Eat Carbs And Still Lose Fat

Why Are Carbs Important For Fat Loss?

There are 3 main reasons:

1. Thyroid Health

Your thyroid is your “master gland” – it’s what regulates your metabolism – your metabolic rate – the amount or number of calories your body burns per day.

There have been some studies that show your thyroid needs – and wait for this – it’s kinda shocking – 125g of carbs a day to maintain its health.

One of the problems with ultra-low carb diets is that in the long run you can damage your thyroid.

I’m not going to get too deep into this, but side-effects include decreased testosterone levels and increased total cholesterol levels and increased LDL (bad  cholesterol) levels.

2. Leptin levels

Leptin is sometimes thought of as the “master hormone” or the one that regulates all other hormones. It sends a signal to the brain for that “full” feeling, among other  things.

When you drop your calories, and your carbs, leptin levels can drop by 50% in about a week. Coincidentally, if you’ve ever been on a diet, that’s about the point when the cravings hit.

Not only that, this 50% decrease signals your body to stop burning fat – to actually hold it in reserve for a future emergency situation.

3. Energy Demand

Regardless of what any of the gurus say, your body is designed to run on – wait for it – SUGAR.

And guess what carbs are made of?

Yep, SUGAR.

Sure, you’re body can also run on fat, but – and wait for this – it’s a BACK UP or SURVIVAL mechanism.

That is – fueling your body SOLELY on fat – like ketosis – or the state your body is in when you eat a low/no carb diet.

Weird, huh?

Yeah, I thought so too when I went back and started really looking at bioenergetics – especially the ol’ Krebs Cycle.

So how do you incorporate carbs into your diet to lose fat?

STRATEGICALLY.

First, you have to make sure your training is down pat.

You have to be able to actually USE the carbs that you’re putting into your body.

We’ve talked about this before, but the absolute BEST  way is to make sure you’re recruiting your “sugar-hungry” muscle fibers – the big ol’ Type 2b’s.

And how do you do that?

Simple.

Lift HEAVY. Use tension.

And –

Lift EXPLOSIVELY. Move as fast as you can.

And how do we do this with ye olde kettlebells?

Double grinds for the “heavy” and double ballistics for the “explosive.”

You start with a 4-5 rep max and do multiple sets  with it.

Second, you have to eat the RIGHT carbs – and no, I’m not just talking about vegetables either.