Carboholic's 101

Hello, my name is Josie & I'm a major carboholic.

No, no, no, I don't mean carbs like bread, pasta, chips and rice (a.k.a. "carby crap"). Although, the only kind of carby crap I do enjoy are cupcakes, cookies, etc. but we'll get to my sweetaholic behavior later. 

I'm talking about primal carbs-veggies and fruits. Actually, forget the veggies! I'm talking about fruit. I guess you can say I'm a fruitaholic then. How bad are my symptoms, you say? Bad enough to where I'd much rather eat fruit all day than anything in the other paleo food groups. Bad enough to where I'd gladly skip (and forget) my proteins, fats, and veggies to consume an obscene amount of blueberries, cherries, watermelon, grapes and those darn baked apple chips. Bad enough to where my fitness results are showing signs of plateauing (see "plateauing" here) and maybe even *gulp* weight gain. And I'm not talking about muscle mass.

So I know that eating fruit is healthy. It's obviously healthier than getting your carb intake from processed foods and refined sugar products. But I also know that too much of anything is never a good thing. There's a reason the paleo mantra states "some fruit".

Fruit contains a lot of natural sugar. Obviously, right? And that's definitely why I'm so freakin' addicted to it. So, although it won't necessarily make certain people gain weight, too many carbs, even from a  healthy source, can hinder you from your goals of getting/maintaining a healthy, lean body. Notice I said lean, not skinny. There's a difference!

So how much of your diet should be derived from healthy carbs? I found this post on one of my favorite nutrition sites Mark's Daily Apple that breaks down how many carbs you should be eating and limiting to per day:

"300 or more grams/day - Danger Zone!

Easy to reach with the “normal” American diet (cereals, pasta, rice, bread, waffles, pancakes, muffins, soft drinks, packaged snacks, sweets, desserts). High risk of excess fat storage, inflammation, increased disease markers including Metabolic Syndrome or diabetes. Sharp reduction of grains and other processed carbs is critical unless you are on the “chronic cardio” treadmill (which has its own major drawbacks).

150-300 grams/day – Steady, Insidious Weight Gain

Continued higher insulin-stimulating effect prevents efficient fat burning and contributes to widespread chronic disease conditions. This range – irresponsibly recommended by the USDA and other diet authorities – can lead to the statistical US average gain of 1.5 pounds of fat per year for forty years.

100-150 grams/day – Primal Blueprint Maintenance Range

This range based on body weight and activity level. When combined with Primal exercises, allows for genetically optimal fat burning and muscle development. Range derived from Grok’s (ancestors’) example of enjoying abundant vegetables and fruits and avoiding grains and sugars.

50-100 grams/day – Primal Sweet Spot for Effortless Weight Loss

Minimizes insulin production and ramps up fat metabolism. By meeting average daily protein requirements (.7 – 1 gram per pound of lean bodyweight formula), eating nutritious vegetables and fruits (easy to stay in 50-100 gram range, even with generous servings), and staying satisfied with delicious high fat foods (meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds), you can lose one to two pounds of body fat per week and then keep it off forever by eating in the maintenance range.

0-50 grams/day – Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Burning

Acceptable for a day or two of Intermittent Fasting towards aggressive weight loss efforts, provided adequate protein, fat and supplements are consumed otherwise. May be ideal for many diabetics. Not necessarily recommended as a long-term practice for otherwise healthy people due to resultant deprivation of high nutrient value vegetables and fruits."

I also wanted to add a note from this post stating "The ranges represent daily averages and are subject to variables like age, current height and weight and particularly training volume. For example, a heavy, active person can be successful at a higher number than a light, moderately active person. In particular, hard training endurance athletes will experience a greater need for carbs and can adjust their personal curve accordingly."

The bad news? I've been eating way too many carbs and just knowing that I'm only allowed 50-150grams/day makes me sad. That's very little. The good news is now I have the discipline (kinda sorta) to make the necessary tweaks in my diet in order to achieve my fitness goals. I may just have to do a few temporary "carb depletion days" to make up for all the fruit I've been eating lately. Hey, at least I'll be saving money on grocery bills, right?