When you look at this picture, what do you see?
Most people will see a great Saturday morning breakfast. And it's healthy too, right? After all it's got banana's.
Hopefully now most of you realize I am being sarcastic.
What I see is a massive load of refined carbohydrates. 3 pancakes (refined grains), syrup (pure sugar), bananas (a high sugar fruit) and pecans (a nice healthy touch, but too little, too late). That comes to 783 calories, about 93% of which are from high glycemic sugars, which results in a magnificently counterproductive insulin release, which as we discussed in a prior post is WORST thing for fat loss.
What I want you to begin to see is that food is fuel. And unless you are planning on running a marathon later in the day, there is no way you are going to use all of that energy that you have just eaten.
Don't look at a bowl of ice cream as a delicious reward for ending the day, look at it for what it is - a big bowl of fat and sugar that is to be consumed with caution and at very infrequent intervals.
Remember that food is not your "BFF" (that's Best Friend Forever in text talk), its not your therapist, its not your soul mate and its not your boss. Food is energy to get you through the day and to fuel exercise and recovery from exercise.
Grains/refined carbohydrates should be looked at as currency that can only be purchased with exercise.
Only when you exercise can you "purchase" extra grains. Other than that, you stay away from them.
Fill your fuel tank with fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, beans, fish, and dairy. These are foods that elevate your resting metabolism, keep your muscle building and energy storing hormones in check and keep your hunger levels stable.
Want some carbs? Payment is exercise. Keep in mind there is a direct relationship between the two. You can't run for 5 minutes and then have a stack of pancakes a mile high.
2 comments:
So, when you've had a good work out and you pay yourself with a moderate amount of carbs, or grains do you eat the same amount of calories as a none workout day & just substitute the carb cal for say prot/fat cal? Or do you eat 50-80cal more?
Even if you do have carbohydrates, you need to have protein with it. Again this helps to slow down the insulin release. So lets say you wanted to "buy" some carbohydrates to reward yourself for a great weeks worth of workouts, a couple of scoops of high quality ice cream like Ben and Jerry's would be a GREAT reward. Just don't go rewarding yourself after every workout.
Also remember, it cant be a little namby-pamby 15 minute jaunt on the eliptical. It needs to be a high effort, heavy breathing 45-60 minute, weight lifting workout. You want to reward yourself for a GREAT weeks worth of workouts, not just because you went to the gym once.
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