Food and Health
Do You Eat Carbs?
Uh… What?
Na, I don’t eat carbs.
For my meals, I only eat leaves I pick from the forest near my house.
I make sure I google each leaf’s information to make sure they contain zero carbs.
Leaves and water.
That pretty much sums up my daily nutrition intake.
Carbs are evil! Satan’s food! Do not under any circumstances — eat carbs!
For God sake.
I can’t believe I used to think that question is normal and actually answered it when people asked.
Just show you how ignorant I was.
Carbs had been the reason I gained 10 kgs in the first 3 months I studied in the UK.
Yep, this lady just didn’t know when to stop stuffing her mouth with pizzas #PizzaIsLyfe.
Being a stress eater (runs in the family) didn’t help at all.
The stress of adjusting to new environment and culture, being far away from home and my loved ones, combined with tons of assignments and exams.
It was a recipe for disaster.
My first year in the UK, I had 5 housemates. All girls.
We used to have a movie night on Saturday. Lots of pizzas, snacks from Poundland — buttery biscuits, chocolate fingers, crisps, chocolates and all sorts of the sugary and salty devil.
During those movie nights, I used to devour 7 slices of pizzas (medium size), packets of biscuits and crisps and a whole bunch of other snacks. In ONE GO.
And it was just dinner.
Yep. Carbs were my downfall.
Then I went on a crazy diet. “No carbs! It’s what makes you fat!” I was told.
All I wanted was to lose weight and be skinny (giving myself a slap here).
I religiously drank pure spinach juice every morning (just spinach and water, it was AWFUL. I stopped after my mom told me I would lose all my hair from consuming too much iron). I avoided carbs like a plague and generally stayed away from sugary stuff (this one is actually a good habit).
It was not until much later that I learned there was such thing as ‘good carbs’, and that carbs were a source of our energy (I was working out like mad, with no rhyme or reason, back in my dieting days so I would lose weight fast — another slap for myself).
If only I had taken the time to do a little bit more research.
“Do you eat carbs?”
That’s always one of the first few questions people ask me when they see me.
I’m not as lean or as toned as other fitness trainers I see in social media but I’m quite lean and toned.
The last time I checked my body mass index and fat percentage (a few months ago), I was at the ideal range (just the right amount). I was told I needed to gain a bit more weight but I was happy with my body.
No diet, no going mad with workouts.
Just everything in moderation.
Here’s what I don’t understand.
Why are carbs synonymous with weight gain?
It seems like everybody thinks the reason they gain weight is the sole reason that they eat carbs.
A lot of the people who asked me if I eat carbs seem to think that I eat nothing but salad (grass, according to my grandmother). Just leaves and some other vegetables.
They proudly told me they don’t eat carbs, and then proceeded to eat meat and drink a latte in front of me.
It makes me wonder.
Do they even know what carbs is?
When I asked them, “So, what do you mean when you said you don’t eat carbs?” They replied, “I don’t eat rice, pasta, pizza and noodles.”
…
Okay, I was also guilty of the same error in the past.
I also thought carbs are rice, pasta, and the likes of it.
The reason why people asked me if I eat carbs is also that rice — white rice — is a staple food in my country.
They want to know if you can actually survive without white rice (According to my grandmother, white rice is where the blood comes from. She was worried when she found out I don’t eat white rice. She said, “You won’t have enough blood in your body if you don’t eat white rice!” Apparently, I’ll die if I don’t eat white rice. Bless her.)
Here’s the answer to the question I’ve been asked a million times:
How on Earth can one live without eating carbs?
Even lettuce has carbs (1 cup of lettuce contains 1.04 grams of carbs).
Yes, of course, I eat carbs. As a matter of fact, I eat both good and bad carbs.
Moderation, y’all.
Moderation is the key.
Also, it depends on your fitness goal.
Do you want to just feel good inside out, feel lighter on your feet and not gasping for air climbing up the stairs? Or are you preparing yourself for a bodybuilding contest?
Different goals have different diets (quick note: diet (n) — the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats. NOT starving yourself to death to be size zero).
Carbs are in almost everything (the only thing I can think of that has no carbs is water).
“Yeah, but all those no carbs diets…”
I just googled no carbs diet and here’s a little excerpt from the first article on the page:
It’s “low-carb” not “no carb”. It’s “almost all carbs” not “all carbs”.
Here’s the next paragraph:
While studies show that decreasing your carb intake can help you shed pounds and may have health benefits, completely eliminating carbs is highly restrictive and most likely unnecessary.
It says “highly restrictive and most likely unnecessary” but I don’t even think it’s possible to completely eliminate carbs.
How? Just drinking water and consume nothing else?
Final words
Yes, I do eat carbs.
I just eat like a normal person.
I workout every day with 1 rest day per week.
Martial arts, yoga, HIIT training, running.
I would just drop dead if I don’t eat carbs.
I won’t go into details on information about carbs. If you want to learn more, you should check out Lanu Pitan’s very helpful comprehensive article on carbs:
She also linked a couple of other useful articles on carbs in her article so make sure to check it out.
Health and fitness is a lifelong journey.
Like any other journeys, the learning is constant and never-ending.
Take the time to educate yourself on nutrients and exercises. You don’t have to be an expert but you need to know what goes into your body, what’s good and what’s bad. After all, it’s the only home of your soul.
You want to make it cosy.
So, do I eat carbs?
Well, I still haven’t perfected the art of extracting carbohydrates from everything a human can eat (can’t be bothered either).
And I also don’t wanna die.
This post is a part of October’s writing challenge:
The month is drawing to an end (2 days left!), but we still have a bit of time for the challenge so if you have a burning question(s) you think I can answer (it can be about anything), feel free to pop the question(s) in the comment section below or e-mail me the question(s) at [email protected].
Thank you for reading and being a part of my journey!
