Are you really eating too many carbs?

I recently had the opportunity to speak about intuitive eating.

During the Q&A, one of the participants, an endurance athlete, asked what she should do about the fact that she eats too many processed carbs.

I couldn’t answer her question without first throwing a bunch of questions back at her, however…

• Why did she think she was eating “too many” processed carbs?

• What problems was she noticing in her body?

  • How was her energy level, generally?

  • How was she performing in her workouts?

  • Were any GI issues showing up? (Bloating, constipation, etc.)

  • Was she feeling more hungry than usual?

  • Had she gained weight recently? (Not that this is necessarily a signifier that anything’s wrong, but for many of us, it feels like a problem that needs to be urgently solved.)

• What were the processed carbs in question and in what context and how often was she eating them?

Once we dug in, here’s what we learned: She was not eating “too many” processed carbs.

Her energy levels and workouts were good. Her weight had been consistent. There were no GI issues or significant changes in her hunger cues.

Diet culture strikes again

So where were her concerns coming from?

She reported eating more than the recommended serving size of her favorite crackers. She also enjoyed the occasional granola bar.

Are there more nutrient-dense choices than crackers and granola bars? Sure.

But let’s get clear on a few things.

1| Serving sizes are arbitrary. The label on a box of crackers doesn’t know anything about your or your energy needs. Full stop.

2| Athletes need carbs to fuel their upcoming workouts and to recover from their workouts.

3| The problem for many athletes (especially women) is that they eat few carbs, not too many. I just spoke to sports dietitian Alexandra Larson for a story I wrote for Runner’s World, who told me that most of her clients don’t eat enough carbs. Once they include more carbs in their diets, a couple of cool things happen:

• Their performance improves

• They no longer experience cravings for sweets at night

But back to the question at hand: For this athlete, the only issue was the diet culture messaging she’d internalized about the importance of limiting carbs, especially processed ones.

In fact, there are times when processed carbs are preferable to whole, unpackaged foods. For example, just before a workout, graham crackers, pretzels, or even Pop-Tarts are superior to unprocessed foods such as bananas or steel-cut oats because they’re easily digestible, readily available sources of quick energy.

TLDR: If you’re worried about eating too many carbs, start by asking yourself how you feel in your body and know that a low-carb diet isn’t sustainable for athletes

xo,

PS If the idea of changing your mindset around food and your body among a supportive virtual community of like-minded women sounds good to you, get on my group coaching wait list and you’ll be the first to know when I offer a group program. (Details TBD. Stay tuned!)

4 Things worth checking out

• If you have an hour: I got to chat with one of my favorite people in the non-diet/body acceptance/ fitness space, Jill Angie, on her podcast Not Your Average Runner. We talked about defining health on your own terms, how to optimize your diet to make you feel good, what to do if you’re feeling bad about gaining weight, and so much more. We also laughed a lot.
  

• If you have another hour and you liked what you heard on Not Your Average Runner, check out my interview with Jill on the Real Fit podcast. Jill is a running coach for fat women over 40 whose energy is the perfect mix of East Coast straightforward meets radiant positivity. We talked about her experiences with body dysmorphia, internet trolls, body acceptance, enoughness, and so much more.

• If you have three minutes and you’re ready to listen to your body instead of a bunch of rules, you’ll like this article I wrote for Runner’s World, Healthy Eating Myths You Should Stop Following. (That’s a special link so you won’t have to worry about hitting a paywall.)
  

• If you have three minutes and you’re intrigued by the GOLO diet, I got to share my perspective on it with Fortune Magazine.

Are you ready to experience food freedom but need some support to figure out how?

This is exactly what I help my 1:1 intuitive eating coaching clients with.

Let’s see if we’d be a good fit over a free, no-pressure 30-minute discovery call over Zoom or the phone.

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Wondering who I am?

I’m a certified intuitive eating counselor, occupational therapist, and health and fitness journalist with bylines in outlets like The Washington Post, Time, Runner’s World, SELF, and many others.

Also a 6x marathoner, 2x Ironman finisher, and certified personal trainer with a 20+ year history of teaching indoor cycling, I love riding bikes (gravel and road) and weightlifting. My superpower is my ability to connect with people.

Check out my coaching offerings here and follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram.