Be ok with two truths!
Do you find yourself searching for rules around your eating? Looking for a distinct list of foods that you can and can not have so you land on plans, programs or professionals who tout:
>> no white foods
>> no carbs after 6 PM
>> no fruit after noon
>> no foods from bags or boxes
>> no ingredients you can’t pronounce
>> no refined carbs
woof! so unnecessary!
Ya’ll gotta be ok with two truths: you can get lean, strong + fit eating processed, packaged and refined carbohydrates; AND you can get lean, strong + fit eating real, whole food carbohydrates.


It doesn’t matter if you get carbohydrates from cereal + candy or if you get them from beans + berries. The way your body “reads” that food is the same after digestion and absorption.
You can, however, make those carb macros work harder for you by emphasizing meals with micronutrient and fiber rich whole foods.
Let’s use our budgeting analogy: money is money. Your dollar isn’t worth more if you buy 4 pairs of $25 shoes or 1 pair of $100 shoes.
However, a pair of $100 shoes might support your foot better, last longer and could be paired with many more outfits than that $25 pair.
>> Does it mean that the $25 pair won’t get you to where you want to be? Naw. It’s a shoe. It covers your foot and provides protection for walking.
>> Does it mean that you should never buy cheap shoes? No! I can think of a lot of reasons that warrant buying cheap shoes over expensive ones.
>> Does it mean you should create rules about what is cheap and what is expensive? Put a line down the middle and decide that no shoes under $XX belong on your foot? That’s arbitrary garbage – absolutely not.
So why do we do this with carbohydrates?
Eliminating cake, crackers and cookies is so unnecessary in the pursuit of getting lean + strong!