Carbs Aren’t the Problem — Your Lifestyle Is

Carbs aren’t the problem.

The way most people use them is.

In today’s world, people are eating like high-performance athletes… while living completely sedentary lives. The result? Low energy, weight gain, poor metabolic health, and a constant cycle of frustration.

In this episode, we break down what carbohydrates actually are, how they function in the body, and why context matters. You’ll learn how glucose is used for fuel, how insulin and activity determine whether carbs are burned or stored, and why most people are completely misaligned with their intake.

We also walk through practical guidelines on how many carbs you actually need based on your level of activity — whether you’re sedentary, training moderately, or pushing hard in the gym.

Because carbs aren’t evil.

But they will expose you.

And if you don’t take control of your habits, your body will reflect it.

This is about discipline. This is about stewardship. This is about aligning how you live with what your body was designed to do.

Stay faithful. Stay fit. Lead with purpose.

🎙️ Stay connected with Faithful Fit Father:

📺 YouTube: Faithful Fit Father

📸 Instagram: @faithfulfitfather

🎵 TikTok: @faithfulfitfatherofficial

🎧 Spotify: Faithful Fit Father Podcast

https://linktr.ee/faithfulfitfather

👊 Stay Faithful. Stay Fit. Lead With Purpose.
 #FaithfulFitFather #GloryToGod

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Faithful Fit Father Podcast. This is Sean, and this is episode number two in the Pillars of Health series on carbohydrates. So definitely excited about this one. The first episode, if you haven't seen it yet, I recommend going back and checking it out. It's on protein. I wrote that first episode because protein, I believe, is the most fundamental, most important thing to really understand when it comes to why we need it, the purpose behind it, the building blocks of protein in general, and uh, you know, what I call the longevity currency of muscle mass and strength as you age. Definitely check that episode out. I'll link it here in the bottom of this video as well. Episode two, though, carbohydrates. Man, equally important, we're gonna go into what they are, not too scientific, but just enough of the science so you can get a good understanding of the purpose of carbohydrates. They're unique, they're different than protein and different than fat uh by far. We'll get into the fat in the episode three, but right now we're gonna definitely focus on carbohydrates and uh and get into it. So, you know, people argue all the time about carbohydrates. They argue about keto, you know, no carbohydrates, the benefits of doing that, and then the other camp, high carbohydrates, plenty of carbs all the time. And we'll get into that. People talk about glucose, um, blood sugar, the ins and outs of why that's irrelevant. But almost nobody is asking the right question, and that is are you living a life that justifies the need for the amount of carbohydrates that you eat on a daily basis? Because carbs aren't the problem. Misalignment is. So, this next section here, we're going to really kind of define what carbohydrates are. And again, not too deep into science, but like I said, enough for you to go ahead and get a good understanding of it. So, if you look at a modern diet today, most of what people eat is carbohydrates. I mean, nobody's getting enough protein in unless you're actually intentfully eating and you understand how much you're really eating. If you have no idea and you're just really new and a baby when it comes to the information on nutrition, I mean, protein's kind of like, well, I eat protein, but definitely not enough. Carbs, that's just what's in almost everything. Now, we'll talk about fat on another episode and why that is what it is. But man, if you look at the modern diet, everything that you're eating on a daily basis with every single meal is packed full of carbohydrates. Uh, most things people crave, and and there's a reason for that. So they're they're all built around carbohydrates, snack food, especially junk food, convenience foods, and just your everyday meal. You know, you got a big portion of carbohydrates packed on that plate everywhere you go. So they taste good. There's no doubt. I love them. They're easy to eat, and they trigger your brain to want more. And that's one of the things we're going to talk about. So, again, a little bit of the science here. So, when you eat a carbohydrate, they're broken down into what's called glucose. So, glucose is your primary energy currency for your body, everything that you do, pretty much. It's what the body prefers generally when it comes to energy expenditure. So, your cells use it to perform basic functions, and it becomes especially important during intense training, explosive movement, and certain aspects of brain function. So, once that glucose enters into the bloodstream, the body has a problem to solve. Because your body is designed to tightly regulate blood sugar levels. I'm sure many of you have heard the terminology blood sugar and insulin, type 2 diabetes, etc., and the need for insulin, but might not be sure exactly why. So, because your body, again, is designed to tightly regulate blood sugar levels, too much glucose sitting in the blood is just not a good thing. So the question becomes where does it go? At that point, this is where insulin comes in. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas, and its job is to move glucose out of the bloodstream and into your cells. It tells your body take this fuel and put it somewhere. Insulin is the signal. So I'm gonna stop right there for just a second. So glucose breaks down from pasta, bread, candy, ice cream, fruit, all these things. Um, you eat it, it goes in the body, your body is designed to recognize what it is and do something with it, break it down, and then it converts into glucose that gets into the blood. At that point, it's got to go somewhere. Because if you have high blood sugar or low blood sugar, it's not good. The body regulates that using an insulin hormone, sends a signal out, grabs the glucose, tries to find a home for it. So now here's what most people stop. But there's another piece to this. Inside your muscle cells, there's something called GLUT4. Think of GLUT4 like a doorway. What happens is when that door opens, glucose can enter into the muscle. And that door can be opened in two ways. One is insulin, you eat carbs, insulin rises, G UT4 opens, and then glucose enters into the cell. But there is a second way. That second way is from movement. When you train, when your muscles are contracted, GO UT4 is activated without needing as much insulin. It's very important that you're using less insulin to do the same thing, which is regulate the blood sugar, move it into a new home, preferably into the muscle. So now you have two different systems. One is insulin driven, the other is activity driven. And this is where everything changes. Because where that glucose goes depends on your body's current state. If you're active, if you've trained, if you've depleted energy, your muscles are primed. They're ready to receive fuel, you become more insulin sensitive, which means your body needs less insulin to handle the same amount of carbohydrates. And that glucose is pulled into the muscle and stored as what's called glycogen. And later it uses it for performance. That's what we want. But what if you're not active? If you're inactive, overfed, and your body doesn't need that energy, because again, carbohydrates are different from fat and they're different from protein. They don't build anything, they are just an energy currency. So you use it as you need it, but if you don't need it, the system works very differently. You eat carbs, your blood sugar rises, and now your body has to release more insulin to deal with it. Because your cells aren't responding well. At that point, your body still has to get the glucose out of the blood, so it stores it first as glycogen if there's room in those muscles or the liver. It gets converted and stored as fat if it's no room. This is where triglycerides increase. And over time, you start to see fat accumulation. You see it in belly fat, love handles, you see it in the thighs, and eventually even what's called visceral fat, which is fat that's stored around your organs. This is where people live. They eat carbs and their body looks at it and says, We don't need this right now, so it stores it. Over and over and over. So let's recap just a moment. Again, you eat carbs, which is energy. If you're not exercising, you're not active, and you're not actively depleting your stored energy currency that you currently have, which is glycogen, in your muscles. You ingest more carbohydrates that converts back to glycogen. If there's no room in those muscles, it gets stored as adipose fat tissue. What everyone sees every time they look down at their waistline. Now, the longer that you go with that, the worse off you get. Here's the difference. Same carbs, same body, but after training, your body handles those carbs completely differently. Less insulinated, better glucose uptake, more going to muscle, and less to fat. Again, same carbs, same body, different outcome. Based on how you live. The reality is this this is where everything breaks down for most people. The modern lifestyle is completely out of alignment with the body and how it is designed to function. Think about your average day. You wake up, you get in the car, you drive to work, you sit at your desk, you drive to lunch, you sit and eat, you drive to work, you sit at your desk, you drive to home, sit on the couch. If you're feeling like it and have enough energy, you play with your kids, enjoy your time with your family, you watch TV and go to bed. Man, you repeat the next day. I've been there, I know about it. You have to be intent, excuse me, you have to be living with intent to exercise. We're not out there hunting and gathering like we used to, constantly getting 20,000 steps a day with the right amount of calories. The world's just not set up like that anymore. So we gotta make a change. But that's the pattern day after day. Now here's the problem. Throughout that entire day, the output is just low, but intake is high. Even if you don't understand carbohydrates, how many you're eating, because of the way our modern society and diet is set up, with the convenience of food everywhere we go, and our cravings that we have for the deliciousness of how carbohydrate tastes and reacts within our brain, we eat an abundant amount of them over and over every meal. Most people eat enough carbohydrates to fuel a high-performing athlete while living a completely sedentary life. And it's not just carbs, it's processed carbs, refined foods, constant snacking. So your body's stuck in a loop. You eat the carbs, glucose enters the bloodstream, and your body has to deal with it. But you haven't earned it. You haven't used anything. So your body does what it's designed to do. It stores it again and again and again. And over time, something starts to change. Your body is constantly being forced to release insulin over and over all day long. Eventually, your stealth, your eventually, your cells stop responding the way that they are designed to. This is called insulin resistance. Now, your body has a bigger problem because glucose is still coming in, but your cells aren't responding efficiently. So the body has to release even more insulin to try and get the same job done. And this is where people start sliding. Energy crashes, constant hunger, fat gain, especially around the midsection, brain fog, and poor performance. The belly fat starts forming. That's not random. That's a signal. If you can look down and see that weight building around your waist, there's a good chance your body is already struggling to properly manage blood sugar. Right now, over one in three adults in the United States are pre-diabetic, and the majority of them don't even know it. And if this continues long enough, that insulin resistance progresses first pre-diabetes, then eventually type 2 diabetes. And I'm not saying that to scare you. I'm saying that because it's a reality. This is a direction of the modern lifestyle and how it leads. If nothing changes, insulin resistance is now linked to many of the most common preventable diseases we see today. Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and what's called metabolic syndrome. These are serious. Here's the part that people don't like to hear. Most of this is preventable. Not through extremes, not through cutting carbs completely, but through alignment, better choices, understanding what you're eating, when you're eating, and why, looking at food differently. Because right now, most people aren't dealing with a carb problem. They're dealing with a lifestyle and their body can't keep up with. So how do we fix it? First, you need to understand this carbs are earned. They are earned through movement, discipline, and output. Think about it like this. Imagine you haven't driven your car all week and it had a full tank of gas, and you go out a week later and fill it up again. There's nowhere for that fuel to go. Now, with the car, it pours all over the ground, but in your body, it just stores it. That's exactly what people are doing with their lifestyle. Eating too many carbohydrates. They're fueling a system that just isn't being used. If you're not active, you simply don't need that many carbohydrates. That's the truth. Now, I know that's not what people want to hear because they are delicious and every meal is carb-heavy. And that's what people enjoy. But this isn't about eliminating everything you like. This is about changing your lifestyle so your body can actually use what you're eating. Carbs work best when you're active, when you're hitting the weights in the gym, when you're sprinting, when you're training with intensity. As we age, we do these things very less often. I read a stat not long ago that said, once you hit 30 years old, most people never sprint again in their life. On top of that, they never jump. I'm not talking about a little bounce here and there, but like an active jump on top of something. We used to do these things all the time, ages ago. So that's when your body can take those carbs, pull them into the muscle, and use them for performance. And when that happens, carbs aren't the enemy. They're powerful. But outside of that context, they become excess. So here's the practical approach. Step one, move your body daily. You don't need perfection, but you need consistency. Lift some weights. Doesn't have to be every day, a few heavy times a week. But walk. 10,000 steps a day is the minimum you should be shooting for. That way, if you miss it here and there, you're still up there. But 10,000 steps a day. Run occasionally. I recommend that a few times a week. Do something that creates demand. You know, look at yourself in the mirror right now and ask yourself, when is the last time that you went out and did something active excessively to the point where your shirt was drenched in sweat? Probably not very often. Step two, reduce carbs if you're inactive. If you're not training hard, you don't need high carb days. Bring them down. Give your body a chance to reset. Imagine that system in there constantly digesting food all the time, breaking down carbohydrates just to then notice that we have blood sugar that's not regulated and needs to be checked. Place carbs around activity. When you do eat them, put them where they can be used before training, after training, but not late at night. Sitting on the couch. I know that when you hear these things, you're like, oh my gosh, who goes all my life, all my fun. But it doesn't have to be that way. Choose better sources. Stick to simple real foods for the majority of your diet. And again, I'm not saying this for every single time that you eat something. Fruit. You know, fruit is God's gift to us. It's like candy. I mean, you ever really eat a strawberry? My goodness, it's delicious. Bananas, raspberries, blueberries, even apples, oranges, they're all just absolutely delicious. Don't get me wrong, I like a slice of cake here and there, but fruit is absolutely perfect. But we got potatoes. I like white potatoes, but potatoes in general would be just fine. Rice, honey. These things are good for you. They're powerful, they help you accomplish intense tasks that you have set for yourself when it comes to activity. Come back on that process junk loaded with uh additives and seed oils. But now understand this carbohydrates were designed to support action, stored as glycogen in the muscle and liver. They were there for survival, movement, work, and intensity. But today we're just consuming them constantly without the demand, and it's just disconnected from our original design. This stuff isn't complicated, it just requires discipline, and I'll be honest, not everyone's gonna do this. Most people will hear this and go right back to their same habits. But if you don't, if you actually apply this, you will separate yourself quickly. Because again, carbs aren't a problem, misuses. So in this section, we're gonna talk just a little bit about how many carbs do you actually need. I would start off also by saying you need a fundamental knowledge when it comes to macronutrients. I don't want to get off into the weeds here, make this again too complicated, but a good understanding of what a carbohydrate looks like when it comes to a gram of weighed-out potatoes or rice, and how many carbohydrates might be in that amount of food. It will help you accomplish any kind of program that you might be setting up for yourself to get a grip on this. But how many carbs should you be eating? That depends on one thing, and that's the level of your output, not your opinion, and not what you feel like eating. Because if we always ate how we feel, we certainly wouldn't be in good shape, would we? And your actual physical demand. So, level one will be a low activity, which is most people currently. If you have not started training or are not training, you really just need to cut them back dramatically. If you're not training consistently, if you're mostly sitting around throughout the day and you Just don't need many carbohydrates. A good starting point is going to be around 50 to 150 grams a day. Um, I think most people don't need more than 100 grams. You know, I've been counting calories for a long time. I can tell what 100 grams of carbohydrates it does uh for me if I'm just sitting around this perfectly good amount. Um, as you go into other avenues of adjustments in your overall uh caloric expenditure and maintenance or surplus or deficit, whatever that you're currently trying to accomplish, uh obviously those can be adjusted as low as 50, but only temporarily, in my opinion. You will currently feel like not want to do much if you stick around that 50 for long enough without adjusting some of your other uh energy sources like fat, which we'll talk about in the next episode. But 50 to 150 grams if you are mostly sedentary. Focus on fruit again, potatoes and rice, biggest things right there. Potatoes are probably king when it comes to competition with rice, especially when it comes to micronutrients, especially like potassium. They just they rock. That's enough to support basic function and uh without overwhelming your system for sure. Level two, moderate training. So if you're lifting a few times a week, getting some cardio in, you can bring those carbs up. Uh again, this is going to be dependent on your current uh metabolic state and also currently your uh BMI or where you are on the scale and relative to where you want to be, uh muscle mass, those kinds of things. But 150, 250 grams a day, I would say 250 is certainly on the upper end if you're just doing some moderate training. Um, if you're lifting a few times a week, if you're getting some cardio in, like I said, then definitely bring those up. This supports performance, it supports recovery, and it supports energy. If you again, if you reduce those too low and you still hit the gym hard, you will notice you come in there and you're like, oh man, I just don't feel like it today. Uh I'm dragging, um, feel slow, feel weak, likely um not enough energy in there because of how your body's currently utilizing energy uh that you ingest, and it's just low on carbs. Level three. Uh I would say this is probably where I typically live when I'm not in a cut, but uh to just absolutely maximize performance, uh high performance, um, heavy lifting, you know, deadlift, squats, sprinting, running consistently, uh carbs certainly become a tool here. And so that 250 grams, I would say, would be really on the minimum end, especially if you're running a maintenance, uh slight surplus when it comes to your calories, uh, up to as many as 400. Now, when we start getting to those 400 grams a day, it's relative. It really is to your to how big you are uh and really how much performance you're really going. And when you start doing performances at this kind of level, uh, you really want to kind of like cycle your carbohydrates, you know, again, pack those around those where they can be most use. So that's gonna be before training and after training. The bulk of the amount of carbs for the day, uh, really want to come in right around that. And again, support your training as you go into it, and then especially right after. Um they talk about a metabolic window uh for you know protein synthesis and those kinds of things. However, um, as you continue to train that way, that window does widen a good bit, especially for that GLUT4 uptake that we were talking about earlier. But again, focus on a good meal afterwards and eat a good amount of carbs with that. Then throughout the day, you just want to hit your total macros that you set up for yourself uh to get to that calorie. And again, the amount of uh carbohydrates that you need to hit there. So that's where they are actually going to get used. So we'll talk about cutting just a little bit. When you're trying to lose fat, carbs need to come down because now the goal is different. So you're having to create a deficit and improve insulin sensitivity. So, man, you really don't want to start going into some kind of bulk when you're plus 15% body fat. You know, if you're over 15% body fat, 17% body fat, uh, you need to be losing weight. You need to be bringing that down. I know you don't want to hear it. Nobody wants to hear that, you know, as strong as you want to be yet, but like you're just not gonna adequately put on muscle like you think you will, and you're not gonna perform the right way. Your testosterone is gonna be lower at those higher BMI and body fat percentages. So my recommendation certainly is gonna be if you're plus 15% body fat, get down, get down to 12, get under 15%, and then cycle off of that cut back into a maintenance for a couple of weeks so you can reset right there, and then you know, go go back to an 8 to 12 week um surplus, 300 calories to 500 calories. Don't crazy bulk, you know, and and just eat like crap because it's just not gonna work either. You know, you're gonna put on too much fat. But when you're cutting, the goal is different. So you're gonna sacrifice a little bit of strength. My goal is always to maintain my strength. I'm obviously not increasing it across the board on my lifts, but if I can maintain relatively 10%, uh five to 10% of my overall um strength on my main compound lifts, I'm happy. You know, I understand that's gonna go down a little bit. It will rebound right back up once I get out of that deficit, especially for a prolonged period. But um, you know, you're trying to create that deficit so that you can improve that sensitivity to insulin because if you're up there in your body fat percentages, you're gonna build a resistance to it and your body's not gonna function the way that it should be optimally. So most people cutting again 75 to 150 grams of carbohydrates a day, and that 150 is on the upper end for sure. Uh, I've never really cut much, eating 150 grams of carbs most every day. Um, I generally start my cuts at about 125 grams of carbs, and I like to decrease that uh depending upon how my body feels in the gym uh about every week by 10 grams a day or 20, depending upon uh how long I plan on cutting. A lot of times I try to cut um 10 weeks, eight, eight, somewhere between eight and twelve weeks. Um you just want to make sure you're still eating enough so that you're training efficiently, because again, the point is to get in there, feel good enough to actually get after it, work hard in there, and so you can um cardiovascular be healthy and uh maintain your muscle mass and you know maybe see some gains here and there in areas depending upon your training style, but generally it's just gonna be maintained and lose body fat during those times. That protein has to be up there on the high end. I try to stay 240 grams of protein to 250, and that is to preserve muscle. So very important. But uh again, high enough to perform efficiently, but low enough to encourage fat loss. And uh that's where most people kind of mess up. They eat like they're in level three while living in level one, but that's all right. Uh, that's a disconnect. So match your carbs to your output. That's the overall theme here uh when it comes to eating carbohydrates. If performance is going up, uh, you're probably in good shape. If your waste is growing and performance isn't, you are eating too many carbohydrates. This isn't complicated, uh, it just requires some honesty with yourself. So now that we got all the dread out of the way, I know everybody just loves to hear you can't eat all that good stuff all the time. But listen, I know a lot of you hear that and think that sounds miserable. And I'm not doing that. And hey, that's fine. I don't expect you to. But the reality is this you need to understand this stuff. You need to know it. You need to know it more than what the score was for last night's basketball or football game, or the stats on that favorite football team, or what was going on in the latest episode of your favorite television show and does nothing for your life. We've talked about this. We won last night. Oh yeah? How many minutes of play did you get? Oh, you were just watching it and we didn't do nothing. They won. And you participated on the couch. Truth hurts. But take some time. Learn this stuff, apply it. Because it's not complicated. It only seems like it because you haven't taken the time to understand it. Because, you know, you're gonna suffer either way. That is the truth. You can choose voluntary suffering now, going to the gym, doing hard things, lifting heavy weights, you know, being intentional with your food. Hey, maybe getting a scale, weighing it out. I don't know. Maybe that's too much. Saying no when it's inconvenient, or you can choose involuntary suffering later, like the rest of the world. Poor health, low energy, frailty as you age, becoming dependent on your children as you age rather than capable. And if you have children, they don't want that version of you. They need strength, they need leadership, and they need a father who's capable. Now, here's the part that most people don't realize there's actually freedom in this lifestyle. It may not seem like it, but let me explain. When you eat with discipline 80 to 90 percent of the time, that other 10, 20 percent, man, I love it. I get to enjoy it. You sit down with your family, my kids, they want to go to Tofino's all the time. I love it. You have a pizza, you have a burger, you drink a beer, there's no guilt there. Because you've earned it. You're not thinking, man, I shouldn't be doing this again. You're thinking I chose this, and I'm good with it. Let me give you a real example. So I'm sure you know by now, if you've been watching some of these videos I make. My family loves to go to Disney. And before most trips, I'll tighten everything up for about 10 to 12 weeks. I get real dialed in. I weigh my food, most meals, track everything on an app for the most part. I'm strict, I'm dialed in, I'm eating with purpose, even when it's not enjoyable. But then we get on vacation, and man, I enjoy everything, all of it. The food, the experience, no guilt, no hesitation, and honestly, that's one of the best parts about the trip. But recently I went to Disney in December, and I hadn't been off my cut from about October. So I had been eating a little sloppy, a little less uh intentional for about two months. So when we get to Disney, the food wasn't even special, you know. I mean, it tastes good, but it was just another burger, you know, just another plate of fries and another dessert. I just could feel it. It didn't hit the same. There was no real enjoyment in it. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time and I did enjoy the food, but there was no joy, you know, like really savoring those meals. I even told my wife, it's just not the same, you know. And that's you know, another moment where these things really click. You know, when you live without discipline, even the things that you're supposed to feel like a reward, they lose their value. So when you're smashing burgers and pizzas and junk food all the time, is it even really that good? I mean, it might taste good, but the guilt that hums around with another poor choice day in and day out that devalues it without a doubt. Beyond all that, so as much as this lifestyle re sounds restrictive, it's actually the opposite. It gives you control, it gives you clarity, and it makes the moments you choose to enjoy actually mean something. And beyond all that, we're called to be good stewards. First Corinthians 10 31. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. This isn't just about food. This is about discipline. It's about stewardship, this is about how you live your life. Because overindulgence isn't freedom, discipline is. So let's bring this back to what actually matters. Because again, this isn't really just about carbs and this isn't just about nutrition, this is about the flesh and whether you have control over it or not. Scripture is clear, Romans 8 13. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if the spirit you put to death, the deeds of the body, you will live. We are called to put the flesh to death. Not manage it, not negotiate with it, put it to death. And one of the most basic places where this shows up is what you put in your mouth. If you can't control what you eat, if you can't say no to cravings, if you're constantly giving in to comfort, how are you going to lead your family? How are you gonna stay disciplined in anything else? That's the standard discipline, control, and submission. First Corinthians 9 27. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. Are you leading your body or is your body leading you? Because every time you choose comfort over discipline, you are strengthening the wrong side. And over time that shows up in everything your health, your energy, your leadership, your life. This is bigger than food. This is about becoming a man who has control over himself. Carbs aren't evil, they're not the enemy, but they will expose you. And if you're disciplined, they'll fuel you, but if you're not, they will bury you. Same carbs, same body, different outcomes based on how you live. So you don't need another diet, you don't need another shortcut, you need alignment, you need discipline, you need to take control of your life, starting with the small things, like what you put in your mouth every day. Because if you can't control that, you can't control much else. So start there. Move your body, eat with purpose, and live with intention. And don't do it just for yourself, but for your family, and ultimately for the glory of God. Until next time, stay faithful, stay fit, and lead with purpose.