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posted on September 18, 2020

Have you ever noticed that a lot of “fad diets” really stray away from consumption of carbs or labels will market foods as “low-carb,” this is a primary example of society conditioning us to believe a certain food group is bad without really allowing ourselves to process the truth. I’m going to flat out say it, CARBOHYDRATES ARE NOT BAD.

So, the question remains, why are we conditioned to believe carbs are bad? All good and tasty things we love have carbohydrates in them, such as: pastries, bread and snack foods. Ultimately these are things you want to eat in moderation but the sheer fact that carbs are marketed as bad leads us to believe we shouldn’t eat even the ones that do benefit us. The reality here is if the average person really looked into what they should be eating, we would find that most humans, if not all should be getting in at least 100g – 200g of carbs a day based on their specific needs and daily caloric intake. A lot of times when I have clients come to me I’m noticing if not all are in a deficit and not fueling their body properly, this comes as a shock when I actually start introducing more food into their diets. The responses I get are, “I feel like I’m eating too much,” “I feel like this is way too many carbs” – Mostly these feelings stem from eating whole and nutrient dense carbs (rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes) energy sources that will keep you fuller for a longer period of time vs pastries, bread and snack foods that only curb that hunger feeling for maybe less than an hour.

The reason we see low-carb diets advertised for weight-loss is because it’s an easier grab of the consumers attention then actually taking the time to educate a client on eating in a deficit and working out as a sustainable approach. This is why diet culture is insanely toxic for the human mind/body and also at the same time very profitable. Like I said in part one of my Nutrition Debunking series, quick-fixes do not yield long-term results. The idea here that makes diet culture so profitable is that it requires the consumer to continuously come back for more, it’s basically an endless cycle of dieting. Do you really want to spend your entire life dieting on and off? I’d hope not. Telling the consumer carbs are bad or to eat low-carb creates lack of trust in an energy sources that our bodies need, we’ll get used to eating a lower and lower amount of calories until we are starving ourselves and then we’ll binge and find ourselves chasing that low-carb diet again that some Instagram influencer told us to do because juice cleanses are needed to feel “refreshed” again.

Honestly, aren’t you sick of dieting? Aren’t you tired of always feeling like you can’t have this or that? True nutrition education teaches nutrition professionals how to bring awareness to sustainable weight-loss that yields long-term results, habit building and trust creating relationships with all types of food. The truth to the whole “carbs are bad” or eating only “low-carb” is that it’s indeed fake news. You can have that doughnut or muffin and go about your day not feeling bad or feeling like you threw your whole day off because of one thing. Allow yourself to have the pastry and then go about your day choosing whole and nutrient dense foods, making good choices that fuel your body and making sure you are eating around your body weight in protein.

It is my ultimate goal to educate people on eating well and never telling yourself you can’t have something because honestly thats just dumb, why would you ever avoid foods that make you happy. Life is all about balance and being insanely restrictive isn’t fun, it creates stress, makes you unhappy and feel inadequate – Trust me I’ve done the whole restrictive thing. When we let ourselves enjoy we want it less, the desire to binge becomes undesirable and honestly we become a happier, healthier version of ourself.

If you’re ever curious as to what you should be consuming, grab me and pull me to the side in the gym or DM me on Instagram (@jlemay). I’d rather spend 30 min with you making sure you are fueling your body and feeling your best than have you spend the rest of your life feeling like you have no idea what you’re doing or that you’re not seeing the results you want to see.