I am definitely a carbs loving girl 🙂 Running, exercising and eating carbs are all part of the same family in my eyes.
But not all carbs are graded equally. For the most part, I try to make the right decisions when choosing my grains to ensure the carbs that make up the bulk of my diet are low GI (body-friendly).
Without getting too technical, the glycemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrates depending on how they effect blood glucose levels. When eating a lower GI food, the rise in the blood glucose levels is alot slower than when eating a high GI food. Lower GI foods take longer to digest and have benefits for weight control because they help control appetite and delay hunger. Check out the Glycemic Index website for some more great info.
My Favourite Low GI foods (Click on the links for more info and recipes!):
-Oats (Health Benefits of Oats)
-Muesli (Homemade Muesli recipe)
–Multi grain, wholegrain and sourdough bread (Check my Homemade Bread Loaf recipe! Beware that every bread is made differently and there is no real standardised labelling of bread so it is important to check the specific brand of bread you eat, a GI under 55 is considered to be low)
-Fruits and Vegetables (getting more technical, GI levels of different fruits and veggies differ, check out this ‘GI Diet’ website for a more specific breakdown)
So do your research on your carbs, and do choose wisely. Let them fuel your body and keep your blood-sugar levels at bay.
What carbs do you include in your daily diet?
*Please note I am not a dietician, the information provided on my blog is based on my own research from reputable and cited websites and my own experiences!
My love affair with running 
I think too many people these days leave “good carbs” out of their diet. I’m forever being bombarded in the media or hearing conversations about how carbs are bad and how much success celebrities/ friends have had on no carb diets. Yes no carb diets are great for rapid weight loss but certain not sustainable or good in the long term. I’ve been active all my life and I realise the benefits of low GI carbs and I do consume these. When I have had a good balance of these foods I train really well but when I haven’t my training is affected. Unfortunately carbs get bad publicity..
Completely agree with you! When you train hard your body needs proper, nutritious and wholesome fuel from carbs and other food groups to perform at its peak. It is a shame that the media and so many people today have such a skewed perception of this food group. Thanks for your great contribution 🙂
Great post! I think carbs are always so hard to decipher especially for optimum training.
Thanks Alex. Totally agree.
An excellent post!! As I’ve reached my mid 40’s, I’ve found that my body doesn’t like carbs as much as it used to. Hence, we really try to lower carbs, but as I too am a carb loving girl I have increased more of the good carbs. And I like ’em!
Good work Kim. The good carbs are so much more satisfying! Although a good french baguette is still on the menu, but only occasionally 😉
Mmmm I love carbs though I limit ‘bad carbs’ 😉
Low GI is definitely important and seems like you have it down pat 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks CCU 🙂
Carbs get a bad wrap and protein is hailed as a super food. But we actually need carbs! Protein is also important too obviously but not in excess. The rise in the love of protein is based in history when meat and protein based foods were expensive, food of the wealthy and desirable. Kind of interesting. Sorry for the tangent! Totally agree with you that heavily processed, refined, high GI carbs are best to be limited. Totally a place for a fresh baguette in my diet too! 🙂
Thanks for your insight Jess! Interesting point. I think what it is all about it B.A.L.A.N.C.E.! Cutting any food group out of your diet means losing out on valuable nutrients that a healthy body requires.
Sourdough bread is my favorite type of bread! It’s always delicious! 🙂 Apples are my favourite fruit carb! 🙂
Love and love!
Great post.
I’ve also been looking at carbs and the GI tables. It’s only been about two weeks since I started my research but I feel like I’m getting obsessed! I can’t eat a piece of cake without thinking the GI must be 100.
It’s definitely a good thing to be aware of and to think about what you eat and how it effects your blood, energy and ultimately your health. When Atkins was all the rage I knew I couldn’t live that way. But I knew I could eat more wholegrain bread and less white bread, white rice etc.
I’d like to think that these small changes in my diet have helped me maintain my weight over the past four years.
Yeh it is good to be aware of it and allow it to guide your food choices. But that is not to say enjoying a piece of chocolate cake once in a while should be guilt inducing. Everything in moderation is what I say :). Good work for maintaining your weight, small changes are everything!
I like that you included fruits and vegetables here. So many people seem to swear of carbs and not actually know what they are – they think of bread and pasta, but not fruits and vegetables. When you consider that we only have carbohydrate, fat and protein as building blocks for food, carbohydrate starts to seem less threatening and more essential! (Although as you say, not all are equal 🙂 ).
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This is really interesting information. I love carbs too since I exercise about two hours a day five days a week. I love oats and I could practically live on fruits and vegetables, but I do enjoy desserts with refined carbs as a treat for all of my hard work. Life is just too short not to enjoy desserts.
I have always been a carb addict, but it really is amazing how my body reacts differently to lower/higher GI foods.Super important to keep in mind for training. I love oats too! And am a huge bread fan as well 🙂
Thanks for posting!
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