Brown Rice may be keeping you from getting lean!
Remember the famous Atkins Diet when everyone was completely eliminating carbs and gorging down bacon, hot dogs, steak and anything else that stops your heart from pumping. Yes, they lost weight. Alot of which was water because carbs intrinsically hold water molecules. Then all of the sudden, there was an increase in kidney stones, gout and every other ill affect from a high fat and protein diet .
So, what happened next? People started to bring carbs back into their diet. Health educators were telling their patients to eat more brown rice, cous cous etc… for more fiber and to fill up. Again, people would take this advice to the next level and eat not 1 cup but like 4 cups of brown rice along with a sweet potato.
Brown rice was soon to be known as one of the perfect carbs. Well it is and it isn’t. Its high fiber content makes it great. Its lack in nutrients makes it a waste of calories when your trying to get a flat stomach. Unfortunately for many individuals, it’s one of those foods that before you know it you’ve already eaten 3 cups of rice before you realize your stuffed. Similar to cereal which is another one of those carbs that adds up quickly.
Does that mean you should keep away from brown rice or complex carbs. No, it means you should try to keep them very minimal in your daily diet plan. Instead use them almost like a condiment, i.e. 1/4 cup cold brown rice added to mixed greens and organic veggies. Concentrate on lean proteins, veggies, fruits and lots of water. Try to keep your carbs to either breakfast or lunch. You may even try to cycle your carbs with one day no complex carbs and the next day either breakfast or lunch an added carb.
For example,
Day 1 breakfast: hard boiled egg and a green apple with 1tsp almond butter
Day 2 breakfast: brown rice cake with 1tsp almond butter and low-fat cottage cheese.
Do I have to eat like this all the time?
No. This post is about losing weight and getting a flat stomach. Nutrition is the main component and intensive calorie burning is the second. Next time you want to eat all those carbs. Stop. Think about your goal and proceed.
