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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Bring on the Pasta...and the Bread!

Just read this article on eating Carbs at every meal....it sounds toooooooo good to be true!! I'm a carb fanatic!!

1. Combine carbs with a protein. Combining a protein with a carb not only fills you up, but it lowers the overall glycemic index (the GI, a popular way to measure the speed that carbs enter the bloodstream in the form of glucose or blood sugar). According to David Ludwig, M.D. of Harvard Medical School, high GI meals are like newspaper in your fireplace, quick to flare up and burn out, while low GI meals are more like slow-burning logs. This one trick, if used consistently, can influence your weight loss plan more than any other eating tip.
Example: Pasta with a meaty tomato sauce

2. Eat carbs more often! While the conventional approach to dieting teaches you how to omit meals, the smarter approach is to make sure you do not miss meals. And it gets better. Eating a carb-protein meal 4 times per day rather than 3 helps keep blood sugar levels stabilized. This keeps the metabolism firing and energy levels high. Research has demonstrated that regulating blood sugar levels regulates hormonal secretions which results in optimal fat burning. Not only this, but carbs must be present in the system for the chemical process of fat-burning to work.
Note: For portion sizes and many more details, check out Christine's book.

3. Eat carbs at every meal. Believe it or not, this is a healthier approach because you will stabilize blood sugar and prevent the urge to binge later. Skipping carbs at a meal almost always leads you to make up for it later; usually in the form of late-night cookies. This is because the brain needs the glucose from carbs for fuel and if it doesn't get more within 4 or 5 hours, your body has no choice but to break down lean body tissues (like muscles) for fuel.
Example of what not to eat: salad with grilled chicken -- too low on carbs! Much better to eat a grilled chicken burger with a side of fruit.

4. Eat carbs late at night. Yes this is just as important as the rest of your meals. And go ahead and eat dinner even if it is late. Starving yourself or skipping meals slows the metabolism and let's face it -- it isn't fun to starve! To keep the metabolism humming and the fat burning, eat a full meal including carbs even in the late evening. Just be sure to eat a healthy protein-carb combo and if it is really late, you might want to cut the meal in half.

5. Don't overdo it at one time. Your body isn't a cash register. It doesn't add up your total at the end of the day. It only cares how much you eat at a single meal. If you eat one entire large deep-dish pizza, your body converts the carb overload to fat storage. However if you only eat two light slices now and two slices for dinner 4 hours later, you won't overload the bloodstream with glucose at one time, thus you will keep your fat-burning going. So, keep each meal a reasonable size and spread your carbs evenly over all the meals in the day.
Article was on YahooFood.

So...what do you think? Can it be good to eat carbs at every meal?

10 comments:

willowtree said...

Sign me up!

Honeygo Beasley said...

The brain needs carbs.

What about egg shells? (See my blog.)
LOL!

Brenda said...

Hmmm so the seafood alfredo for dinner was ok, just not the breadsticks overload?

Donna said...

Great examples!!! I'll start checking it out!!hughugs

silvieon4 said...

Don't toy with me... I could go in there and make momma whip up some fresh tagliatelle and delicious ciabatta and it is "for my own health"???

Ohhhhh Fine I will get her to "thrown" in some protein, but tagliatelle... here we come!!!!

aims said...

I agree. And of course I eat my popcorn faithfully every night when I go to bed. You don't want to see the size of the bowl (or my butt) that I plunk down with in bed along with my book and glasses. It's what I do every single night. I'm addicted.

CiCi said...

This fits right in with the info I am learning now. For a couple months I have been eating small amounts of carbs at each meal along with protein and fiber. I think this is helping me.

Unknown said...

I crave my carbs and have to admit I have not omitted them while dieting. I love me potatoes of any kind, bread of any kind and haven't ever met a pizza I didn't love - pasta, etc - sigh - I love my carbs! Down 54 lbs so far. :)

Love this look!

dawn said...

Very interesting. It is funny how there are so many diets out there like the all protein one and there is one where you never mix carbs and proteins only eat carbs and vegetables or protein and veges. It seems the old adage of everything in moderation is the best policy.

Pamela said...

I'm willing and able. I'm pasta pam at your service.