Even though the keto diet has been around for what feels like forever, I’ve had a number of questions about carbs/fruit/sugar in the past couple weeks.
Are they “bad”?
Will they cause me to not lose weight?
Are they going to be in the Super Bowl Halftime Show?
(okay, maybe not that last one)
First things first, there is not a governing body that decides if a food is “good” or “bad”. You do. I highly encourage you not to put food in good/bad groups, but rather have them on a scale of most nutritious to least nutritious. (And obvi. we should try to have more nutritious foods more of the time and less nutritious foods less of the time.)
Fruits, especially berries, are some of the most nutritious foods you can eat. You’d be pretty hard-pressed (juice pun anyone?) to find a doctor that tells you not to eat blueberries or blackberries.
If your goal is weight maintenance or gain, you should try to have nutritious foods 80% of the time and less nutritious foods 20% or less of the time.
If your goal is weight loss, you have 3 choices:
- Restrict calories by decreasing carbs from your diet
- Restrict calories by decreasing fat from your diet
- Moderately restricting both carbs & fat from your diet
Just because the internet loves to talk about option 1 right now, doesn’t mean that it’s the best. Give it another year and option 2 will be in the spotlight.
The reason most diets fall is that people cannot stick with them for the length of time required to meet their goal.
I most frequently recommend that people begin a weight loss diet with a moderate restriction of carbs and fat because it’s the easiest adjustment to your life. Then we can see if you are missing any foods. If you’re longing for avocado and cheese, we might go low carb so you have enjoy those fat sources. If you’re longing for bread and pasta, we might go low fat. It all depends on the you.
So, long story short: Fruit is a very nutritious food. Eating fruit is not “bad”. Eating carbs is not “bad”. Eating an excessive amount of fruit (or any food) is unhealthy/bad. But fruit gets bonus points because it’s harder to overeat than chips, pizza and cookies.
RECIPE: Sweet Potato Bowls
Here’s a recipe to jumpstart your love affair with carbs.
Ingredients- 2 servings
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (approx. 500 grams)
- 10 brussels sprouts
- 10 oz chicken breast
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 2 Tbsp. bbq sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Slice sweet potato and brussels sprouts.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and bake sweet potato/brussels for approx. 30 minutes.
- Cook chicken and onion on a skillet over medium heat while veggies are in the oven.
- Toss with bbq sauce and divide into two bowls.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Info (per serving):
- Total Calories = 485
- Protein: 38 grams
- Carbs: 73 grams
- Fat: 4 grams
Tag me @hellostrength1 on Instagram if you give this recipe a try!