Good carbs/bad carbs

TheGreatYaYa

Hi. I am on the last leg of my weight loss journey with only 10 lbs. to go. The problem is I'm addicted to carbs! I know I won't be able to lose these last 10 lbs. unless I really cut back on my carb intake. But I know there are good carbs and bad carbs. Can anyone explain which ones are "good" carbs? I think I pretty much know which ones are bad (all the ones I like) LOL

I wish our food tracker would distinguish between good and bad carbs, 'cause it always looks like I've gone over even when half of the carbs are good ones (I think!).

Any tips will be greatly appreciated by me and my waistline. Thanks.

MysteriousMerlin

There are no bad foods, there is only moderation.

As a diabetic, I try to eat carbs with fiber to minimize blood sugar spikes. So I buy high fiber breads, such as Healthy Life 35 calories/slice bread, Thomas Light multi-grain high fiber English muffins, high fiber low carb tortilla wraps, and stuff like oatmeal & shredded wheat.

You may want to plan your day out in advance, so you can make adjustments beforehand. Try to get at 25-30 grams of fiber into your diet as well.

I started weight lifting more regularly about 4 weeks ago, and I can already see a difference.

cwolfman13

carbs are carbs...there are carbs with more or less nutritional value overall, but to your body a carbohydrate is a carbohydrate.

trogalicious

I wish our food tracker would distinguish between good and bad carbs, 'cause it always looks like I've gone over even when half of the carbs are good ones (I think!).

it can't, because there are no such things.

geebusuk

Low fat Icecream is a "good carb", because it's easy to eat, reasonably calorie dense per weight and doesn't have any of that fibre.
Sweet potatoes are bad because there's lot of fibre and it's not very calorie dense.

So there's an example of good and bad.

IF you are "carb loading" for an endurance event, that is.
Lots of fibre and filling yourself up would both be 'bad' in that situation.

If you're not and you're reasonably healthy, I wouldn't worry about having either.
http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-science-of-nutrition-is-a-carb-a-carb.html

SugaryLynx

I only know two kinds of carbs tasty carbs and not so tasty carbs. That's all personal preference. I eat tons of carbs without labeling and I'd like to think my waistline reflects that it doesn't matter.

ironanimal

Good and bad carbs is a concoction of the media to sell magazines and diet plans. Not based on actual science. The only bad ones are the ones you don't enjoy that you could have fit something else into your day for!

Snow3y

Macro nutrient ratios isn't what's going to make the difference for weight loss, only whether you're in a calorie deficit or not.

That being said, you can look into having whole grain carbs like whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, whole grain rolls etc. These are what people generally label as 'good' carbs, simply because they're slow digesting and low sugar content.. White bread, pasta and rolls tend to have more sugar content so they're labeled as 'bad' carbs..

Personally, I prefer whole wheat and whole grain choices, just as my own preference over white breads etc.