Carbohydrates, the most misunderstood macronutrient, is not bad for you, nor is it the nutrient that is causing you to be overweight. They are foods such as fruits, vegetables, sugars, legumes, beans, breads, rice, pasta and if you haven't already noticed, it's in almost all packaged foods. This is perfect as it is your body's ideal source of energy, as it is the most easily broken down into usable energy and is essential for health and performance physically and mentally.
When you consume carbohydrates, it goes through the digestive system and gets broken down into glucose, the fuel for your body. From there, one of two things can happen. If exercising, that glucose is sent off to those working muscles to provide energy! On the other hand, if you are resting, and all that glucose is just sitting there, your body is going to secrete a hormone called INSULIN! Insulin grabs this surplus of glucose in your blood, and stores it into your muscles and liver, in order to regulate your blood glucose levels. (also known as homeostasis). That's right, you can store glucose (carbohydrates) in your body before it is stored as fat. The capacity of each individual's ability to store glucose varies for males and females and how much muscle mass they have (make sure you do resistance training).
Therefore, your action plan is to do two things. On one hand you will want to regulate how many carbohydrates you consume so that you can prevent any saturation of stored energy in your body, whereby it may be stored as fat. Secondly, it will be a great idea to regularly exercise so that those reserves of stored energy are low, hence preventing fat storage. At Vision Personal Training, we determine specifically how many carbohydrates YOU need based off YOUR height, weight, body type and activity level. This is then monitored through Vision Virtual Training whereby we track how many carbohydrates you consume so that we can help achieve your health and fitness goals!
Good Luck!
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
