All About Carbs

You'd think eating carbs is death sentence for dieters, but it's not all bad! After all, vegetables and fruits have little to no protein and fat, and can be (simplistically) considered to be all-carb. Would anyone in their right mind tell you to not eat your greens? Lettuce hope not.

Bottom line, you know what's good for you and what's not. Don't disregard some item just because it's high in carbs - think about where it comes from. Is it sugar, or carrots? Flour, or apples? I don't think anyone believes something refined and processed can possibly be better for them than a vegetable, right? Oh wait, the food pyramid.
A recommended 6-11 servings of grains a day means there are generations who grew up thinking eating a loaf a bread in a day would technically be okay. That's about 1100 calories of just bread, if you were to eat 11 slices. And who eats plain bread? We're going to slather those babies in bologna, mayo and American cheese! No wonder this country is obese.
 
Thank goodness we now have My Plate, which is much more simple, not to mention moderate. High five, US Department of Agriculture. This is better. And thanks for including a fork, I wasn't sure if those were healthy!

Carbohydratalicious!

The more carbs you have floating around in your system, the less your body uses fat for energy.

carbs = energy
body fat = (stored) energy (from excess carbs/calories/etc throughout your life)

So:
working out = using energy
lots of carbs floating around in your system = easy energy
lots of energy in your fatty tissues = difficult energy
human body = lazy
lazy = use the easiest resources up first

So:
working out when you have a bunch of carbs in your system = using up all the carbs (called glycogen) before even touching body fat,
vs.
working out when you have not eaten a lot of carbs = body has to reach for the adipose tissue (fat/stored energy)

So:

Although you will feel better/more energetic when you have eaten a bowl of pasta right before zumba class (40-60 grams of carbs), your calories burned will be coming from your lunch and not your bum. In theory. This is why long distance runners eat like 23893 grams of carbs (not to mention calories) a day, and drink those sugar goo things while they're on their run; they don't need to burn fat, they need to stay energized. Therefore, if you're looking to improve your performance/endurance, eat lots of carbs. You'll be like the energizer bunny.

If you, on the other hand, go for a run after eating a can of tuna (zero carbs) your body has to dig into those fat stores to keep you going. You may feel a bit more wiped out from it than if you'd eaten your pasta, but you will also be more productive in terms of fat loss. In addition, you will technically be burning the same amount of calories as if you'd eaten the pasta (assuming you're performing at the same level even with the lack of energy), but the calories burned are fat calories and not carb calories, and are therefore more valuable to you!

This is obviously simplistic - your body will still always burn fat calories even if you've carb-loaded, and there will always be carbs (glycogen) in your system, but I hope you get my point. You will feel wiped out and miserable if you try to keep your carbs too low; but too much is bad and counterproductive to fat loss, even if you are keeping your calories lowered.

But! Don't neglect something just because it's high carb, for Pete's sake! You should be snubbing the cakes and bagels, not the mashed potatoes and applesauce! Processed foods are less natural, have more additives, and are farther from their original state in the universe. You want to eat things as close to nature as possible. Not that I don't eat those things, because I eat them aplenty (I just ate a Dove chocolate bar). I'm just saying to use your head. You know what's healthier: donut vs toast, dinner roll vs baked potato, applesauce vs apple, ice cream vs milk. Check out the glycemic index for more on these simple vs complex carbs - I think you'll soon find a correlation.

Eat a greater percentage of healthy carbs like fruits and veggies instead of flour and sugar products, and you'll be lowering the calorie intake without even trying. It's pretty much impossible to eat 1000 calories of lettuce in one sitting (that's about 200 cups!), but it sure is easy to eat that many donuts (could be less than two, if you're eating Dunkin's chocolate cake donut)