Carbs Carbs Carbs!

When trying to "lose weight" or "drop fat" or whatever term you want to use, Carbs are the first thing we demonise and cut out or limit. There's evidence to show benefits from a low carbohydrate lifestyle, but wouldn't we best off knowing how many we need per day?

Think of Carbs as fuel... petrol/diesel, whatever floats your boat. If you're sedentary and do very little exercise, the chances are you don't need that many carbs, just like a car, if it goes nowhere then there's no point in keeping putting fuel in.

On the other hand, if you're active, use the gym a lot, go for walks, go jogging, cycling etc. then yes there's an argument for consuming more.

What happens when we consume carbs?

So you're sat on the sofa watching Netflix on a Tuesday night and you eat a bowl of pasta, 6 Jaffa cakes, some lovely Edinburgh shortbread and a banana. What will happen to it? Well, them carbs are going to be swimming round your blood pretty quickly, and this is where Insulin gets involved. What insulin does with these carbs is dependent on your activity levels. If you've trained and need refuelling, then the chances are they'll be transported into muscle cells ready to go again. If you haven't trained or the muscles are full, then Insulin will shove them carbs in to fat cells.

One thing we monitor closely on the 12 week plan is carb intake, making sure its enough but not too much, and also making wiser choices.