Weekly Wednesday Meeting - Carbohydrates

Throughout the years there has been a million 'diets' in this, ‘I want to be healthy I need to lose weight but I have no idea how so I’m going to follow a fad diet’ world that have eliminated carbohydrates or portrayed them as a bad food group, for example the Atkins diet. It made people believe that carbohydrates were making them fat, and that they should eliminate them, depriving people from an nutrient that can actually help lose weight. In doing so every fad-diet supporter out there wanting to lose the pounds have been following these unhealthy diets that are severely lacking in nutrient, and may have caused more damage to their bodies.

I should know this, I myself have had a love/hate relationship with carbohydrates, I eat less of the good for you carbs and favour the bad for you carbs instead, which you will know from reading this post http://dontlookinmyfridge.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-think-ive-just-found-carb-land.html
Something I’ve always remembered from Home Economic classes in school was that Carbohydrates, should be part of your daily diet, I remember learning the Food Pyramid, and I’ve always remembered that carbohydrates was at the end of the pyramid taking up the most ‘space.’

Image from Wikipedia

Why are Carbohydrates important? (This what I’ve learnt from Weight Watchers regarding Wednesday meeting, which I also found very informative)

They are important because your body will process them into glucose, an excellent source of energy, that can be processed throughout the day, most likely making you feel less tired and irritated, provided you are eating the good carbs however like all food groups they should be enjoyed in moderation.
It is up to me, as a newly healthy-lifestyle seeker to make the right choices. That means choosing wholegrain bread products over white bread products, fruit over cake or donuts, potatoes (cooked in a variety of healthy ways) than the likes of oven chips, brown rice over white rice... you get the idea.

However it will be hard, as I’ve confessed before I have a love/hate relationship with carbs, meaning I enjoy all the bad for you carbs, especially bread and different variety of breads but I hate the effect that bad carb overload can have on me, constant bloating, tired, groggy etc. And I will admit it wasn’t until Wednesdays meeting were I’ve actually sat and thought about the carbohydrates that I consume and the effects that have been having on me.

I befriended bread a long time ago, I've also had bread every day, most days at least twice, I’ve had bread for breakfast (toast) bread for lunch (sandwiches) and even bread with my dinner ('to fill me up' my dinners back then were strictly chips and chicken nuggets or chips and fish fingers, yep seriously) but obviously being the overweight girl that I am, it has always been white, refined, lacking valuable nutrients bread. Bread is my lover, white bread, baps, crusty bread, scones, English muffins, you get the picture, and it dominates my diet. In fact this will prove how much so, a friend from school, said to me a few years ago, ‘I remember when you came to my house and you stayed for dinner, and you must've had about 4 slices of bread with your dinner.’ That has always stuck with me the sheer embarrassment of my own eating problem.

Image from Google

When I joined Weight Watchers back in February I was always afraid that I'd have to give these all up, I’d rather give up the fizzy drinks (another past love) but since Wednesdays meeting I’m thinking, why should I love these carbohydrates any more? What are they doing for me? Nothing, other than the enjoying the taste, admittedly, they leave me feeling *worse.*

So I listened to my leaders advice about good carbohydrates, she stated that the goodies can *be a dieters best friend* by pointing out that the majority of these good carbohydrates are the ones that we will find within our packs that are highlighted as *filling foods.* She also suggested we should eat a good carbohydrate at every meal, to get the benefits, and also to fill us up, so we will eat *less.*

So I think I am sold, I will admit I’m a bit apprehensive about eating wholegrain bread products, I’m not satisfied with the taste, but I WILL try. In result of my willingness to try I am going to set myself some goals for the week ahead.

On this week’s agenda:

• · Switch from white bread products to wholegrain ones instead, with bread however will test Kingsmill 50/50 bread, which has the nutrients of brown bread but the taste of white.
• · Eat a good carbohydrate at every meal.
• · Listen to my body, the good thing with filling foods is that they make you full, quicker, so I will stop eating when I am *satisfied*
• · Pick fruit over a bad carbohydrate snack i.e. craving something sweet, so I go to the biscuit/cake jar, fruit instead!!
• · When at the supermarket look out for some new finds to replace the bad.
• · Explore some new recipes.

Helen xoxo