First, let us talk about carbs for a second. Carbs are valued at 4 calories per gram. EVERY. SINGLE. CARB is worth the same amount of calories, whether it comes from a pop tart or a strawberry. I'm not going to dive into complex versus simple carbs, but let's just say that they are both 4 calories, and the distinctions have more to do with their ability to be broken down, and nothing to do with how many calories they are. One is not necessarily better than the other, but it is good to try and always go for variety in food sources. We all know where carbs come from, because they are usually our favorite food groups. Ice cream, pizza crust, cookies, fruit, so on and so forth.
Low carb diets divert your intake from carbs and redirect you to an increase in protein and fat intake so you don't starve to death. Generally, people will see a rapid weight loss from starting a low carb diet, most of which is the result of losing water weight. Now, water weight can be an extremely obnoxious concept to work with because water weight increases or decreases can get confusing when it comes to your physique goals. This is what I want you to remember today....carbs hold water.
Your body needs carbs to get through life. Glycogen is stored throughout your body. "Approximately 400 grams are stored as muscle glycogen, 90-110 grams as liver glycogen, and 25 grams circulate in the blood as glucose. When the body needs more glucose than is available in bloodstream to support energy demands, glycogen stores are used to raise blood glucose levels." (IAState.edu) When you ingest carbs, your body holds on to both water and sodium in order to process everything and keep your body balanced the way it would like to be. This water retention can be about 3g per gram of carbohydrate. Just think about that for a second! For your rice cake, which has about 7 g of carbs, your body will hold on to roughly 21 g of water and sodium...resulting in a possible and temporary water weight gain.
So, when you cut carbs from your diet, your body isn't holding that water and you may drop weight quickly. As long as you don't add the carbs back in, you may even keep it off for a while. But, if you add in carbs, and especially if you do it quickly, YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT. It may just be water weight, but you will jump up. For most people, this is what sends them spiraling out of control, because they are frustrated and thats understandable.
You need carbs to get in a good workout. Workouts help you reach your goals...so eat your carbs. If it makes you feel better to stick to natural sources, that's awesome! Berries are a great option because they have a ton of micronutrients and you can have so many strawberries for 20 g of carbs. Cutting out an entire food group, or in this case, attempting to cut out an entire macronutrient option is just not a good idea and I can almost guarantee that you will regret it, especially after a few days on "no" carbs and you see someone with a cookie! Find your balance, if you need help with that just reach out and ask! I could talk your ear off, but just wanted to put a little tid bit out there for now!
I'll include some articles below for more information.
Glycogen storage- Illusion of easy weight loss: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/56/1/292S.abstract
Glycogen Metabolism: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21190/
Can a high carb diet cause you to retain water?: http://www.livestrong.com/article/309135-can-a-high-carb-diet-cause-you-to-retain-water/
