If you didn’t know, sugar is the enemy when it comes to weight loss. And this includes carbs.

Don’t believe me? You can read this article that explains it all in detail, and there are many other articles on weight loss you can read: How to Lose Fat and Keep It Off

Anyway, I’ll give you a quick overview of why this is the case.

Carbs spike your insulin

Insulin is a hormone that gets released into your blood after you consume carbs. This isn’t a bad thing because insulin is needed to deal with the carbs and decide how much of it to store to use straight away or for later use.

But this is where the problem arises; when you consume carbs higher on the GI index (foods that raise our blood sugar more), insulin takes them out of your blood quickly to store for later use.

Before your body can even store more of the energy to use straight away, insulin has taken it to store on you for later use.

And because it breaks down very quickly as well, it releases that bit of energy from it very quickly, and this is what causes your energy surge, crash and then cravings.

However, your metabolism plays a huge factor in this process.

If you have a regular slow metabolism that half of the people trying to lose weight have, you could probably go on a calorie deficit while keeping carbs in your diet and still lose weight, although you will gain the fat back when you stop doing the cardio, and you will lose muscle tissue and water weight as well as fat.

But there’s the other half that has an even slower metabolism, and they probably can’t lose weight while having carbs in their diet, and no matter the calorie deficit, whether it’s 500 calories or 1000 calories, they won’t lose weight.

However, if both of these groups controlled their insulin and cut out refined carbs, and most carbs in general, they would lose fat alone and most efficiently.

So, you must know these common carb sources that people think are fine for fat loss but are the complete opposite.

1. Refined Carbohydrates

Most people trying to lose weight eat this like their life is on the line.

But know that when you cut out carbs, you won’t die because you’ll be consuming healthy fats and animal protein to survive, which have all the essential nutrients and vitamins we need.

Firstly, 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, which is the most calories out of all macronutrients, and secondly, our brain is made of 60% fat, so it’s only logical to conclude that your brain needs some of what it’s made of.

Also, everyone knows that we need protein for growth and development, and this one is not in denial.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat carbs like potatoes, but you should cut out refined carbs, like white rice because if you do you will have elevated energy levels and you will lose fat alone at the fastest rate.

Here is a list of common refined carbs:

1.1. White rice

White rice’s GI falls between 60 and 90, and that’s classified as high.

Although one cup (186-gram) serving of white rice has 242 calories, it still spikes your insulin.

Unfortunately, people have been deceived into calorie counting, and they know that 242 calories will fall into their “calorie deficit” range. 

Regardless of this, and the fact that it has 53.4 grams of carbs, it doesn’t beat the fact that most of its energy will be stored as fat.

And for those with a relatively slower metabolism, it will hit them more.

Carb to have instead: You should have brown rice which generally has a GI of 50. But if you’ve cut this out and you’re still struggling to lose fat, completely cut it out from your diet and pick from these recipes.

Related article: Best healthy & quick dinner recipes

1.2. Cereal

Most people should know that sugary cereals, like honey, chocolate and frosted cereals are bad for you and weight loss.

Even when you don’t think about controlling insulin, they have many calories, so that should raise most people’s awareness of it, especially those who love calorie counting.

However, “innocent” cereals like Kellogg’s bran flakes that have “HELLO HAPPY GUTS!” on the back have high GI sugars like barley malt extract, glucose syrup and sugar.

That’s 3 added sugars.

And here’s the GI of each one:

• Barley malt extract GI: 42 (this is low on the glycaemic scale)
• Glucose syrup GI: 100 (which is high; it’s the highest number on the scale)
• Sugar (unspecified): Table sugar, 65 (this is medium and it’s close to high)

So imagine eating a serving of this every other day, your blood sugar must be on a ride!

Maybe that’s the reason for your weight loss plateau.

Another example is cornflakes. It has 3 added sugars like bran flakes. Here’s the GI of each one:

• Barley malt extract GI: 42 (this is low on the glycaemic scale)
• Sugar (unspecified): Table sugar, 65 (this is medium and it’s close to high)
• Maize: 52 (this is low on the glycaemic scale)

I could raise many other examples, but this shows you that you must cut out cereal to control your insulin.

What to have instead: You should make eggs or have Greek yoghurt with berries.

Related article: Healthy Breakfasts to Eat in the Morning

1.3. Bread

If you’re still eating white bread on a weight loss journey, you’re asking your body to maintain or increase its weight.

Even 50/50 bread shouldn’t be in sight in your home. But it even goes further than that.

They can use all these terms like “seeded bread” or “brown bread” but they are not necessarily healthy.

They think you’re dumb, but all is said when you turn the back of the packaging and read the ingredients.

One example is the Hovis Seeded Bread.

It has 3 added sugars, and here’s the GI of each one:

• Malted barley flour GI: N/A (Hasn’t been tested but it’s seen to be low)
• Granulated sugar GI: 65 (it’s medium, but it’s close to high)
• Caramelized sugar GI: 65 (it’s medium, but it’s close to high)

Now of course, you could make your bread at home, or buy Ezekiel bread, which has a GI of 36, but for those that don’t have time to make bread or can’t afford the prices, don’t consider these ways.

What to have instead: You should make eggs or have Greek yoghurt with berries.

Related article: Healthy Breakfasts to Eat in the Morning

1.4. Pasta

Spaghetti bolognese. Lasagne.

These all use pasta, and regular pasta is a refined carb. Pasta generally has a GI of 50, considered low, but a glycaemic load of 15.4, considered moderate.

Pasta has on average 220 calories per cup, which means most people probably eat pasta on their weight loss journey.

This might be ok for most people, but if you have an even slower metabolism and struggle more to lose weight, you may want to lower your consumption of it.

Carbs to have instead: You should have whole wheat or semolina pasta, but if you’ve cut this out and you’re still struggling to lose fat, completely cut it out from your diet and pick from these recipes.

Related article: Best healthy & quick dinner recipes

2. Some fruits & Vegegtables

This is a controversial one because people stick with their “calorie deficits”, and fruits have low calories so they see it as good for weight loss.

But when you look at what some fruits do to your blood sugar, you’ll be shocked. For example, a watermelon has a GI of 75 and a pineapple has a GI of 66.

A banana generally has a GI of around 50, but ripe bananas can have a GI on a high scale of around 80! So you might want to temporarily cut that out.

Thinking about your five-a-day? A carrot has a GI of 71, so it’s classified as a high-GI food.

Don’t panic because there are many other fruits and vegetables you can eat, and I’ll give you a list.

For your vegetables, you should have more greens like broccoli, cabbage, onions, and lettuce. These foods have a GI of around 10, which is low and beneficial for you.

You should have fruits like cherries, grapefruit, prunes, and raspberries which all have GIs of around 20.

2.1. Fruit juices & Smoothies

Avoiding fruits includes avoiding fruit juices and smoothies you buy from stores. These were most likely made with higher GI fruits, and even if they weren’t, they most likely have added sugar, which has a GI of 65.

Consider making your smoothies at home if you want to, and use the low GI fruits I listed.

3. Honey & Condensed milk

These are both sweeteners, and you should avoid them.

Honey is seen as a healthier alternative to sugar, but for weight loss, you shouldn’t be consuming honey. Honey has a GI of around 60, and although this is medium, some honey even has added sugar to it.

There’s no point in having honey in small amounts when you can prevent cravings and cut it out temporarily.

Condensed milk has a GI of 61, and it’s often used for baking. So you may want to avoid using it for baking, and you may want to temporarily avoid baking in general since you’ll probably be using sugar.

4. Sugar

Moderation? No, you shouldn’t be adding sugar to any food item at all if you’re trying to lose weight. Table sugar has a GI of 65, and adding sugar to your tea or anything else is completely avoidable.

Small changes can make a big difference!

5. Potatoes

Before you rage at me, you may want to look at how you cook your potatoes.

The GI of potatoes can range from 59 to 82, and it all depends on the cooking method.

For example, boiled and roasted potatoes have a GI of 59, but mashed potatoes have a GI of 78.

So if you’re really struggling to lose weight, you may want to avoid making mashed potatoes. And try not to have too many potatoes in general.

Conclusion

I may not have mentioned all the foods with high gis, so before you purchase a food item, search up its glycaemic index and consider whether you want your blood sugar to spike, resulting in you storing more body fat or not.

Always remember to avoid anything that is premade, has a lot of sugar and is ultra-processed.

There’s also this thing called the glycemic load that’s like the glycemic index but a bit more detailed. It looks at how many carbs you eat when you have certain foods to figure out how they affect your body.

Take watermelon, for instance.

It’s high on the glycemic index, but it has a low glycemic load because it doesn’t have a lot of carbs. That means you’d have to eat a ton of watermelon to make your blood sugar level go up by a lot.

Now although some foods have higher gis but require you to eat more of them to spike your blood sugar, eating some of them will tempt you into eating more, and you might want to avoid that risk.

I recommend you read this article that tells you about unhealthy foods you should not consume because some food sources that are not carbohydrates can have added sugars to them that are high on the glycaemic index: “Healthy” foods that are Unhealthy