Part 3: Carbs and Weight Loss

It's our 3rd and final part of our episodes on sugar.

In part 3 we are talking all things carbohydrates. This is by far one of the more confusing topics for clients - partly because we have all been taught to fear carbs.
We go into the different types of carbs, and what carbs do for our body. We also talk about what happens if you decrease carbs for too long and how this could be the reason for thyroid issues, unbalanced blood sugar and weight loss resistance!

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Featured Mocktails:
Spindrift - https://www.instagram.com/drinkspindrift/
LMNT - https://www.instagram.com/drinklmnt/

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

0:23

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey. And this is Brianna. This week I am drinking a Spendrift. I don't think I've done one of these on an episode yet. I don't think so. But it's super simple and I actually usually hate like sparkling waters and everything, but I needed to switch up so I found these at Sam's and got a huge variety pack. They literally the only ingredients in this one is carbonated water and Lemon juice no added sugars. I really liked the lemon and the grapefruit one. They also, they taste like high noons without the alcohol, obviously. Oh, I was going to say, those would probably be good in like a cocktail or even a mocktail, you know, cause it's just the water and the lemon. But they're really good. I like them. I've seen them at Target too. So they're easy to find. I see them all the time. I just don't think I've even had one. I recommend it. I'm having the, what is this? The chocolate chai element chocolate chai. It's like a hot one. I needed something a little cozy today. Fighting sickness in my house. So it makes me feel just like better. It's pretty good. Like, I don't really taste much chai. Is that a new one? I think so. They sent me a sample pack of chocolate raspberry, chocolate chai, and chocolate something else. And it's all for hot. It's decent. It's interesting. I like it, but, you know, I figured I need a little more extra minerals and this would make me feel soothed. Just need extra help. So yeah, it's pretty good actually. I love chai. I do too. I wanted it to be a little bit more chai flavored, but it's still good. Today we are talking about carbs. This is kind of like a part three. Part one was added versus natural sugars. Part two was like our artificial sweeteners. We can call this a part three on just carbs in general because carbs I feel like have been almost like demonized especially. in our weight loss area and they're super confusing to a lot of people where they don't necessarily have to be and I think carbs are like the one thing that everyone's like carbs are fattening if I'm working on weight loss, like let's just get rid of them because that makes it easy. So. We're going to jump in today, let you know why you do need carbs and kind of give you some insight. Like what, what are we talking about when we talk about carbs? what's their role in weight loss? Why should we just not eliminate them? Yeah, I haven't seen this going around as often, but probably during the summer time, there is like all these things going around of like, you know, carbohydrate isn't an essential nutrient because our bodies can make glucose. Smells like everything. Relax, relax. Like, yes, that's true. But our bodies can make glucose from things that aren't originally glucose because we are so dependent on it. So I don't think like we should look at that as like, Oh, our bodies can make it. We don't need it as like, we don't need it to me. I'm like, that tells me our bodies absolutely must have it. So the fact that it can make it from other things is like, okay. My body likes this to be optimal. So like, let's not cut it out. It was crazy. That's a good way to look at it. Like, if your body has to have this process to make it, if you don't have enough, then I would say it's a pretty important macronutrient. It is one of our macros, because you have your carbs, your fat, and your protein for macros. I mean, like, keto diet is super popular. I feel like everyone knows what keto is. To truly be keto, it is, more than just eating bacon and cheese. Yes. And I think that is something super important to differentiate. And, I mean, yeah, most people are going to get, like, the keto flu symptoms because your body is trying to switch to not needing those carbs. And now we're trying to, like, make it its own, also survive. And if you're going from a really hard High carb diet then you're switching now to little very little carbs. Yeah. You will not feel great. And I honestly, I don't like keto at all, really. And I don't really recommend it for anyone. I recommend for anyone Yeah. Well, and that's the thing too. Let's say epilepsy, yes. It was created for kids with epilepsy to literally starve their brains. So that they had less activity going on and they would have less seizures. So that's like what the keto flu is, is your brain is being starved of glucose. It doesn't feel good. And I hate to burst everyone's bubble because everyone's like, Oh, keto. It's really difficult to be in ketosis. And it's very easy to get out of ketosis. So anyone that's like, yeah, I drink you're not in ketosis. Like, I hate to tell you that. You're not. And also it's just, it's not a good way for your body to survive. And I think everyone gets that quick gratification of like, I lost so much weight on keto so fast. You literally lost water weight because you cut out carbs and carbs hold on to water. And we'll get into that more too. But with that being said, carbs are your main source of energy because Carbs are broken down into glucose, and then they're essentially sent to the cells. There's a whole process that happens so that now you have energy for your body to function. Now, carbs are also stored in your liver and your muscles as glycogen. With that being said, you don't just have like this unlimited amount of storage in your liver and muscles. It's kind of like short terms. Well, not short term. It's like there's a limited amount of space and your liver muscles to store this glycogen. So if you overdo it on carbohydrates, that is when, when you have excess, it's going to be converted and stored as fat. So, I mean, well, we'll save that conversation for a second, but I mean, other roles of carbohydrates, it is going to help regulate your blood sugar. Or, I mean, it kind of goes both ways. It's going to help make sure you don't drop too low, but also if you eat too many carbs at one time, then you're going to get really high. So we want to find that good balance for you. I mean, certain carbs are going to help lower cholesterol. It's going to help your gut health. Reduce cravings. That's one thing. As another, like, it could go both ways. Like, if you're not eating enough carbs, maybe your body is telling you to eat carbs because it needs more. Yeah. Or, if you're overdoing it on carbs, maybe your body is just on this blood sugar roller coaster all day. So then, when you're dropping, now it's saying, Hey, give me more carbs. Because that felt really nice. And usually that's from, like, Well, first of all, people just don't, we have like inconsistent eating patterns. So that's really like a lot where that comes from. But I see this a lot with dieting because, you know, usually people are like, Oh, I have really bad sugar cravings. Like I have bad sugar cravings and I can't get it under control. And I see that a lot with women who are under eating and under eating carbs. It's just your biological response to being. hungry and needing that source, you're going to crave sugar because that's a fast way to get it. And then if you're on that roller coaster, it's probably because you, you try to be really quote unquote good. And so you cut out carbs and then you sit down to a meal that you just all of a sudden are like, I'm hangry and you overdo it. Or you finally give into those sweets and you have way too much of them. And so then, you know, so I find that people have an easier time when they're just being more consistent with it. Yes. That consistency piece, it gets us every time. Every time. So it'll help, like, even if you do have diabetes or insulin resistance, or you're on something like meta metaformin, metformin, then we really want that consistency. To be there and that's gonna help regulate your blood sugar levels in that spot. Yeah other things With carbs, I mean it can even help improve moods because if we're not up and down on our blood sugar Then we're gonna feel a whole bunch better, too And that's the thing too when it comes to carbs. They tend to be like Our emotional cripple a little bit where it's like we're stressed, we've had a bad day. We come home, we're like, I just need a piece of cake, or something like that. Mm-Hmm because you're gonna get like a dopamine hit. And yeah, it does feel good emotional eating, just like with anything isn't bad in itself. It becomes more of like a problem when that's your only way to cope with a crazy day at work. Like you really have to identify these feelings. This is a whole nother topic, but you have to identify what is actually going on, what is actually going to help, especially if you are on the journey of weight loss. Because again, we will see women under eat. They have a really hard day at work and it's like they almost can't control their emotional eating and they're really just working against themselves. So, you know, and emotional eating is a very real thing. Like there's a whole like, you know, people that truly struggle with emotional eating and I'm totally like there with you. Not all emotional eating is bad. Like we use food for a lot of things, but it's when people just feel like really out of control. Maybe it's kind of leading to more of like a binge type thing. That's usually because, again, we're inconsistent with our eating. And I'm not going to say, like, oh gosh, if you just eat consistently and balance your blood sugar, like, you won't emotionally eat. Like, no, there's still people that will, like, have that issue. But I find so many women think, like, I'm an emotional eater or I binge every night. And truly, they don't have a problem with that. It's just they're starving all day and usually lacking carbs. Absolutely. Other things they can help with. I mean, once you have better blood sugar balance and regulate those carbohydrates, you're going to sleep better. So that feels good. And then again, finding that balance will help with weight loss. If you're getting these carbs in, weight loss does not equal eat no carbs. Correct. And when we're really focusing on weight loss. What we really want is body composition change, and we want fat loss, and we want to be increasing our lean mass. It is very hard to build and maintain muscle when you don't eat carbohydrates. And part of that is because of those glycogen stores, you know, we were talking about. The more muscle you have, the bigger your glycogen stores are. The more glucose you can store, the better you can manage your blood sugar. Yada, yada, yada. So if you're not Like, everybody wants to think protein in terms of muscle, which is absolutely true. You need to be eating adequate protein, and we talk about that all the time. But I have seen so many women be stuck in a plateau or a rut because they're avoiding carbs. And I think it is kind of a scary part to work to increase because, I mean, social media has demonized carbs. So, of course, when people come to us working on weight loss, we're like, No, we need to add carbs here. Like, you're working out four days a week and doing strength training. Like, you're a pretty active person, and you're only eating maybe a serving of carbs each day. your body is screaming for some fuel. Your muscles need some Glycogen store so they they can lift better you start lifting heavier at the gym, which does not equal bulking up or anything like that That's going to equal more lean muscle mass, which increases your metabolism. So, eating enough carbs can actually help with weight loss. And it makes it, it makes it more sustainable. That's the other thing too, is like, you become so much more metabolically flexible when you eat carbs, you maintain muscle, you burn more at rest. It's what everybody wants to achieve. It's just the unsexy way to achieve it, so I feel like that's why people don't. Yeah. We're scared. It's terrifying. And I feel like, when we think of carb cutting, I mean, it just seems so much easier to just get rid of carbs than learn how to balance them and learn where your body needs them. But I will say, like, carbs, again, they're not inherently, like, if you eat carbs, you're going to gain fat. Anything in excess can lead to weight gain. That's just a fact. So yeah, if you eat too much carbs, yeah, it can lead to weight gain, but it's not just like, oh, it's just carbs are the problem. It can be a triad of different things, to be honest. So then, if you're looking at those who have cut carbs, you're like, well, they have lost so much weight. Well, first of all, most people are cutting out their main carbohydrates, like your breads, your pastas, like rice, things like that, what we typically think of carbs. And It will work great at first because the typical American diet is high, higher in carbs, I would say. I mean, it kind of depends on the person. It's kind of just a general blanket statement. But, our typical American diet is higher in carbs, so when you start to take those out, it can eliminate a lot of foods that you're typically easily overeating. And then You're going to lose water weight, kind of how you mentioned carbs are stored with water. So if you decrease your carbs, you're also going to flush out water. So that's why you'll kind of see that quick weight fluctuation on the flip side. This is also why you can see a quick weight gain if you are going out to eat like every Saturday, Sunday, or if every weekend is like a cheat day weekend, then if you're going crazy on the carbohydrates, yeah, your weight's going to be up because you're holding on to water. You're not gaining that much fat that quickly. No, you're probably, it's like very minimal. It's that whole weight gain that people have. Like I stepped on the scale on Monday and I gained seven pounds. That is water because you had carbs for the first time all week. And you overdid it because you didn't have carbs all week and you know, and so it's like this up and down thing people do Yeah, it's this is why I hate using the scale as your primary measure for weight gain or weight loss Because it's not the best indicator at all Like it's so easy for your weight to fluctuate and go up and down based on so many things. It's not true fat gain or fat loss And I would say like we do get some people that are overeating carbohydrates that we can adjust it there and we all get we also get the flip side of under eating carbohydrates like we mentioned and it's like one of the roles that carbs Play in our body is within your thyroid health we had mentioned carbs are a main energy source and part of this energy It's not just like energy to run its energy for your body to also function. So like fueling your thyroid gland Your thyroid gland needs energy to produce T4 and T3 hormones, which in turn regulate your metabolism. So, if you're eating adequate amounts, this is going to give your thyroid gland a steady glucose supply to convert your Inactive thyroid to active, so T4 to T3. So, with that, if you're not eating enough carbohydrates now, this is going to create lower amounts of T3, and this is what can lead to actually Thyroid dysfunction, plus your metabolism being thrown off. Yeah. And we see like, there's so many women that have Hashimoto's, which is an autoimmune, which is a hypothyroid. Your, your thyroid isn't functioning correctly, but your thyroid can be under functioning or you can have thyroid dysfunction and not have Hashimoto's. And I see like this a lot with women who. No carbs, no carbs, no carbs. I'm trying to lose weight, I'm trying to lose weight. And then over time, you're leading to this like weight loss resistance almost because your thyroid is just like not working optimally. Your thyroid is like the thermostat to your metabolism. So if you think about it, calories is like a measurement, like it, it's like a Our bodies are hot, right? We like burn energy. It's hot. So if you think about like the thyroid kind of like Manipulating how hot your body runs. That's like a very simplified way of like trying to explain it But if you know, it's like turn up the thermostat if you turn it up higher you're gonna burn more you're gonna be like, you know Optimizing everything in your body if it's turned down You're not gonna be having like an optimal metabolism and Other things in your body are going to stop working as efficiently because your body is going to be like, okay, we're running real low here, real cold. What is the absolute mandatory, you know, high priority things we need to do? Let's do them. And then other things are going to not be done. Like your resting metabolic rate, your digestive system, it's going to slow. It's going to, and you're just going to feel sluggish. Mm hmm. Yeah. So, I mean, the amount of carbs you need. It also depends person to person. So that's why we're also not going to sit here and be like, everyone go eat a hundred grams of carbs. Like, yeah, that's how much the ADA says you need for like cognitive function, but other than that, everyone is so different, I would say in general. Because we don't really focus on calories, but I do calculate kind of macros for my people and I kind of just keep it to myself and help guide them in that way, unless they really want to know. And it's a helpful tool, but I would say about like around 40 percent of your calories for, for carbohydrates is kind of a good starting point. Yeah, like for your overall macros. Yeah, people are not eating that. Yeah. And like I said, I've seen both. sides of it where we're over eating or under eating. And really this amount that you need is going to depend on how active are you? Like, are you strength training twice a week? Are you strength training four times a week? Are you constantly moving all day? Are you not moving all day? Do you have thyroid disorders? Are you more carb adapted? And also learning to adjust based on how your body feels. And this is an important part is you know your body best. You know, when something's off. So if you are like, okay, I'm going to work on decreasing my carbs. I mean, there's an adjustment period probably. But if you are like dragging for a week because of this carb decrease, well, maybe you just need a little bit more there. Or maybe you've decreased your carbs, but you haven't increased anything else. And now you're just running on like a really low amount of food because your habits were to eat a lot of these high processed, easy, convenient foods. And so now you're just not eating because I see that a lot too, like people are just like, yeah, I cut out carbs, but, um, they didn't like add it in anything, anywhere. So that's another thing. I mean, again, nutrition is not just. Do this, not that type of thing. It's, there's always a lot of factors that can kind of go into making tweaks to what you're eating on an everyday basis. That's why we can't, like, if you send us what you ate in a day, like, I mean, yeah, it could be a little helpful, but it doesn't really help too much. No. No, there's so much more that we need to know. There's so much more that we need to know. And that's why, too, like, copying someone else's, what they eat in a day. Is not a good strategy either. Like I like doing like the, what I eat in a day to like give people ideas, but I think some people take it like, Ooh, I need to eat exactly like that because I want to look exactly like that or I want to be that exact weight. And that's just not how it works. So I think the best thing that you could do to overall feel your best and to lose weight is to really like get okay with the idea that you're different. You're like your own. Yeah, you're your own person. Things run differently. Like, and where are you at in your life? Are you postmenopausal premenopausal? Are you pregnant? Are you breastfeeding? Do you have an autoimmune disease? How long have you been dieting? Do you have insulin resistance? Like there's so many things, but I will say that no matter where you're at, everybody does need carbs. And I think that's a big takeaway people need to understand because. The whole blood sugar thing is hot right now And I think I know people think this I know people think if I don't eat carbs my blood sugar isn't gonna spike So that's what i'm doing and that's incorrect It can actually cause more blood sugar issues as well. So I guess last thing we should touch on is the type of carbohydrates. I think that would be important. So types of carbohydrates. I mean, you have your sugars, you have your starches, you have like your fiber. So kind of breaking that down. I mean, you have simple and complex carbohydrates. Your simple carbohydrates are going to be your sugars, so broken down this into your monosaccharides. This is going to be your glucose, your fructose, your galactose. That is like your broken down sugars. And then your simple is going to affect your blood sugar more because it has quick absorption. It's go easier. Whereas your compl those are those starches gonna be digested slower. stabilize your blood suga that sustained energy. Ye you actually don't digest like you can digest and a simple carbohydrates with ones you don't. And so th You know, which helps you have regular bowel movements. It helps to ferment your good gut bacteria. It helps to synthesize shorty chain fatty acids. And so with these more complex ones, it actually helps your gut health, helps to eliminate toxins. And it also helps to improve glucose tolerance and cellular insulin sensitivity. So you can see that these are important if you're trying to regulate blood sugar. And if you're trying to lose weight and if you're trying to be healthy, right? Like all these things that carbs do for you, you need, and then even like those fibers. It's going to help you stay forward for longer, kind of expands in your stomach. It's slowing down that digestion. Again, it helps with that gut health, especially like eliminating toxins. So it's like the detox process that we all love that you don't have to spend a lot of money on. Yeah, you need to eat some. Eat some fiber. Absolutely. Just go eat some fiber. And it also is going to help like eliminate excess hormones, which is an important part as well. That's your, when we say hormones, like we're meaning things like, you know, cholesterol, estrogen, stuff like that. Mm-Hmm. So eating more fiber, which is found in carbohydrates, it's not found anywhere else. It's found in carbohydrates, is going to help you have a more optimal cholesterol, which helps heart health, more optimal hormone health, which helps with all sorts of, there's all kinds of issues that stem from having excess hormones in your body. Absolutely. So basically, the quality of your carbohydrates do matter. I mean, like I said, reducing the amount of carbohydrates or maybe the type of carbohydrates you're doing can be beneficial for some, but some people may also need to increase their carbohydrates as well. And that's where we kind of come in and help you, whether it's It's one on one or a metabolism makeover. Yeah. And I would say this is where, cause I know we're going to get questions like, how many do I need? You really do have to work with someone so we can sit down and figure out the whole picture because a lot goes into it and everyone is different, but everyone does need carbs. And you know, like I like to say, like not all carbs are created equal and some people get upset with that, but it's true, right? Like our diet is typically higher and a lot of refined. Processed box foods and breads and you know, you can't go like a muffin from starbucks is going to be different than having a whole grain like a sandwich with whole grain bread. It's not the same. They're both carbohydrates, but what they do in your body as far as inflammation, as far as like, you know, insulin needs as far as blood sugar fiber, all that. It's completely different. So I think We've tried to oversimplify it and I think that's where like the confusion with carbs has come in because they're just like oh like cut out carbs or cut out white foods and It'll be fine, but it's much more complex than that. Like not all carbs are bad. Mm hmm. Typically, we're eating high carbs that don't they're not doing a lot for us except giving us a lot of quick energy That for a lot of us, we don't need that much all the time. A lot of us are not going out and like farming. Yeah, exactly. We're not. We're like going back to work and sitting at our desk for like another five hours before we leave. So. Or we're not like athletes in college that are working out two, three times a day. Yeah, we're not like 22 year old swimmers. Okay. We're just not. So. So I think that. It completes our little series. We had a three part series there. So, if you missed the other two, be sure to check them out. And next week we're going to dive into why you're gaining weight every weekend. We kind of gave a little bit of a snip, snippet, snip, snip. Snip, snip, snip, snip. Snip, snip, snip, snip. It's one of those words. We give a little bit more sneak peek. And we give you a little sprinkle as to maybe why. Yeah. Yeah, you could be gaining over the weekends. We'll be diving into that and it's kind of perfect timing. Maybe, I mean, it's right after Valentine's day is when it'll be. So if you go on a valentine's day and the next day you're like, why is this scale up? Maybe this will answer some of your questions. Oh my gosh, I had dessert and a glass of wine and I gained all my weight back. Did you? We'll see. Maybe you did. You probably didn't. Meh. You didn't. But. Yes. Well, we're going to talk about why. And I think it is a good time because this is about the time of year where people kind of fall off their fitness and nutrition journeys. Spring break is coming up soon. So everyone will kind of be panicking for like this quick fixes. So yeah, it'll be good. tune in next week and have a great rest of your week. One more day to get through and then it's Friday if you're listening to this on Thursday. Oh yeah, I was like, is this Tuesday today? But yeah, I get it. When you're listening, it'll almost be Friday. So yeah, we'll uh, we will talk to you guys next week. Bye everyone.