Craving carbs? Eat them!
OK, have I got your attention?
Today on the phone with my client Sandra (not her real name), the subject again reared its ugly (and hungry) head. Fear of carbs. Otherwise known as carbophobia.
I bring this up today because Sandra is not alone in freezing up in the face of carbohydrates. Even the healthy ones. As a matter of fact, I have had no less than 3 conversations with clients about this in this week alone. So I know it is a monkey on the backs of many. Perhaps it’s on yours, too.
I can – and have been known to – (just as I did with Sandra) go on and on about this topic because it is fear of carbs that has made many of us fatter than ever. How’s that? Let me explain.
Not all carbs are created equal
You know already that all carbs are not created equal. You can see the difference between a bowl of brown rice and a twinkie as good as the next person.
Now, intellectually you know they are not in the same league. Yet when it comes down to actually eating that heaping plate of brown rice, potatoes, or sweet potatoes, you may – even subconsciously – be gripped with the same fear. It’s almost an unspoken second language among women who have struggled with their weight.
Craving carbs? – eat them!
What? Eat them? Remember, we’ve already agreed that not all carbs are created equal. Yet there’s another very important thing you can do to finish defogging the glass on this one.
More often than not, when a client books a consultation with me to find solutions to their weight and energy problems, one of their concerns comes up quickly in the conversation. And often it looks like this: “I can’t stop craving carbs!” Or “I’m having trouble with carbohydrate cravings.”
I usually press for details, by asking something like “Oh, well, specifically what did you eat or want to eat?”
“Cookies” is a common answer. Or, “Chocolate! ”
To which I answer, “Well, cookies get a big chunk of their calories from fat.”
A quick Google search for “cookie ingredients” brought up a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with the analysis of:
calories per cookie: 266
total grams of fat per cookie: 12.4
I’ll do the math. At 9 calories per gram, this cookie packs 112 of those 266 calories in pure fat.
That’s 42% of those 266 calories kids. These cookies are almost half fat. Don’t just blame the carbs here.
PLUS the carbs in these cookies are processed, fiber deficient, and flavor enhanced. So what are we really craving here? How about a pleasurable biochemical cascade (quick rush) from fat and concentrated sugars?
Let’s level the playing field here. If were were really “craving carbs” then a bowl of brown rice should do it, shouldn’t it?
But when we’re at a carbohydrate deficit, we can’t get the quick rush we get from high fat, high sugar items out of our minds.
Now that we’ve got that straight, let’s clarify my “Craving carbs? Eat them!” comment, just in case you’ve still got whiplash from that one.
Quality carbohydrates for fuel from early in the day makes ‘cravings’ for sugar-and-fat junk food dissolve.
Has this every happened to you?
You resolve to ‘eat better’ today. You have a residual fear of carbohydrate – carbophobia – that has you limiting your oatmeal, measuring out 1/2 cup of rice, or carefully portioning your potato.
And bread? Fuhgedabout it!
Then about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, you can’t get the cookies, or crackers – or whatever flavor your ‘cravings’ happen to take – out of your mind and before you know it you are shattering your nails and self-esteem ripping open the cake mix.
I used to do this. Open face sandwich (1 piece of bread only!), or 1/2 potato at lunch. Then come early afternoon? Stay away from my cookie dough and no one gets hurt.
The psychological pain of this, to someone who is fat and overweight at the same time as I was for lo those many years, is devastating.
Yet it can take decades – as apparently it did in my case – to get that eating more generously of those healthy whole grains and starchy vegetables, along with my veggies and legumes and fruits, was far better for my weight loss goals in the long run than holding out with white-knuckle hunger to only dive face-first into the brownie mix. D’oh!
Carbohydrate is our most important fuel and we can’t fool mother nature for long by denying that. Hence, the desire for fast carbohydrate in all its unhealthiest forms seizes our eating behaviors in spite of our best intentions.
What about fighting carb cravings by eating fat?
Women have gotten it through the gravevine that if they only eat more fat, they will reduce their carb cravings. The truth is, fats in our diet other than the essential fats, in balance, that are found in whole foods, hinders the work of insulin to shuttle sugar from the bloodstream into the muscles. This can contribute to insulin resistance and can create its own carbohydrate cravings. Whole, high fiber and low in fat carbohydrates will allow a solid shuttle of energy into the muscles – and the brain – where you absolutely need them as primary fuel.
We don’t want to “fight” anything. Work WITH your body and watch carbophobia fade
Craving carbs means your body is sending the message that you need them for fuel. It’s a mix up to respond with processed sugars and starches. Lumping them in the same category as real, whole food carbs as primary fuel has gotten us into a lot of trouble.
Derail your jones for junkfood by responding to your body’s need- and desire – for quality carbohydrate, to satisfaction, early in the day, and watch that overwhelming craving for cr*p be barely a memory.
Are you getting all the news that’s healthy, fit, happy and hot each week? Click here to join 1,000′s of others + get your weekly health, body shaping and food advice for free from the Plant-Strong Fitness Expert.
Finally someone who doesn’t say all carbs are bad and all carbs need to be cut. And the commenter is wrong when he says ‘no one fears vegetables and fruits’ because many women – myself included -HAVE struggled with whether to eat any fruit or ‘high carb’ vegetables.
Speaking to this as you have, Lani, is very helpful. Thanks so much!
Jennifer
Jennifer, ain’t it a relief? I know, people who have not struggled with their weight don’t always understand the agony we’ve gone through with mistrusting the most healthy of foods. Madness!
Thanks for your post
Hi Lani, my name is Gail and we met earlier this year during the CHIP program. You were very kind to me and helped me make an exercise plan as part of my health changes, along with diet. I was very impressed with how knowledgeable you are and also how you made everything seem so simple.
I am very grateful to you and the entire CHIP program for not only changing but perhaps saving my life with the whole foods low fat diet and education about exercise. I’ve lost 17 pounds and exercise is so much easier now too. It’s so refreshing to read your encouraging words that keep me eating healthy and getting more fit every day.
Thank you!
Gail
Hi Gail! So glad to see you and even more, so glad that your success continues.
I’m thrilled for you and so happy that CHIP and our connection has made a difference. It’s step by step and when we have vision and patience the rewards can be enormous.
You go!
Thanks,
Lani
This article is fascinating and seemed to spark a really interesting discussion yesterday – but unfortunately, I can no longer see most of the comments. Is there a glitch somewhere? It was such a great conversation, with such great information being compared, it would be a shame if it couldn’t be shared.
where did all the comments go? Sorry Lani but if someone doesn’t agree with you’re article and they provide reasoning for doing so why not give them a debate on the topic or at least leave their comments for viewing.
I’m sure you may get some nasty/inappropriate comments from time to time but why censor ones that are just providing a different view?
Hi Petros,
There’s nothing wrong with disagreement at all. And controversy and skepticism keep us honest.
Initial postings of different views were published, responded to, and remained up on the blog for some time until several additional posts, with up to as many as 5 from one individual, also included several libelous and defamatory comments about my Team of Consultants, which is a break in website law and not allowed. In addition, 5 of the posts in the flood of comments from what was obviously the same community were reported to my web admin as spam.
Lani, there is no mention of the hormone leptin in your article. So many carb cravings are driven by leptin resistance which is a consequence of insulin resistance. I really don’t believe you did your readers justice by avoiding this subject as well, no mention of biochemical individuality.
There are many who suffer such horrendous insulin resistance that even a plate of broccoli will send them running for the cookies.
I must disagree with you that that if your body craves carbohydrate it needs it. I’m afraid this just isn’t so. There are essentail amino acids and essential fatty acids. No where in nutrition is there an essential carbohdyrate.
When we study the damaging effects of glycation, we understand how ineffeciently the body really does deal with carbohydrate for the average person.
Misty, I addressed leptin in depth on my Monthly Teleclass Call for July. Not all elements of every challenge are addressed in every pertinent blog, after all!