How to Reduce carbohydrates to lose weight: which foods to eliminate and which to keep?

When we want to lose weight, the priority we must have is to reduce the calories we eat, but the question arises as to which foods we should make this reduction through. In this article, we delve into all these details, and we give you tools to know which foods are more interesting to avoid or maintain if you are looking to lose weight and fat. What role do carbohydrates play in our body? First, it must be clarified that the term carbohydrate, or carbohydrate, is not entirely correct. The proper word to name them is carbohydrates. You can also say sugars, although it is not exact either. The error comes from its structure and chemical composition, where there are molecules of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. But going back to what is important, you have to know that the functions of carbohydrates, as with the rest of the macronutrients, are many. In part, we could say that they are the least essential, without getting confused, because they continue to be indispensable. Carbohydrates are part of the basic molecular structures, although probably the best-known function of carbohydrates is energy. In addition, among carbohydrates, there are also dietary fibers, which are extremely important for our microbiota. Carbohydrates also serve as a storehouse of energy, especially in the muscles, where they are stored as glycogen. What should we keep in mind if we want to lose weight? Calories matter When we want to lose weight and fat, the first thing we have to take into account is that calories matter, so it is not worth it with statements like "I am already healthy and five times a day." We must estimate what our maintenance calories are and after knowing them, apply a deficit. Needless to say, we must also keep track of what we eat to know if we are maintaining the proposed deficit. A good way to track your diet is with apps such as Fat secret. Calculating our maintenance caloric needs is simple, we simply have to know our basal metabolism and multiply it by an activity factor. The basal metabolism is nothing more than the energy expenditure that we produce by the simple fact of living, and the magnitude of this energy expenditure depends on variables such as weight, height, age, percentage of fat, and gender. Basal metabolism can be easily calculated using the Harris-Benedict formula. Finally, the activity factor is nothing more than a rough average of the different levels of activity that a person can have. If you work in an office and do not practice any sport, which we do not recommend, your activity factor would be 1.2, sedentary. On the other hand, if you have a physical job such as a postman or bricklayer, and you practice sports more than five days a week, your activity factor would be closer to 1.725, very active. Once we have the estimated maintenance calories, applying a reasonable and consistent caloric deficit means approximately a cut of between 15 and 20% of your maintenance calories. What is the macronutrient that should be reduced if we want to lose weight? Once we know the target calories that we must ingest, it is important to correctly distribute these in the three macronutrients: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. If we want to lose fat, the ideal is to start by setting the total daily grams of protein, which can range between 2 and 2.5 grams per kilo of weight. Secondly, we must set the fats, which can generally range between 0.7 and 1.5, although in low-carb or keto approach protocols they can exceed this upper margin to the detriment of carbohydrates. Finally, the remaining calories go to carbohydrates, taking into account that each gram of protein and carbohydrates provides 4 kcal. Per gram and each gram of fat, 9. This is why, since it is convenient to fix proteins and fats based on our body weight, it is carbohydrates that can be manipulated the most to add or remove calories from the diet. For example, every 25 grams of carbohydrates that we reduce from the diet plan is 100 fewer calories. What foods should be avoided or kept in the diet if we want to lose weight? It is not a question that foods eminently composed of carbohydrates are better or worse, but rather that for a pragmatic reason it is convenient to prioritize one or the other. When we want to lose weight, our energy availability at mealtimes is lower, so we must adjust the frequency and volume of meals to remain satiated and so that the process does not become more uphill than necessary. Therefore, those foods rich in carbohydrates such as juices, smoothies, or breakfast cereals should be avoided, not because they are "fattening" in themselves, but because they are going to provide us with calories that are not exactly going to help us control hunger, but possibly quite the opposite. In this way, it is convenient for us to choose foods such as the following: whole grain rice whole grain pasta Legumes Potato Buckwheat or buckwheat Quinoa legume pasta The culinary options that they offer us are very varied, and given the fiber content of most of them, we can expect that with a small volume of food we will be satisfied long enough until the next meal. In Vitoria | Why your body asks you for sweets: sugar, addictive behaviors and reward systems of the brain.