Many years ago, a nutritionist at a gym told me that I need to eat about 500 grams of carbs per day to fuel my workouts.  Alright! I thought. I can stick to my diet of fruity milkshakes, white rice, Wonder bread, and pasta Bolognese.

I ate like that all throughout my college years. And know what? Those were my chubbiest, most energy-drained years of my life.

Working at Oxygen has taught me that you can’t out train a bad diet, particularly a traditional Western diet, which is generally made up of 500-600 grams of carbs – much of it processed. I have since cleaned up my carb act significantly: as a petite active girl who trains about five days a week, I eat around 150 grams per day. That’s it. And mainly from vegetables such as asparagus, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, squash, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, kale. Every day I eat a big salad with some combination of those – aiming for at least three different colored vegetables per salad. There’s always a lean protein source in there (chicken breast, eggs, beans, or fish) plus a tablespoon of an olive oil-based dressing for satiety.

As for grains, I eat a lot of whole grain wraps, high fiber (which always equates to low-sugar) cereal, rolled oats, and quinoa. But I do limit my grains for earlier in the day, like at breakfast and lunch. And when I’m really tightening up for an event, I reserve grains to one high carb day on the weekend, which is also when I give in to my sweet tooth.

Could you give up the simple carbs like me?

And most importantly, should you? Consider the latest school of thought on carbs:

Jeff Volek, PhD, a low-carb expert at the University of Connecticut, has really proven that active women who lift weights don’t need as much carbs as we were once led to believe – or rather what is often recommended for male weight lifters and runners. His studies show that females don’t burn as much glucose, the stored form of carbs, as males do during exercise, so we Sisters in Iron (as Tosca likes to call us!) don’t require as much carbs our diets. Instead, we should focus more on protein and healthy fats. 1 – 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight is all you really need to maintain or build lean muscle. Unless you’re a 350 lb man, that’s way less than 500 grams!

Do you think I’m hampering my health by limiting my grain intake? I’ve thought about that too. But I’ve been eating like this for the past year now and I have yet to take a sick day. Which made me really wonder if eating grains every day is even necessary? According to nutritionist Monica Reinagel, MS, LN, they’re not. In her latest book Nutrition Diva’s Secrets for a Healthy Diet, she writes:

“The current dietary guidelines recommend that you get a minimum of three servings of whole grains every day, based on research showing that people whose diets are high in whole grains have lower rates of heart disease and diabetes compared with people whose diets are high in refined grains. It’s pretty clear that replacing refined grains is helpful. What’s not clear is whether those benefits come from eating more whole grains or from eating less refined grains. Some people argue that you’d be better off without any grains at all. Although I think it’s possible to have a healthy diet that includes them, I agree that grains are not essential.”

I know that many women have a complex relationship with carbs so chime in! I’d love to know how you deal with them.

- Helen Vong