Possum Carb Hangover

I had a little chuckle when this headline and picture caught my attention:

A possum broke into an Australian bakery and ate so many pastries it couldn’t move. This is how they found him. (source)

I think most of us have been there before, but see, even little critters feel terrible and crash after eating large amounts of highly refined, high sugar foods! Instead of demonizing all carbohydrates, instead I offer nutrition coaching around increasing the quality of your carbohydrate choices to foods that pass what I call the “nature test”.

Nature Test Definition: “If you can eat a food very close to the way that it grows, make those sources of carbohydrates your top choices throughout the day.”

For example, great “nature test” foods include:

• steel cut oats
• quinoa
• sweet potatoes
• brown or wild rice
• all varieties of squash
• barley, buckwheat, bulgur, freekeh, millet, etc. (there are so many delicious varieties of complex, high fibre, whole grains out there to explore!)

After working on increasing more high quality carb choices into the diet, I then tweak carbohydrate intake recommendations further to match your exercise volume and intensity so that you’re not getting too much or too little of this essential macronutrient. A Computerized Diet Analysis can often help assess both your macro- and micro-nutrient intake levels and see if things are a bit off track from where they should be, and then from a foods-first approach, we can discuss changes you might want to implement to help you look and feel your best.

Don’t feel that you can’t ever enjoy a treat or two from time to time (because let’s be honest, that’s not really a fun way to live), but try to avoid large stretches of carbohydrate restriction followed by “cheat days” or “cheat meals” that leave you comatose lying down clutching your belly inside of a box of pastries like this poor possum. In the long run, your metabolism, your blood sugar control, your weight, and your mental sanity will thank you for taking yourself off the crazy carb starvation and binge yo yo cycle.