“𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘴 & 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦…”

Have you said this? Or you already tried this?
Or your sister did it and said you should too?

𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵?

Carbs are important. For a lot of reasons.
And for women especially, it may not be the best idea to cut them out from both a progress and weight-loss standpoint and from a hormone and health standpoint.

Why are they important you ask? Well…I’ll give you a list.

1 – ✨𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

Carbs aren’t this big, bad, scary, terrible thing. At the most foundational understanding, carbs one of the 3 macronutrients, or “macros,” that make up ALL foods: Carbohydrates, Fats (lipids), and proteins.

Every single calorie you consume comes from one of these macros. They’re the only types of nutrients we consume that give us energy (as opposed to micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, that are still important but don’t provide us the actual necessary energy we need that come form macronutrients).

So now that you know all energy comes from the macronutrients, you should know this:

Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy.

It’s the most readily available and most easily converted to energy. Your body doesn’t hate them and automatically turn them into fat simply because they’re carbs. They actually really like them. And if you have performance goals, they are EVEN MORE IMPORTANT.

2 – ✨𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 “𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫” 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

Carbohydrates aren’t just important for energy, but also for hormone production and regulation (as are fats). If you’re habitually consuming a really low-carb diet, your body may perceive that as a “stressor” because the lack of carbs it’s essentially making it’s job harder. This can put your body even further into fight-or-flight stressed-out mode…which can make things like fat loss even harder. It can even lead to issues like losing your period, having an irregular cycle, or experiencing digestive issues.

3 – ✨𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞.

Have you ever gone a long time without eating and noticed that you felt a little dizzy, a little fatigued, or even a little hangry? It’s usually due to the lack of carbohydrates you’ve put in your body. If you’re not careful or have a smart approach while eating lower carbs, your blood sugar can drop and you can experience a lot of those symptoms, because they play such big roles in not only energy and hormone production, but in blood sugar regulation too!

4 – ✨𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝐭𝐨 f𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Carbohydrates aren’t just your body’s preferred source of energy overall or specifically in your muscles, but it’s also it’s the preferred & main source for your brain. The thing is, your brain uses a LARGE percentage of the energy you consume each day. (It makes up about 2% of your body weight, but actually uses about 20% of the calories you eat!)

A lot of advocates of keto diets will say that your brain functions optimally when it uses fats to produce energy. And while it’s true your body can produce energy & function by converting fats to the form of energy your brain can use, that doesn’t mean it’s optimal, it doesn’t mean it will work for your life, and it doesn’t mean your body will be able to deal well with the other side effects a low-carb diet can have on you…which leads us into our final (and in my opinion, most important) point.

5 – ✨𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

You know how many people have to “do keto again?”

I don’t have a resource to cite here mostly because it’s not really well-studied trend outside of the actual effects & rates of keto being used. But from my experience as a coach who’s talked to a LOT of women about their dieting efforts?

It’s a lot.

For most people, keto just isn’t sustainable. Even those who claim that it’s a “lifestyle change” often can’t sustain said lifestyle. Many low-carb dieters weight-cycle and diet-cycle because they’re utilizing an approach that isn’t realistic to continue with throughout life.

You shouldn’t have to skip your own birthday cake, say goodbye to your favorite home-cooked meal, ditch your childhood restaurant, or never eat bread again to reach your health goals.

And truly, you don’t need to.

𝘠𝘦𝘴 – 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣 𝘊𝘈𝘕 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦.

But, some people does not mean all people (especially for women – we are VERY different than men). You don’t have to cut out carbs. You just need to be in an appropriate calorie deficit after an adequate amount of time eating enough food in the first place.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥, 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬.

Yes, tell them Kelsey sent you the next time you order a sandwich with bread instead of lettuce (come on.. who invented lettuce sandwiches anyway?!)

Questions about this topic? Drop them below or shoot us a DM over on Instagram.