If you read health magazines, you’d be forgiven for thinking the devil had changed his name to Carbohydrates. Many people are attempting to avoid carbs completely in order to be healthier. While it’s definitely not good for us to eat a lot of simple carbs, the truth is that our body needs carbs in order to function. It’s possible to get plenty of this macro nutrient from foods other than cereals and grains (hello vegetables and beans!) but I think we can all agree that a life without pizza and pasta is a very boring life indeed.
If you find that you often berate yourself for eating carbs, or feel like you’re “cheating” on your diet whenever you do, you need to read the below tips pronto!
ALL THE VEGGIES!
The best thing you can do to improve your carb heavy meal is adding vegetables. It could be as simple as using fresh tomato on top of your pizza instead of tomato paste, adding vegetables, increasing the nutrition content of the meal and filling you up quicker.
FALL IN LOVE WITH SIDES
Sometimes nothing will satisfy your cravings like a slice or two of ‘dirty’ pizza and adding vegetables to it will ruin its cheesy gloriousness. If that’s the case, prepare some side dishes to have with the meal that are vegetable or protein rich. Again, this will stop you eating as much of the grains that aren’t so good for us and round out the meal to be more nutritionally balanced.
CHOOSE COMPLEXITY
Those people who constantly bang on about whole grains have a point. They’re much better for us as they include more nutrients than refined grains and help us feel full quicker. If you have the option choose brown rice and whole grain breads, pastas and flours. The new taste and texture can take a while to get used to, but when you’re palate has adjusted you’ll be wondering how you ever lived without the yummy nuttiness of brown rice.
EAT EARLIER
Worried that consuming carbs goes hand in hand with eating excess calories? If definitely doesn’t have to be the case, but for a little extra peace of mind try to eat earlier. This will give your body more time to use the calories consumed before dropping off to sleep. If the carbs you’ve eaten are simple carbs this is especially important as if the energy they provide is quickly released.
BUY BETTER QUALITY
Sometimes the biggest problem with the carb heavy foods we eat is what else goes into them. Have you ever compared the nutrition and ingredient labels on a cheap loaf of bread and an expensive one? The additional ingredients put in a cheap loaf of bread is a whole world of scary – from sugar and vinegar to bleached flour and dyes. It’s important to note that “more expensive” doesn’t necessarily mean “better quality”. If you’re having trouble finding bread devoid of those extra nasties try going to a bakery instead of the supermarket.
ENJOY YOUR FOOD
The best tip of all! Its a mantra in the Enjoying The Art Of Living Body Reset. If you decide to indulge in some simple carbs and don’t want to take any of the advice above that’s completely okay. Just make it worth it. Savor each bite and really enjoy your food. At the end of the meal, if you notice the feeling of guilt creeping in, arrest that thought and remind yourself that you chose to give yourself a treat.
It’s important to not try to justify it though – don’t think to yourself that you deserve it because you had a bad day or because you went to the gym every day this week. Those thoughts only contribute to the feeling of guilt when you choose to eat carbs next time. Simply tell yourself that you enjoyed yourself and you have nothing to feel ashamed or guilty about.
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