Are you enjoying all those fruits and vegetables? If you feel like you need to catch up, you can check out weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 if you want to, or just join us here in week 5.) I’m here with your fifth tiny change this week and some simple-to-complex carb swaps, but I want you to make sure that you keep up with your prior weeks’ changes, too!
Prefer to see a video instead of reading? Check out this week’s tip on our YouTube channel instead (I also explain more about the #1 reason why I think this is a good swap to make)!
As you may already know, I named my studio Tiny Fitness because I know that the tiny changes are the ones that bring us the biggest results. If you’re tired of starting and stopping, getting “on” and “off” the wagon, plugging away on the treadmill but not seeing any results, or just not sure where to start your fitness journey, this series is for you.
I’ll be posting tips on the blog (use the box on the sidebar to subscribe via email), Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube each week for 11 more weeks. If you miss a day (or more) of work or a week (or more) of tips, just jump back in when you’re ready. You don’t have to “make up” or “catch up” on anything you’ve missed – just keep swimming along with us and we will all make it to the finish line together with some amazing results.
Week 5: Swap one simple carb for one complex carb.
Check out this week’s YouTube video to find out the #1 reason why I care about the difference between simple and complex carbs – but they’re also one of the biggest and simplest ways to improve your blood sugar control, which can translate into faster and easier fat loss. (Managing your glycemic load – in a simplified sense, the ratio of what you eat at each meal or snack that your body sees as sugar and vs what it sees as fat and protein – helps your body know if it needs to plan to store what you’re eating as energy for later and not overwhelm it with more sugar than it can process in one sitting.)
This week, I want you to try to just swap one serving of simple carbs out for a serving of complex carbs. You don’t have to get too creative – make it easy!
Just tell me what to do.
I’m not a registered dietitian, but here are some suggestions from my own life and from my clients’ meals over the years – in a nutshell, what you’re looking for in a complex carb is a food that still has all of the fiber that it originally came with. The goal is to swap out something you’re already eating for a complex alternative, though, so adding whole wheat toast to your menu when you don’t normally eat bread doesn’t count!
- Almost any fruit or vegetable is a source of complex carbs as long as you haven’t cooked it down to pure mush, so try swapping…
- sliced or mashed raw berries in for jelly, jam, or pre-sweetened yogurt
- squash, carrots, or sweet potatoes for pasta
- or even sliced roasted potato for toast
- Pasta made from beans, while it’s not a good protein source like the package often advertises, is a complex carbohydrate, as is whole wheat pasta.
- The old brown rice for white rice swap – it even counts at chipotle. Or, try riced broccoli or cauliflower in place of rice.
- Rolled oats! They can be ground in your blender or food processor and used in place of white flour in most recipes, or you can, of course, make oatmeal or overnight oats instead of eating processed breakfast cereal.
- Try whole wheat or corn tortillas in place of white flour tortillas, or whole wheat bread in place of white
If the package says whole grain, am I in the clear?
(Don’t want to click through? There aren’t firm requirements for who can use the term “whole grain” on a label, so you still have to read the sometimes deceptive ingredients, or, better yet, make it yourself! Most true whole grain products are pretty obvious.)
I know it’s confusing, and I’m here to help if I can! Leave me a comment on YouTube and I will try to answer your question or point you to a better source of info. (And if you’re my client, I’m always here for carb queries.)
Always make sure to consult your health or fitness professional before modifying your fitness program, and work at a level that feels right for you. If you need to stop at any time, stop!
Need more accountability for these 16 weeks? Comment on our Facebook post for each week’s challenge and I will check in with you to make sure you’re still hanging in there!
