Has anyone noticed that there are certain times or certain days when you’re stronger (referring to Chen Challenge #8: Exercise with resistance)? This is due to the fact that your body is probably more optimal for energy output during these times. Where does this boost in energy or strength come from? The answer is simple: carbohydrates!

One of the more popular diets out there is the “no-carb” diet. This is a diet that works very well in the short run because it allows your body to skip a naturally occurring biochemistry pathway of converting excess carbs to lipids (fat). While this works, it poses a big question: are you never going to eat bread or grains ever again? Obviously, this diet has no long term benefits.

Drawing upon my biochemistry knowledge and weeding most of the scientific mumbo-jumbo, there actually is a way to have your cake, eat it too, and still burn fat (or at least maintain your current weight or fat percentage)!

Chen Challenge #9: Cut the carbs!

When I say “cut the carbs,” I don’t mean limiting yourself to a single piece of bread or have a set amount of carbohydrates in a day. I don’t believe that keeping records and logs of everything you eat is feasible, especially over the long run. “Cut the carbs” simply means to only have enough carbohydrates in your body to get you through the day.

Why should you limit the amount of carbs you eat? In your body, carbohydrates are very easily broken down into glucose, your body’s primary and most favorable energy source. Glucose is used to power your brain, your muscles, your lungs, everything.

Glucose is great when you need it for exercising or for studying, but what happens when you’re not active? The human body is very efficient and does not like to waste anything, so the excess glucose your body doesn’t use is stored up in energy reserves. Where/what are these energy reserves? Fat.

Aside from excess glucose being stored as fat in your body, excessively consuming carbohydrates in a single sitting is HORRIBLE for your metabolism and may cause diabetes. Your bloodstream is the freeway of your body – it allows substances to quickly be transferred from one point to another. If you are to imagine glucose as a mail package, insulin is like UPS (of Fed-Ex, take your pick). As there is excessive glucose in the bloodstream, insulin comes in to carry away the glucose and bring it to the liver (warehouse distribution center) to engage in a long and complex metabolic pathway that ultimately converts the glucose to fat. More glucose = more insulin. If you eat a huge meal with a lot of carbs, your body will quickly release a LOT of insulin, resulting in something called an “insulin spike.” This is the culprit for food coma. This insulin spike causes you to be tired, slows down your metabolism, and can cause diabetes (won’t go into details here because it’ll take up half a page of explanation).

Hopefully, your head isn’t spinning with all that technical information. Case in point: eat only as many carbs as you need for the day and don’t overdo it.

What is a good amount of carbs to eat?

I, like many other conscious eaters, like to use my hand as a measurement tool. If you’re very particular about measurements, use a measuring cup. If you’re really hardcore, you can use a measurement scale to measure and track the amount of grams you’re consuming.

Personally, if I’m not very active (couch bum for the day), I’ll limit myself to about half a palmful of carbs per meal. If I’m exercising or plan to do something strenuous, I’ll increase it to about 1-1.5 palmfuls, depending on how much energy I need for the activity. If you plan on exercising, it’s generally a good idea to consume this set amount of carbs about 2 hours ahead of time – giving your body adequate time to digest and convert the carbs to energy.

– Yuli