Use this 3-step eat-smart plan to keep the carbs and lose weight
Carbs are bad! You need to go low-carb or you’ll never lose weight!
Considering the scare tactics surrounding carbohydrates in the industry, it’s certainly understandable if you think you need to avoid them at all costs to be successful on your WW journey.
But here’s the truth: Carbs are an essential part of a healthy diet, and that includes one geared toward weight loss.
Not all carbs are created equal. There are different types to be aware of, with “simple” carbs including sugar-rich foods, and complex carbs that include beans, lentils and vegetable that provide nutrients and are packed with fibre to help you feel fuller longer.
Why low-carb diets “work” — at first
The trend against carbs has been ongoing for a while, with people touting weight-loss success stories from cutting back (or cutting out) carbs from their diet. In reality, most of those “quick results” are related to water weight. An acute, dramatic reduction in carbs can lead to dropping water weight.
Here’s what happens.
The main source of energy for your body comes from glucose, which is broken down from the carbohydrates we eat. The body stores a small amount of this glucose in the form of glycogen, and when someone reduces the amount of carbs in their diet, the body uses up these stores of glycogen for energy.
When the body uses glycogen, it sheds some water with it. This shedding of water is reflected when someone steps on the scale. However, once someone consumes carbs again, these short-term effects are reversed, as the body replenishes its glycogen stores (and stores water with it).
Instead of learning healthy habits for life, you’re simply learning how to yo-yo diet, cutting out carbs and losing weight, then eventually giving into cravings and eating carbs. It’s a vicious cycle, and not a healthy one!
Having sources of carbohydrates every day is recommended by doctors and borne out by scientific study. And with your WW plan, you can keep carbs and still achieve your weight-loss goals.
Your carb-savvy plan
WW Freestyle embraces carbs, meaning they can be a regular part of your eating plan—but it also steers you toward the healthier complex variety. If you check out our ZeroPointTM foods, you’ll find that many are rich in nutrients like fibre, vitamins and minerals. Meanwhile, the SmartPoints© system is designed to guide you toward the healthier options and away from the higher-sugar foods, which have higher SmartPoints values.
Choosing carb sources from among your ZeroPoints options, as well as those lower in SmartPoints, will help you incorporate filling carbs into your diet while still sticking to your SmartPoints Budget. So, how can you get started?
We suggest reviewing your typical week and choosing two instances where you can incorporate ZeroPoint or low SmartPoint carb sources. Use the three suggestions below — as shared in your Weekly — for inspiration:
1. Swap and save SmartPoints on snacks. You can find yummy, sweet snacks (if that’s your thing) that are lower in SmartPoints, such as:
A lower SmartPoints candy bar;
A biscuit or slice of cake for a chopped apple and peanut butter;
A full fat yogurt for fat free plain yogurt with a sprinkle of cinnamon;
Ice-cream for frozen low sugar yogurt or sorbet;
A sugary soda for sugar free.
2. Switch in more ZeroPoint foods as your go-to choices. These are typically full of fibre and other nutrients make the most of these sources of carbs — foods like vegetables, fruit, peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas and fat-free plain yogurt.
3. Get clever with ingredients. If you have a sweet tooth and love cooking at home, test out options to replace table sugar into your recipes. Some ideas are grated fruit or veggies (apple, carrots or beetroot, anyone?), sugar alternatives—like stevia—can be used in cooking and baking, or replace icing with sprinkles of ground ginger or cinnamon.