Carbs: a terrifying word for those on a very strict diet and often one of the most avoided part of any meal, perhaps for a good reason. Carbs or carbohydrates provide the body with energy and it usually comes in the form of simple sugars, the scary part about it is that if not used for energy such as working out, the carbs stored can become fats and increase your weight, so if you aren’t going to the gym or hitting the running path, carbohydrates could be something you want to avoid. Well for whatever reason you may have to avoid carbs, I am here to give some tips on how to carb control, regardless if you are going down the vegan path or just plain old clean eating.

Stop drinking your carbs – Sodas are not your friend, not even the diet ones or the zero calories that often cans or bottles brag about, these contain carbs. Among the how to carb control tips, this one might be difficult for a lot of people as sodas are a way of life for them, however if you really want to proceed down the clean eating path, avoid these like the plague. It is so easy to get your required carbohydrate amount per day if you gulp it down and quite frankly if you plan to take in carbs, might as well get it from healthier options. If you are a heavy soda drinker, get this step on top of your list, assuming you really want to avoid carbs or just in case you really want to get healthy.

Realize how much sugar sodas have? Totally bad for the health.

Avoid processed grains – I know white rice is quite delicious and works with a lot of dishes, but you really don’t want that processed grain in your system when you are trying to do some clean eating. White bread is also something you really don’t want to get into your system as it is quite processed and holds a lot of carbohydrates. I prefer this step on how to carb control because as a vegan, there are a ton of other options open such as whole grain and even more healthier ones.

Sugar is a no go – As the first tip goes, no soda right? That is because it has an insane amount of sugar in it and you don’t want that in your system while you are learning how to carb control. Sugar contains quite a bit of carbs in it and quite frankly, you should only consume about 25 grams of sugar a day. On a side note, soda usually contains about 40 grams in one can, so you can see how important it is to avoid sodas if you are learning how to carb control. If you want to really get out of that bad relationship with sugar, there are ways how.

Switch to natural juice – If you really are craving sugar or soda, then denying yourself too long is dangerous and could lead back to you falling into the old bad habit again. So in lieu of sodas or sugars, go for 100% natural fruit drinks, in fact make them yourself in the blender to sate that sweet tooth. This still coincides with pretty much any clean eating diet or vegan needs, plus this will lessen your dependency on soda. Just make sure to watch your intake as some fruits may contain higher amounts of sugar than others.

Water is always the best option – I can’t keep pushing as to how great it is to drink water. Now that you are cutting down on carbs, it might be ideal to drink some more water as it will fill you up quite a bit and you will eat less, with less carbs on your plate that is the ideal set up. A definite must for the how to carb control, water helps you regulate and process all your intake. With less carbs too you will be sure to get the maximum effect and potential of water.

Starchy vegetables are out of here – As vegetables go, most of them are quite good for you, every vegan can pretty much swear by this, however if you are in the middle of learning how to carb control, you’ll want to avoid starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and so on. While you are clean eating those particular vegetables pair off with a lot of things but while you are trying to go low on the carbohydrates, it is ideal to maybe limit the intake of these vegetables to a couple of times per week at most.

With any meal, it is always best to have portion control. A good balance of what we eat is a step farther from health risks.

Proteins – Now that there is a big gaping hole in your stomach due to the lack of carbs, you will need to fill it in. I suggest a ton of vegetables for those who are clean eating but for those not restricted by the vegan diet go for rich proteins with lean fats, in fact go for fatty fish as the nutrients in those will really help. While you are learning how to carb control, you will get quite hungry as you used to get quite full from carbohydrates as well as other foods, but now that you no longer have that option or it is cut down to a minimal, proteins will need to pick up the slack so make sure to plan this out thoroughly otherwise you will find yourself at the mercy of carbs once more.

Portion control – While it is difficult to completely cut out carbs, it is ideal to start planning portion control with each meal. When starting off with how to carb control, you can’t go cold turkey with carbohydrates, it is a gradual and slow turn over to clean eating, even if you are doing the vegan diet it isn’t as simple as deciding to stop. It will take time to cut down on carbs and don’t worry, you will have to do it slowly and eventually maybe even cutting it out completely. So in the mean time, perhaps portioning is the ideal step to begin with.

There you have it my friends, quite a few tips on how to carb control. The steps are a little difficult but not at all impossible, it just depends on how much you are willing to change your diet. If you are already vegan, it shouldn’t be too hard and if you are already doing some clean eating chances are you have started on some of the steps above, it shouldn’t be impossible to keep going towards your goal of complete and total control over carbohydrate intake, it just takes some getting used to and a bit of control, and the results will simply blow your mind. Stay healthy!