Carbs - What do you go for?

Mikel19842013

Im doing wholewheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes, bran flakes and wholegrain bread.

Are all these good, anything else I could add in there?

Abi_bug04

Are you looking to increase your carb intake, or just looking for different ideas for healthy carbs?
(P.S. I just saw on your profile that you are hoping to play rugby! Me too- I loved playing and want to play again, after I recover from my injury and get strong and fit enough!)

No_Finish_Line

I'd just look up the glycemic index of foods and use that to judge if a carb is 'good' or 'bad'.

Look up the GI of white bread versus whole wheat bread. they are basically the same. So if you consider white bread bad then whole wheat is hardly even a marginal improvement. Same is really true for cerial or pretty much anything made of grain that tastes good.

to get a really low glycemic bread it has to be made of spelt or some other exotic grain.

concordancia

Sweet potatoes are better than white potatoes.

I use grapenuts cereal and multigrain sandwich thins. Oh, and Fiber One brownies, once in a while.

Smuterella

none in the week - anything at the weekend. :-)

KANGOOJUMPS

finally some carb people!
carb people, ADD ME!

Abi_bug04

Quinoa and couscous are on the top of my list for my favorite grains!

skinnylove00

oats are good; uncooked, they're lower in gi i hear...and rice cakes. ANYTHING gluten free is good, i've been noticing a huge difference eating gluten free!

jennaworksout

mostly vegetables, sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, turnip...fruit, avocado & bananas

jivitasa

Quinoa, steelcut oats, couscous, occasionally brown rice (usually mixed with riced cauliflower), sweet potato and sometimes Ezekiel bread.

lauren3101

I don't count carbs, so I go for anything I want. Hasn't stopped me losing weight.

WannaDizzolve

Whole grain and minimal. i've really cut down on processed "white" foods, like potatoes and sugar. But i don't feel like any carbs are my friends, really.

Mikel19842013

Looking to drop some pounds big time.

Mikel19842013

I'd just look up the glycemic index of foods and use that to judge if a carb is 'good' or 'bad'.

Look up the GI of white bread versus whole wheat bread. they are basically the same. So if you consider white bread bad then whole wheat is hardly even a marginal improvement. Same is really true for cerial or pretty much anything made of grain that tastes good.

to get a really low glycemic bread it has to be made of spelt or some other exotic grain.

So the lower the GI then the more healthy the carb is?

No_Finish_Line

Im doing wholewheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes, bran flakes and wholegrain bread.

Are all these good, anything else I could add in there?

i see no fruit or vegetables on your list, the two lowest GI carb sources and the 'cleanest' in my opinion.

Mikel19842013

Im doing wholewheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes, bran flakes and wholegrain bread.

Are all these good, anything else I could add in there?

i see no fruit or vegetables on your list, the two lowest GI carb sources and the 'cleanest' in my opinion.

Nah I do eat plenty of fruit and veg. I wasn't aware that they contained carbs though. I'm not a body builder or a fitness fanatic so I have little knowledge of things like GI or anything like that. As far as I was aware, carbs came from starchy foods ie rice, taters, pasta and the like and I try eat them in balance with my meals. Just looking to drop weight to be healthier.

No_Finish_Line

So the lower the GI then the more healthy the carb is?

GI is how likely a food is to raise your blood sugar. if your blood sugar is too high, your body relases insulin and forces the sugar in your blood to be transformed into fat and stored in fat cells.

Thats probably an oversimplification, but thats basically what its measuring. So the lower the GI the better from a weight loss perspective. and it leads to some surprising revelations about what foods are really good for you.

the nutritionist told me that if i wanted to lose weight i'd be better off eating a donut then a begal. the donuts GI is actually lower (fat helps reduce insulin response) and its the same or fewer calores then the bagel (typically).

I grew up with the food pyramid with grains and cerials at the bottom. so i thought that was what you were supposed to eat the most of... turns out that food pyramid was funded by General Mills

No_Finish_Line

Nah I do eat plenty of fruit and veg. I wasn't aware that they contained carbs though. I'm not a body builder or a fitness fanatic so I have little knowledge of things like GI or anything like that. As far as I was aware, carbs came from starchy foods ie rice, taters, pasta and the like and I try eat them in balance with my meals. Just looking to drop weight to be healthier.

wouldn't fret to much about the finer points.

just try to eat at the calories it tells you and log all your foods, the site will tell you if your getting to much carbs, and you'll see what foods they are in.

honestly thats going to take you very far if your honest and accurate. if and when that stops being effective, then its time for more research. Unless its something you enjoy learning about.

but in that case i strongly suggest you just do your own research... you'll usually get every possible answer when you ask a question on the forum, some helpful, some not, all heavily influenced by personal opinion.

Mikel19842013

Nah I do eat plenty of fruit and veg. I wasn't aware that they contained carbs though. I'm not a body builder or a fitness fanatic so I have little knowledge of things like GI or anything like that. As far as I was aware, carbs came from starchy foods ie rice, taters, pasta and the like and I try eat them in balance with my meals. Just looking to drop weight to be healthier.

wouldn't fret to much about the finer points.

just try to eat at the calories it tells you and log all your foods, the site will tell you if your getting to much carbs, and you'll see what foods they are in.

honestly thats going to take you very far if your honest and accurate. if and when that stops being effective, then its time for more research. Unless its something you enjoy learning about.

but in that case i strongly suggest you just do your own research... you'll usually get every possible answer when you ask a question on the forum, some helpful, some not, all heavily influenced by personal opinion.

Cheers, thanks for your help and everybody else that contributed to the post.

jennaworksout

this is also a good read, comes from a primal website but for some general knowledge on carb counting

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-carbohydrate-continuum/#axzz2KiIz5Z4i