It seems like everyone now has some kind of carb-phobia. The latest series of diets claim that Carbohydrates are the devils food and you will put on weight simply by looking at them. Everywhere you look there are foods that have low carb alternatives. Many restaurants even now provide low carb options on their menu!

From my own personal experience, cutting carbs is what made it so difficult for me to stick to a diet. I constantly felt low on energy, tired and drained.

The absolute bottom line in losing weight is to simply burn off more than you eat. Therefore eating too many calories are what makes you fat, not a certain food group. If you eat less total calories then you need, you are going to lose weight, no matter what the food is.

The fact of the matter is, we shouldn’t cut out carbs at all. Several reasons why.

Firstly, our brain needs a certain amount of carbohydrates to function at full capacity. Carbohydrates are our brains preferred source of energy. Studies have revealed that memory; learning and concentration are negatively affected on low carbohydrate diets.

Secondly, carbohydrates are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which will only lead to deficiencies and various health problems if we neglect them. They are also our bodies preferred source of energy.

When it comes to losing weight, what many people fail to realize is that fat burns best in a carbohydrate flame. By that, I mean that our body is most efficient and burning our excess body fat, when we use carbohydrates as the primary fuel source. We need carbohydrates to do high intensity workouts. Thus the more energy we have the better we train and the more fat we burn afterwards. A really good analogy I heard once was comparing burning fat to starting a fire. The kindling (carbohydrates) is used to get the fire started then the logs (fat) are burnt for hours afterwards to sustain the fire.

The final reason why we shouldn’t neglect carbohydrates is because they taste good! This is a real key to long lasting weight loss. We should never neglect ourselves from eating foods that taste good and we enjoy. I don’t care how strong a willpower you have, sooner or later you will crack under the pressure. Again, to lose weight successfully, you simply have to eat less than you burn off a day. It isn’t what foods you eat that makes you fat, but how much food you eat. I cannot stress that enough.

So if you are someone who actually enjoys eating carbohydrates, don’t deprive yourself of it, because if you do, sooner or later your cravings will be unbearable. We don’t want to deprive ourselves of what we love; because eventually we will succumb to the pressure.

Remember, the bottom line to successful weight loss is how many calories you eat a day, not what foods you eat a day. Therefore it makes sense to consume foods you enjoy and simply monitor how much you eat. This will enable you to stick to a reduced calorie diet for a longer period of time, hence giving you a better chance of dramatic and long lasting weight loss.