The Big carb debate

The other day I had a client ask me about Carbs
Are carbs bad for you?
My answer to this question was “it depends”
You see carbs get a bad rap
We’ve been marketed by fitness magazines, television, and celebrities that carbs are bad
They've used a general statement that ALL CARBS are bad
And in order to get the body you want you have to follow a low carb diet
So when we think of any foods that are identified as carbs we run away from them
But I'll have you consider that carbs actually help you in your fitness goals
Whether that's fat loss or weight loss
Say wwhhhat ?! Let me explain….
Your body is made to move, and in order for it to move optimally it needs fuel
Without going into carb conversion and to keep things simple and to the point
Our bodies run off of carbs, plain and simple
We use them to move long distances, slow and steady, or short intense movements
Where we get into trouble is two-fold
1. Types of Carbs
There are two types of carbs we eat
Low glycemic and High Glycemic
Breaking this down Low glycemic = low sugar: High glycemic = High Sugar
Most of the carbs that are considered “bad” for you are in the High glycemic category
Think potatoes, doughnuts, bread
These foods cause a big spike in energy and are also the ones the tastes the best and can be found with some type of added sugars
But staying in the Low Glycemic category will allow for a slow, steady and sustained energy output
These foods are oatmeal, sweet potato, and beans
So as you can see its not carbs that are the problem
Its the type of carbs you have been choosing to eat
2. Eating too much
Now you could eat either of the 2 types of carbs I mentioned above but the problem we run into is eating too much
You want to eat in order to support the level of activity you are doing and not load up
When you load up on carbs your body doesn't use it all
What your body will do use what it needs and then store the rest as fat for later use
So yes even eating too much of the preferred low glycemic carbs you can still gain weight/fat
The idea is to eat carbs for what you are doing each day
If your hitting 8,000 steps a day you can get away with eating a fist size of carbs for lunch
But if you're hitting 35,000 steps each day then you want to have carbs at least twice a day
More activity = more carbs
Without carbs your body doesn't perform at its best
It doesn't begin to melt fat off your body
What your body does instead is hold onto everything you eat and holds it as fat
Or worse
Uses muscle as a fuel source, therefore, making you skinny fat