What do Carbohydrates DO?

I love to start with WikiAnswers' definition, because most diets that we buy into will say that carbs are BAD!! So, let's look at this logically. All activities use carbs, like running, playing, and exercise. And then all these diets tell us that, on top of cutting carbs from our diet, we also need to exercise... without the needed nutrients to do it! Brilliance they say! Blagh!

In the end, it's proven that cutting carbohydrates leaves us more tired, irritable, and prone to sleepless nights. Yeah, those are symptoms that every dieter needs! It's hard enough to find the time and motivation to do these things without zombification symptoms. We need carbs!! Now all we need to know is what kinds and how much.

Carbohydrates are the working fuel in our body. They are the cheap gas that makes us go, but some gas is better than others -- and the same goes for carbs.
So we have THREE BASIC TYPES of carbs:
Simple - Fruits and sugary snacks like soda and candy
Complex - Potatoes (chips), breads, anything fried, and veggies
Fiber - This usually tags along with the other two kinds of foods

SIMPLE CARBS are named that for a very good reason. All carbs have to be taken apart by your body and refined before it can be used. Crude oil into gasoline so to speak. Now, simple carbs are called simple for exactly that reason - they are easy for our body to refine and get ready for more energy! However, that comes with a drawback.

We may get energy faster from simple carbs, but our body can only handle so much at one time. If we consume too much candy, soda, and other things absolutely loaded to the brim with simple carbs (sugars), our body will use what it can (sugar high!!!), but most of it goes straight to fat.
Quick energy but too much and we'll start seein' cottage cheesey grossness around our midsections.

COMPLEX CARBS are named for a similar reason. Our body has a much harder time breaking up and refining complex carbohydrates for good fuel. This is good for two reasons. Slower absorption gives our body a constant flow of energy over a longer time span.
And this also means that if we do eat too much, it gives us more time to work off the extra and usually our daily walk around the store or shopping will take care of the extra. However, for those who don't get out much, complex carbs will still convert into fat if they're not worked off.

Let me pin-point one thing: Carbohydrates can be bad IF you have too many. Isn't that true for anything? If you give your body too many carbs, it stores the extra for later. And we all know what a chipmunk looks like when it stores its food for later.... So let's do our best not to have our cheeks (either set...) look like that. We want to eat just enough carbs to fuel us for each day, but not so many that our body stores it for later. Although, finding the balance is easier than you think. Keep reading -- you'll see.

If you're looking at this specifically because you're looking into low-carb diets, look at this instead. Almost everything I've learned about using carbs for us instead of against us came from a brand-new health software that I love! It's all about making individual plans based on height, weight, and age to find the perfect amount of carbs, calories, and protein to give the most energy and lose the weight our body doesn't need. It will find out how many carbs you need and show you how to best get them. I've been waiting for something like this forever!

I'm tired of all these diets and lump all of us together and say that one thing works for everyone, 'cause we're all different and live very different lives and eat different foods! We need programs that find exactly what need to change in our diet and help us do that. Luckily for us, there are already a few things on the market that do just that. A few examples being Strip That Fat and Fat Loss 4 Idiots. (Like we need any more insulting...) Find the one you like and go with that.
It's obvious that one diet doesn't work for everyone because we all would have found it by now and there wouldn't be competition. The secret is in customization and having unique, individual diet plans. Everything else is just a quick fix.

And lastly, I gotta give a little extra attention to StripThatFat.com. They have this test about age, weight, and height to see how much real fat we should lose. It's sobering! I've been really impressed by their ease of explanation and bringing relevant facts within layman's terms (which I love of course!). They just have an easy-to-understand site that explains the common diets and other strategies. If nothing else had worked for you in the past, then you really need to check this out because it will tell you why the others didn't work!

It will build the best plan you've ever seen. It shows you meal by meal exactly what you need to eat in order to lose weight forever! No going back! This is not water weight, this is pure fat off of your body! They tell it better than I can. StripThatFat.com

That wraps up the basics on carbs and how they affect us. In my next article you can read about how we can use carbs to our advantage for a change! UPDATE: You can now check out that article -- Good Carbs. The main difference with using carbs to our advantage, is the change and weight loss is lasting. Once you lose it, it will stay gone and you'll actually lose pounds and gain energy throughout your days (something we all could use!). But for now, if you want to know more about carbs, I'll gladly do the research and put it into layman terms. Just write a comment about my article and let me know what you want to know!