10 Ways To Stop Unnecessary Carb
We’re gonna talk about carbs and how to stop carb cravings. First and foremost, carbs are not bad.
Carbs are essential for energy, for a healthy diet, and of course for weight loss, but sometimes a lot of times, myself included, we just crave carbs for no good reason.
So we’re gonna talk today about 10 ways to stop those carb cravings. We all know what a craving for food feels like.
Sometimes we try to stop those cravings and we can do that successfully.
Other times the craving is just so strong that we end up giving in and sometimes when we have a food craving, we overdo it and we want to be able to control those food cravings, to the best of our ability.
Cravings are powerful. Cravings for carbs are even more powerful and there’s good reason for that.
Sugary carbs increase our feel-good hormone serotonin, so we instantly want that feel-good hormone, that burst of serotonin and that actually comes from those sugary carbohydrates.
Once these cravings start, they’re really hard to stop. So there are some things that you can do to stop these food cravings or at least keep them at bay.
Keep your chips off the table
Number one is to keep your chips off the table, foods that are trigger foods for you.
Now, this is going to vary from person to person. I’m definitely a sweet person. Any sweet item is going to be a trigger food for me.
There are people who crave salty foods like chips, pretzels, and crackers. If you see them, if you smell them, if they are in your vision, you are going to crave them.
So any food that is a trigger food for you, keep it outta sight outta mind, put it away in the pantry, keep it in the refrigerator in a cupboard so that it’s not sitting out on your counter.
I know for me, if I leave a bowl of candy on my counter, I’m grabbing candy throughout the entire day.
If you’re a chip lover leaving a bowl of chips or a bag of chips in sight, you’re going, it’s going to trigger you to crave that food, whether you’re hungry or not.
So outta sight outta mind is going to save you a lot of heartache.
Pair Carbs With Protein
Number two is something that I recommend to all of my coaching clients is in a rule and is a rule that I implement into my own life, and that is to always, always pair your carbohydrates with a source of protein.
You need carbs for your health, and our body really thrives on macronutrients being paired together. If you don’t know what macronutrients are, they are fats, carbs, and protein.
So whether you have a fat in a carb, a fat in a protein, a carb and a protein, you want to make sure that you’re having at least two macronutrients paired together.
Better yet, all three, and this is even more important with carbohydrates, if you’re going to have a carb, pair it with a protein.
So for example, if you’re craving something salty like crackers, chips or pretzels, pair that with some source of protein.
Maybe that’s some yogurt, a cheese stick, a hard-boiled egg, or even a meat stick or beef jerky. Pairing those two together is going to help eliminate the need for more carbohydrates.
That one serving should satisfy you. When we eat carbs by themselves, it spikes our blood sugar and then our blood sugar can be on this rollercoaster all day long, and we can prevent that by simply pairing our carbohydrates with the protein.
Carbs are not Off Limits
Number three, do not criminalize carbs. Carbs are not bad, Carbs are essential. Now, there’s a difference between processed carbohydrates and whole grain carbohydrates.
Whole grains are going to be things like rolled oats, sprouted bread, potatoes, where we’re going to have processed carbohydrates like chips, cookies, candies, rice cakes, that type of thing.
When we demonize foods, when we criminalize foods, when we eliminate or restrict foods, is the number one cause of binge eating disorder, carbohydrates included.
So allow yourself to have carbs. Just focus on 80% of the carbs that you’re consuming every day to be whole unprocessed carbs, and then 20% those fun carbs like those chips, cookies, candy, pretzels.
Follow Lower Carb Diet
Number four, commit to a low-carb diet. If you’re considering doing keto or cutting out carbohydrates altogether, or eating an unreasonable amount of carbs every day, like 10 to 20 grams per day, think about following more of a lower carb approach to your diet, and I don’t even like the word diet.
More of a low carb approach, lifestyle, maybe a 100 to 250 grams of total carbs or less per day.
Again, focusing on those whole carbs, those whole grains, those complex carbohydrates versus those processed carbohydrates, and again, pairing those with protein always to balance out your meal.
It is proven that following a lower carb approach is a more successful than following a lower fat approach to losing weight.
When I do macros and calories for my clients, mine is definitely a high protein, moderate carb, moderate fat diet, maybe even varying on the lower carb side because this is what has proven to be most successful, even proven for myself as I’ve lost 140 pounds following my macros and calories, which was following a lower carb approach.
Fill up on fiber
Number five, and this is a big tip, and that’s fill up on fiber. Make sure that your carbs contain fiber, which makes them complex carbs.
So processed carbohydrates, fast acting carbohydrates, things like chips, crackers, cookies, rice cakes, candy.
These don’t have any fiber, and again, these should be 10 to 20% of our daily intake. 80 to 90% should be nice, complex carbs with fiber.
Some great sources of complex carbs, again are rolled oats, sprouted bread, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Those are great sources of complex carbs because they all contain fiber, and I get asked a lot, which fiber should I be eating every day?
It is recommended that women eat between 35 and 40 grams of fiber every day.
If you can get to 50 grams even better, and men should consume between 45 and 55, upwards of 60 grams of fiber daily. You can also use a fiber supplement.
This is something I implement every day. I actually mix two tablespoons of just better fiber into my morning cup of coffee.
Two tablespoons of just better fiber. Two tablespoons of collagen is my little cocktail that goes in my coffee.
I really like just better fiber because it’s, it has no taste, no texture, no grittiness.
You cannot taste it at all, and you’re going to get five grams of fiber per scoop, and it’s just a good way to get things moving in the morning and to make sure you’re reaching your fiber goals.
Go for a brisk 15 minute walk
Number six, go for a brisk 15 minute walk. It’s hard to eat a bag of cheese puffs when you’re walking, when you’re huffing and puffing and when you’re outside moving, just moving your body for 10 to 15 minutes is going to take your mind off that craving no matter what that craving is.
Salty, sweet carbs, fats, whatever it is, moving your body or doing something that takes your mind off of that craving is really beneficial.
In fact, there’s been a few studies that show that overweight individuals who walked briskly 15 minutes a day have reduced cravings for carbohydrates and sugary carbs.
Overall, it’s actually an effective method to reduce your cravings for carbs and sugar, move your body and lose that excess fat.
Carry a water bottle
Number seven, carry a water bottle. Did you know that upwards of 50% of the day when we think we’re hungry or when we’re having these cravings, we’re simply just thirsty.
So by having a water bottle in front of you at all times, whenever a craving strikes, regardless of what that craving is, or whenever you think that you’re feeling hungry, take a few sips from your water bottle. Oftentimes that hydration is all we need to curb those cravings.
Do not skip breakfast
Number eight, this is a big one, and that is do not skip breakfast. You should be eating breakfast every single day.
Breakfast stands for breaking your fast, breaking your fast from fasting while sleeping.
A lot of people think skipping breakfast is the way to lose weight, but on the contrary, skipping your morning meal can actually cause you to overeat more throughout the day.
To have excessive cravings, especially for carbohydrates and sugar, make sure that your breakfast contains at least 20 grams of protein and has some fiber.
This is going to set your day up for success. It’s going to make it so you’re less hungry throughout the day and definitely so that you have less cravings.
Eggs, whole grain toast with oat with milk or even oatmeal are great ways to start your day and great sources of healthy complex carbohydrates. And don’t forget, pair that with some protein and some fiber.
Eat Small meals All Day
Number nine, and this is another big one, eat small frequent meals throughout the day. I personally eat between six and seven meals per day about every two to three hours.
What you have to remember is your metabolism is like a fire.
If you’re out camping with your family and you start a fire and you walk away and you go do something else, what happens to the fire? It goes out over a period of time, the fire is going to go out and it goes out quicker than you may think that it’s going to go out.
That is the same way with your metabolism. It is important to treat your metabolism like a fire.
You need to stoke it all day long, and that means eating small frequent meals every two to three hours, skipping meals overall can lead you to overeat at the next meal.
When we go into the next meal or snack ravenously hungry, that’s when we overdo it.
We can eliminate that all together by just eating every two to three hours and making sure that our meals contain healthy carbohydrates, protein fibers and fiber and healthy fat.
Sleep cravings away
Number 10, sleep those cravings away. I talk about sleep on my channel a lot because it’s really, really important for weight loss And What happens when we don’t get enough sleep is our body needs energy.
We need energy just to make it through our day-to-day activities, not even including exercise, just day-to-day things. Our body needs energy.
And when we don’t sleep enough and when our body doesn’t recoup and that energy isn’t rebuilt naturally, our body instantly craves things that give it instant energy, processed fast acting carbs, not complex carbs, chips, crackers, cookies, candy, sugar in general is what our body’s going to crave.
And when that happens, just biologically it is extremely, extremely hard to combat those cravings, and that’s when we typically give in to them.
So make sure that you have a good sleep schedule, go to bed at the same time, most nights, get up at the same time, most mornings.
Make sure that you’re getting between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. I promise you this can have a huge impact on your success with weight loss.
Conclusion
So those are 10 effective ways to stop carb cravings and reach your weight loss goals. And just a reminder, you need carbohydrates in your diet.
Please do not eliminate, restrict or demonize carbohydrates.
That is definitely going to backfire and you’re not going to be able to lose the weight and keep it off long-term.
We want to eat a healthy balanced diet, carbs included, but all of these tips and tricks will just help minimize those carb cravings and help you stay on track.