Carbohydrates and Cutting: George Platt

October 12, 2015

 When it comes to eating healthy, many people assume that carbs are bad for you and start to cut them out of their diet, which makes your nutrition very boring and actually isn't necessary at all.

 

In actual fact, if you're looking to lose weight you still shouldn't decrease your carbs to less than 40% of your total macronutrients. You simply don't need to, and you'll be making things harder for yourself if you do!

 

 

Q: What are macronutrients?

A: Protein, Carbs and Fat. - The main 3 things that equate to calories. 
Note: (Carbs and Protein each have 4 calories per gram while Fat has 9).

 

So George, you're telling me if I'm cutting, eating 1800 calories per day I can still get 720 kcals worth of carbs into my diet? Yes, exactly. (Just so you know, that's 180g).

 

It's all about your macronutrient totals. If you keep your carbs and protein at 40%, and your fat at 20%, you'll positively alter your body composition and will start to see fat melt away while maintaining your muscle through the consumption of your protein as well.

 

What carbs can I eat? Are there bad carbs, such as sweets/crisps and sugars?

 

Okay, we refer to things like potatoes, pasta and other whole sources of carbohydrates as "Complex carbs" this is because they take longer for the body to absorb, as they contain a number of vitamins, minerals and fibre.

 

Things like sweets, crisps and sugar are referred to as "Simple carbs", as the body is able to process these very quickly due to their monosaccharide foundation. The reason they're not so good is because they can increase insulin resistance and cholesterol.

 

Don't be afraid though! Although simple carbs aren't as good for you, it's still perfectly fine to consume them as part of a well balanced diet. So all of those cravings you get can easily be fixed by having a small packet of sweets. It's just advisable for you to get the majority of your carbohydrates through complex carbs, as they're healthier and will make you feel better!

 

**GAME-CHANGER**

Now then. We know that complex carbs are better for us, but what would the difference be on our bodies if we were to consume 720kcals worth of sweets instead of complex carbs? 

Nothing.

You read correctly... NOTHING.

There is no difference to your body composition.

So can I go and eat loads of sweets now and I'll get lean?!?!?!?

No.

Wait, what?!

You're forgetting that sweets don't just contain carbohydrates... a lot of simple carbs are obviously formed up of carbs, protein and fat. So you need to make sureyou're still eating 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat... 

If you can fit them into your macronutrient breakdown, then you can eat them and your body composition will not be affected.

 

Just incase you didn't catch that; for instance, if a packet of sweets contained 30g carbs, 5g protein and 10g fat, this would be worth 230 calories in total (120kcals carbs, 20kcals protein, 90kcals fat), so you would need to make sure that the other foods you're eating allow you to add the packet of sweets into your nutrition for the day. 120kcals is not a lot, so it's easy to add them in; it may just mean you'll have to eat less carbs/fat and more protein in another meal.

 

Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay shredded.
 

 

 If you'd like any more tips, be sure to check out my Instagram @GeorgePFitness93 and my YouTube @GeorgePFitness

 


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