Is a carb a carb?

This was a recently asked question, and it’s a good one. Generally, yes, a carb is a carb, and for the average Joe, what matter most of all is that you aren’t eating too much of anything at one sitting, and that you eat a variety of foods that satisfy the major food groups of (1) Fats, (2) Proteins, and (3) Carbohydrates.
Fats can be added fats, like oils or butter, or they can be already present in the food package, like the yolk in eggs, the fats in an avocado or nuts, etc. Proteins can be animal sourced, and so either pure protein, like lean white fish, or bound to fat, like salmon or rib-eye. If they’re vegetable sourced, they are often package with a good amount of carbohydrates and sometimes fat as well. Chick-peas are a good example of this. They’re protein-rich, about 25% protein, 5% fat, and 65% carbohydrate, 5% fiber, more or less. Pretty simple, right? Finally, carbohydrates are everything else. That means beans can fall under the heading of carbs, and so can milk, as they both have high levels of carbohydrates, (1 cup of whole milk has 8 g fat, 8 g protein, and 13 g carb), and of course fruit and vegetables like mushrooms, lettuce, apples as well as cereal grains, to name a few. If it’s not a Fat, and it’s not a Protein, it’s a Carb, or a combination of the 3, pure and simple. I’m talking about natural foods here, not crazy science experiments, okay?
For the physique athlete trying to shed those last few ounces of subcutaneous fat and water, things get a little more specific, and I also have to add that no two bodies will respond to the same diet regime the same way. Some athletes will do very well, getting very similar results with one dieting protocol, while other athletes will have to try a different strategy. This is why it’s a good idea to train with someone who has a strong nutritional background and who works with a variety of different body types and has a whole repertoire of conditioning strategies to implement depending on your physiology. It’s also why you should not continue in the off-season with your competition strategy, as you will make your body resistant to the very tools you want to try and use when dialing in for a show. I think this is one of the biggest mistakes physique athletes make, and why a lot of people have a tough time achieving great results as each show goes by. You just get depleted, your ability to handle any carbs at all plummets, your metabolism drops too low, and your hormones get bent out of shape. You should really put just as much care and thought into your off-season diet regimen as you do your competition regimen. The more tools you have available going in to your dial in, the easier it will be for you and your coach to get the results you want without drastic measures like fat-burners and excessive amounts of cardio. I’m down to the last 10 days of this dial in, I’m eating delicious, rich tasting foods, and my energy levels are high. I’m not 20 years old remember, so anything is possible! You can be stage-ready and have fun at the same time….!
The strategy I’m experimenting with right now, with my trainer Jean-Jacques Barrett, involves a cycling of different caloric density carbs with my training program. We’re still tweaking it, and every week it changes as we tighten up, but we are always checking in with my energy levels, appetite, and what the weekly photographs reveal. If I think something is off, or that I’m really dialing in fast, I’ll shoot him some photos and we’ll make necessary changes. To give you an idea, right now I’m on my last 10 days of this dial in, and I’ve been responding really well over the last 4 days. I’m on a 7 day training program. Day 1 and Day 5 are legs. Day 2 is Back/Shoulders. Day 3 and 7 are “rest” days. Day 4 is my Metabolic Workout. Day 6 is my advanced yoga/beginner double. I also do a Bikram beginner’s class 5 days a week. I don’t do any cardio, and my weights are almost exclusively 3 – 4 sets with 6 reps per set. It’s a mix between single sets and super-sets, and every day I begin with an 18 minute workout that involves 8 min of 6 mph running on an incline, followed by two sets of 5 exercises: (1) walking bridges, (2) knee-hug to deep lunge, (3) drop squats with 20 lb DB, (4) inch worms, and (5) Turkish Get Ups.
The idea is to stimulate muscle retention as I’m cutting my diet, so that I’m dumping fat not muscle. I started the dial-in at about 10-11% body fat, so I have to be careful with my approach. The worst thing would be to do a bunch of cardio and cut all my carbs, driving down my metabolism and eating up my muscle. Instead of being full and tight on stage, I’d look depleted and scrawny, with flabby skin tone. Not the look of a fitness model…!
This week we’ve dumped 3 of my high-carb days. Now, I only eat high calorie density carbs on my leg days, and then only in the morning and post workout. The rest of the days it’s low calorie density carbs, and high protein/fat. On my metabolic day, I eat high calorie density carbs throughout the day, but drop my protein/fat content. All the other days it’s low calorie density carbs and high protein/fat. I should also tell you that when I say I drop my fat, I am going from 1 + Tablespoons of added fat per meal down to 1 – 2 tsp of added fat. This does not include the fat already present in the food. I do well on a high fat diet, but not everyone will experience the same results.
There are lot’s of food charts online, (Self Magazine has a pretty easy to use one) that will tell you how many carbs/100 grams are in a food. Bananas, for example, are pretty high, registering a solid 51 grams of carbohydrates in 1 cup of mashed banana, versus 1 cup of brown rice which has 45 grams. Surprised? Low calorie density carbs are things like lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, and sprouts (1 cup of boiled mushrooms has 1 g fat, 8 grams carb, and 3 grams protein)….Get the picture?
I’ve been posting recipes on this blog tagging the meals as either low carb or high carb, etc, to help give an idea of how a meal could be put together. Remember, this is an experiment, and it’s what is working for me. It might not work for you. It depends on your physiology, your training program, how much lean muscle mass you already have, how insulin sensitive you are, your ability to absorb carbs into your muscle, etc…Like I said in the beginning, hire a good coach, and document everything so you’ll really get an idea of who you are as an athlete. Take pictures, record your workouts and energy levels diligently, keep a food diary, and also be aware of your emotional stability and sleep cycle.
Good luck!