carbs

If you're a carb queen, losing weight on a bread-, pasta-, and muffin-free diet is just not happening. Have no fear — going carbohydrate-free isn't the only way to lose weight. Follow these eating tips that allow you to enjoy your favorite carbs and still drop pounds.

Photo: Lizzie Fuhr

• Timing matters: Studies show that it's better to eat more calories at your midday meal than at dinner, so enjoy your carbs then. Go for a bowl of pasta salad, a sandwich made with whole wheat bread, or rice and beans, and you can even follow it with an oatmeal cookie. Then at dinner make your plate mostly about protein and veggies with a small serving of carbs.
• Choose wisely: The right carbs are nutrition powerhouses, so be sure to eat complex carbs that are as close to nature as possible. Munch on fiber-full whole grains like oats, barley, and quinoa, and go for pasta and bread made with whole grain flour. Limit the refined carbs like white bread, bagels, and baked goods made with enriched flour that fill you up without offering your body sustained energy, causing hunger pangs to strike soon after.
• Never eat them alone: Nothing beats the comfort of cupping your hands around a big bowl of spaghetti or biting into a warm piece of toast with melted butter, but since carbs are calorie-dense, you can consume hundreds of calories in a few bites, but you won't feel satiated. Halve your carb portion and bulk up the rest of your meal with protein as well as fruits or veggies to save on calories without leaving you hungry.

Keep reading for more tips on eating carbs without gaining weight.

For those special weekend mornings when nothing but a bagel will suffice, hollowing out the center will leave you satisfied — instead of stuffed.

Without affecting the flavors you're craving, scooping the dense center of your bagel with a fork or your fingers can save major calories. Not only are you cutting out carbs by discarding the center, but once you toast it up, your bagel has an even crisper crunch.

After you finish scooping and toasting, pile on fresh, healthy toppings. Low-fat vegetable cream cheese and a slice of fresh lox offer a big helping of protein, but there are plenty of other inventive low-calorie bagel toppings like hummus and farmer cheese to keep taste buds happy and calorie counts down.

It's hard to stick to a healthy diet when all you can think about are high-carb foods to snack on all day. To help you out, here are three ways to cut carb cravings from your daily routine.

Have a better option handy: The downfall for many good diet intentions is often behind the cabinet door. When you're ravenous, the full bag of potato chips or the slice of cake in the fridge is often the easiest option to choose. To steer yourself clear of temptations, have a few healthy, low-carb options ready when hunger strikes; cut-up vegetables and dip ready in the fridge, or make a batch of tuna salad to serve atop sliced cucumbers or tomato. Get more high-protein, low-carb snack ideas here.

Identify the craving: The more you eat crackers and chips, the more you'll crave them. This can be for many reasons; your taste buds may crave sweetness or saltiness, you like a snack with a bit of crunch, or you do it out of habit. Knowing why you're craving high-carb snacks can help you identify a way to fix the cravings. For example, if you know you like to snack on crunchy foods try jicama, kale chips or other low-calorie crunchy snacks may help nix your high-carb habit for good.

Replenish energy: Does an afternoon energy crash spur you to the kitchen for a leftover donut? Whether it's a sugar craving or a call to carbs, your overall energy could be the reason why you're craving carbs. If you feel an energy dip, choose something else that can help you feel more awake. A mug of green tea helps calm cravings, and a small square of dark chocolate can help you feel satisfied.

Rotini, linguine, fettuccine, and ziti — you don't care what shape it is, you love noodles. Pasta has gotten a bad reputation since it's high in carbs, but don't fear the farfalle. You can enjoy pasta and still reach your weight-loss goals — just follow these tips.

• Choose whole wheat: Aside from having slightly fewer calories, whole wheat pasta contains more fiber and protein than traditional pasta.
• Measure out portions: Italian restaurants tend to offer generous mounds of pasta, but aim to eat a one-cup serving, which is about 200 calories.
• Skip creamy sauces: Butter and cheese can easily double the calories of a pasta dish; dress noodles in a white wine or red sauce instead.
• Limit the cheese: Cheese adds protein, but it can quickly pack on the calories and the fat. You don't have to forgo cheese altogether — just limit the amount. Keep in mind that a half-cup serving of ricotta is 214 calories while a tablespoon of grated parmesan is only 21 calories. Instead of choosing a cheese-filled recipe, sprinkle some over your finished dish.
• Add tons of veggies: Don't just eat an enormous bowl of spaghetti. Go for a veggies-to-pasta ratio of 2:1. Veggies are much lower in calories than pasta and filled with important nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
• Add lean protein: Beans, chicken, and turkey complement pasta beautifully, and these ingredients tend to be lower in calories than pork sausage or beef. Adding protein to a pasta bowl will fill you up and keep your energy going strong so you're less likely to feel logy after your meal.

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: My dietitian told me to cut back on carbs, but I'm confused about what counts as a grain and which vegetables are starches.

Carbs Without Cause: 8 Foods Worse than White Bread

A: When restricting your carbs, start with the most carbohydrate-dense foods in your diet: foods with added sugar. Then work your way to reducing grains and pastas, then potatoes and corn, then the remaining starchy vegetables.

9 Low-Carb Snacks to Eat on the Go

The exchange system from the American Diabetes Association groups different foods by similar nutritional characteristics. According to their list, the following are grains:

• Wheat and whole-wheat flour
• Oatmeal
• Cornmeal
• Popcorn
• Brown rice
• Whole rye
• Whole-grain barley
• Wild rice
• Buckwheat
• Millet
• Quinoa

Find out which vegetables count as carbs after the break!

Don't have time or the willpower to diet all week long? Two days might just do the trick, according to British researchers. The dietitians found that women who cut carbs for two days and ate normally, yet sensibly, the rest of the week lost more weight than women sticking to a Mediterranean-style diet of 1,500 calories a day. After four weeks, the women who gave up carbs twice a week lost an average of nine pounds, while the group on the low-calorie diet only lost five.

The head of the study, research dietitian Michelle Harvie, says this is something you can try at home:

"You just need to dramatically cut back carbohydrates two days a week and try to eat sensibly the rest of the time . . . you can eat protein and healthy fats on the two low carb days, but skip bread, pasta, root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and parsnips to get to the 50 gram limit. The diet allows for one piece of fruit on the low carb days."

I like the flexibility of this plan, and the fact that you reduce your carb intake but don't cut it out entirely — definitely healthier and more sustainable than a completely carb-free diet. Is this something you would try to encourage weight loss?

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Well, this news will make Dr. Atkins roll over in his grave.

Scientists and diet gurus are claiming that carbs can actually help you lose weight. The key, they say, is to focus on "resistant starch carbs" (RSCs) — which have tightly packed sugar molecules that aren't as easily broken down by enzymes in your mouth and intestines. RSCs are found in foods including; sweet potatoes, whole grain pasta, beans, lentils, artichokes, and quinoa.

According to research by the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for Human Nutrition, RSCs help people eat less, burn more calories, and feel more energized and less stressed. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has given them a thumbs up.

To find out if this is a truly legitimate weight-loss strategy, and how we can smartly incorporate RSCs into our diet, we spoke to Marjorie Nolan, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

"Replacing more refined starches such as breads, cereals and white pastas with resistant starch carbs in the diet on a daily basis can help you lose weight in a number of ways," says Nolan. "First, RSCs tend to be less caloric for the volume as compared to other forms of starch. Second, RSC foods are higher in fiber, thus promoting satiety for a longer period of time after eating — this is because [fiber] slows digestion. Third, vitamins and minerals in these types of starches help to increase overall nutrient variety and therefore can help to promote the hormonal regulation for the brain's hunger/fullness signals."

To get yourself eating more RSCs:

• Stock your pantry and fridge with beans, lentils, sweet potatoes,100 percent whole grain pasta, barley, and artichokes and avoid buying white bread, cereal, and pastas. If they're right there in front of your face, you're more likely to work them into a meal.
• Resolve to work in one RSC into at least two meals a day.
• Keep a food diary with a plan for working one new RSC or recipe with an RSC food into your diet each week. "Any smart weight-loss plan requires pre-planning," says Nolan. For inspiration, check out this recipe for Artichokes with Quinoa (an RSC double whammy!)

"For the average adult, about two servings of starch per meal is recommended for weight loss," says Nolan. "To maximize your weight loss, aim for resistant starch carbs at least two out of three meals per day."

Have you ever heard of RSCs? Any great recipe suggestions?

More from Self:

• Jillian Michael's Drop-8-Pounds Eating Plan

Analyze Your Diet With SELF's Nutrition Data Tool — FREE!

Source: Francois Deconinck