If this were a total weight loss programme, I would probably advocate going even harder on the carb reduction idea. But we are cyclists, and you must remember that you need to fuel your rides.
So you do need some carbohydrate in your diet. In terms of switching your metabolism and avoiding the fat-storing effect produced by having lots of insulin in our systems, the best way to achieve this is to cut out refined carbs so that we never spike our blood sugar.
To help raise your awareness of your own level of reliance on Carbohydrates, there’s a quiz in this section called “Are you addicted to Carbs?”
This will help to assess your level of carb consumption, and may help you to think again about your habits and choices.
Avoid foods with high amounts of sugar, such as:
- Cakes
- Biscuits
- Chocolates
- Sweets
Go one step further.
Minimise temptation by removing these from your environment. You cannot eat what isn’t there!
Throw them away. Don’t buy these kinds of foods when you go shopping.
Buyers beware – High Fructose Corn Syrup
This stuff is in lots of processed foods these days, so always read the labels. It’s a cheap way for food manufacturers to sweeten products. But it’s pure evil, once again! Fructose is a more complex molecule than glucose and has to be processed by the liver. Over time, this can cause the liver to become full of fat, and possibly lead to cirrhosis. Other effects can include the promotion of the buildup of fat around organs (visceral fat), increases blood pressure, and increased insulin-resistance in other tissues, like your muscles (a precursor to diabetes, as we’ve already seen).
It’s all very well deciding that we eat too many carbs, but in reality we need to eat something else instead. The next few topics will help you with just that.
Let’s reverse that vicious circle of carbohydrate addiction!