Clean Eating and Carbohydrates

[sjdavis]

I follow a pretty strict clean diet. My overall aim is for twice as many veggies as fruits; lean, organic meat, with an occasional organic red meat; avoid wheat and sugar almost all the time (I do eat small amounts of raw organic honey); no processed foods, except protein powder. My question has to do with carbs. I will eat about four servings of carbohydrates such as quinoa or brown rice (1/2 cup), brown rice cakes. I use brown rice pasta, and very occasionally whole wheat. What is your opinion on carbohydrates in the clean diet? How many is appropriate for daily consumption? What types do you think are the best choices? you get the picture... Thanks so much.

 

[MelanieC]

Right now I'm reading a book by Tom Venuto called Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle.

He makes the point that our bodies need carbohydrates to support/fuel our active training routines. It all depends on the type of carbohydrates you choose. He says in the book that he used a ratio of 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat in his diet, but says that those ratios really depend on how your body responds to carbs.

So carbs are ok - just pick the right ones. And it looks like you're on the right track with brown rice. Also good is quinoa. I'm sure others on this forum can make other suggestions for you.

I'm not an expert, just relating to you what I've read and seems to make sense. I've been following the 50/30/20 ratio and its working for me.

 

[ASand]

Melanie C-is Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle a good book? I was wondering if there is new information/tips or if a lot of it is information most people interested in health and fitness would already know.

Thanks!

 

[MelanieC]

Hi ASand!

I haven't actually finished reading the book - I'm about 3/4 through it.

So far a lot of what I read I knew to a limited extent, but its nice to have it consolidated into one book and explained in a reasonable way. I also find his encouragement very helpful and motivating.

It has helped me not to be "afraid" of all carbs, and since I adjusted the ratio of my carb/protein & fat intake based on his initial recommendation, I do find myself performing better during workouts and I feel fuller. So that part helped a lot. I also adjusted my calorie intake upwards based on his recommendations and that's been a revelation. I can eat more than 1200 calories a day and still lose weight!!

There's a good chapter on timing of meals as well that I've found interesting.

The book is informative and easy to read. I'm sure you can find a lot of what he says on the internet, but as I said, for me the advantage of the book is that its encouraging and convenient to have all the information in one source.

 

[momto4]

Burn the fat feed the muscle is an EXCELLENT book!!!! There's loads of great information in it.

 

[Justinef]

I agree that it's wonderful. Just don't get the Kindle version - tricky to reference

 

[ASand]

Thanks for the great info ladies; I'll have to check it out!

 

[sjdavis]

thanks for the recommendation on the book! My local library has it, so I'll check it out and read it.