You're always going to need some level of carbs in your diet in my opinion, because they give you energy. As long as you don't go overboard with the intake I don't think it's a problem. I tend to prefer protein anyway.
Personally, I think it's more when you take your carbs which influences your weight/health. I'll have my carbs (rice, pasta) in the morning and at lunch, and try to keep away from them in the evening, unless I've just trained in the evening, in which case I don't mind having some simple carbs (bread, a bit of rice) to replenish my energy afterwards. It's just a bit of commonsense - if I wanted to get really cut then I'd be a lot more careful about my diet, but I'm happy with my training regimen burning it off. And drink lots of water - it does wonders in rejuvenating your body and flushing out toxins and metabolic waste.
Just a note on diets - I'm not a big believer in
diets. What I am a believer in is
diet. As in watching what you eat, making sure you don't go overboard on products with high fat content, not eating a hi-carb meal at 1am just before going to bed, keeping junk food to a minimum, and all that sort of stuff. I call that eating healthy, rather than dieting. Now if you're a model, diet becomes VERY important, unless you're blessed with a fast metabolism. If you really want to sculpt your body, then what type of food you eat will heavily influence that - but for ordinary peeps like us we don't need to go to that extreme.
I agree with Gangrell that a bit of exercise goes a long way. I train about 4-5 times a week, cardio and weights, and personally I think it does a hell of a lot for my health. I also play rugby and cricket, which also helps (rugby's not all that healthy when you're getting stomped on though
). I'd recommend everyone take up some kind of physical activity, be it walking, running, sports, going to the gym or whatever. If you're active, your muscles will be burning more calories per day, and you can eat more carbs - they won't have the same effect as if you were sedentary.
Be active. Your body will thank you for it. [img]smile.gif[/img]
[ 07-10-2004, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]