Choosing the Best Carbs

Often, lifestyle changes like the ones you've made during the first few months on the Challenge are enough to get your weight loss going. But it's hard to continue losing or maintain that loss without paying attention to portions. So, for the next two weeks, we're going to help you figure appropriate serving sizes for carbs.

As you probably already know, carbs had become nutrient non grata due to low-carb diets like Atkins. The theory was that if you focused your diet primarily on protein, which is more satiating than carbs, you'd be able to drop pounds. A big problem with this thinking is that your body needs carbs; they are the preferred source of energy for all bodily functions and any activity you do. Plus, many carb-rich foods, like fruit, vegetables and whole grains, are loaded with important vitamins and minerals. Most experts say that a balanced diet that contains a healthy mix of carbs, fat and protein is really your best bet for living healthy and losing weight.

But, of course, not all carbs are the same. You've probably heard a lot about good carbs and bad carbs, but that's only part of the story. Let's take a closer look at carbs, focusing first on unhealthy carbs. When people talk about bad carbs, they're referring to refined grains, such as white bread and sugary foods like candy. You should try to limit your intake of these kinds of carbs because they're caloric, not as nutritious as whole grains and naturally sweet foods, like fruit, and can cause spikes and crashes in blood sugar that could leave you feeling hungry.

Then there are good carbs, and this group can actually be broken down further into three categories. The first are fruit and veggies, and you can enjoy as many of these as you'd like. (If you're watching your weight, you can have two to four fruit servings a day.) The second type of good carbs are starches or complex carbs. This includes whole-grain bread, whole-grain pasta, potatoes, corn, oatmeal, rice and other grains. Unlike veggies, you do have to watch your intake because they're more caloric, especially when combined with fat (like cream and butter-filled mashed potatoes). Complex carbs are still very important because they supply key nutrients and provide the body with energy. Milk and yogurt are the third category of healthful carb-rich foods; they contain lactose, or "milk sugar." You can have about two to three servings daily of each.

Since grains and starchy vegetables are the most caloric, it’s smart to learn what a serving size looks like and how many servings you can have daily. Women should aim for about five servings daily, while men can have up to seven servings each day. (Five servings are what you'd have on a daily 1500- to 1800-calorie diet plan, which suits most women. Six works well on a 2,000-calorie plan; seven or more servings for 2,200 calories or more.) Your best bet is to spread them out throughout the day to help keep you energized and your meals balanced. Check out this sample plan of how to divvy up your grain/starchy vegetable servings:

• Two servings at breakfast (for example, 160 calories worth of cereal or two slices of toast, or half a large bagel, etc.).

• One or two servings at lunch (for example, two slices of bread on a sandwich)

• One or two servings at dinner (a medium potato, for instance; if you have two servings at lunch, have only one at dinner.)


What's a serving?

Now that you know how many servings you should be shooting for each day, your next task is to find out what counts as a serving. Below, you'll find a list of grain/starchy vegetables and the serving size for each. (A serving of these carb-rich foods contain 80 calories and 15 g total carbohydrates per serving; most foods on the list also contain a little fat and protein.) Whenever possible, opt for whole-grain products.