Carbohydrates doesn’t contribute to fat gain the way some people think—-that is DIRECT conversion to fat (a process called De Novo Lipogenesis). The 2 times this RARE occurrence happens is

1) Total dietry fat is under 10%

2) 700-900 grams of carbs per day for 3 straight days from a carb depleted state (so the time would be shorter if you were not carb depleted).

When you eat clean frequently, its actually beneficial to have a cheat meal once in a while.  The act of eating a cheat meal especially if you have been eating  clean frequently boosts your metabolism.  The reason is your body adapts to eating much like it adapt to exercising.  Breaking the mold now and again gives your body something to adapt to all over again, the body expends more energy (calories)  when it has to adapt to anything.   Just remember

• It should be one cheat meal not the entire day is a cheat day and it goes without saying watch your portion size—-don’t go carte blanche.
• Cheat meal should be done early on during the day not at night, this way you have the rest of the day to burn it off
• Have your cheat meal on a day you are going to be the most active.
• If the meal is all carbohydrates, always have protein with it. Remember (from my old blog 12 reasons…)  the thermic effect of protein, protein’s effect on insulin etc. Bottom line is never ever have a meal that’s just carbohydrates…NEVER!
• If you can have it during morning time even better.  This is because your insulin sensitivity is higher during the morning than any other time during the day( except maybe right after working out).  There is less chance of anything you eat during the morning to be stored as fat compared to later on during the day because of this.

Beans

I love beans!  Its almost perfect,  it contains  protein, carbohydrates, fiber and essential B vitamins.  One of the best part is beans as a carbohydrate has such a low glycemic index that it isn’t enough to cause  much of an insulin response. If you recall, insulin blunts the body’s ability to burn fat since its a storage hormone——> so beans is great  if you’re on a low carbohydrate diet trying to shed fat fast. However,   beans  is an incomplete protein because it doesn’t have certain essential amino acids (the building block of proteins).  The good news is combining beans and rice form a complete protein.