legumes, pasta, bread, sugar-sweetened beverages, and starchy vegetables like peas and corn.

THE FIVE RULES OF THE SLOW-CARB DIET RULE #1 Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or grains. RULE #2 Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch.

Complex carbohydrates—or starches—have longer-chained sugars and fiber, and they take longer to digest. These include whole-grain breads and pastas, peas, beans and legumes.