Ep209. Are Carbs Bad for Weight Loss? The Truth, Plus What to Actually Look For in Week 3 of a Diet.

<p>🚀 Ready to stop starting again every Monday?<br>Ready to lose your first 5kg in just 6 week? <a href="https://www.coachianwood.com/startwith6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.coachianwood.com/startwith6</a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Episode Summary</strong></p><p>In this episode of The Forever Athletic Podcast, I&#39;m covering your halfway point check-in and one of the most misunderstood questions in nutrition. If you&#39;re taking your second progress photo this week, I want to talk you through what to actually look for, because photos genuinely don&#39;t move in a straight line and comparing today to week 1 can send you down a rabbit hole for no good reason.</p><p>Then I&#39;m getting into it properly. Are carbs bad for weight loss? Short answer, no, and I&#39;ll explain why carbs have ended up with such a bad reputation when the actual evidence doesn&#39;t back it up. I&#39;ll cover what carbs are genuinely for, why total calories matter far more than which macro they come from, and why the real issue is never the carbs themselves, it&#39;s what they&#39;re usually paired with.</p><p>If you&#39;ve ever cut carbs, felt great for two weeks, then ended up bingeing on bread a month later, this episode explains exactly why that happens.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>In This Episode</strong></p><ul><li>What to actually look for at your week 3 progress photo, beyond just comparing it to week 1</li><li>Why the scale and the mirror both lie a bit day to day, and what&#39;s more reliable instead</li><li>Are carbs bad for weight loss? What the evidence actually says</li><li>Why low carb diets often look like they&#39;re working when it&#39;s really just water loss</li><li>The real difference between carbs and the ultra-processed food carbs often get blamed for</li><li>Why fearing an entire food group tends to backfire later</li><li>The one line I want you to remember next time someone tells you carbs are the enemy</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Why This Matters</strong></p><p>Halfway through any plan, it&#39;s tempting to judge everything off one photo next to another. Lighting changes, bloating changes, posture changes, and none of it reflects whether progress is actually happening. Energy levels, how your clothes fit, your waist measurement trend and whether you&#39;re still consistent with your habits tell you far more at this stage than a side by side photo ever will.</p><p>This is also usually around the point people start second guessing carbs, especially if progress has slowed slightly from the initial drop in week 1. Are carbs bad for weight loss is one of the most common questions I get asked, and the honest answer is that total calories and consistency matter far more than which macro they come from. When calories and protein are matched, there&#39;s no meaningful difference in fat loss between higher and lower carb approaches.</p><p>What actually causes problems isn&#39;t carbohydrate itself, it&#39;s the foods carbs usually get paired with. Pastries, fast food, most desserts, these are calorie dense combinations of carbs and fat that are genuinely easy to overeat. Blaming the carbohydrate for that is missing the actual issue, and cutting carbs out completely tends to just set up a binge on them further down the line.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Resources &amp; Links</strong></p><p>🌐 Coaching<br><a href="https://www.coachianwood.com">https://www.coachianwood.com</a></p><p>📸 Instagram<br><a href="https://www.instagram.com/coachianwood">https://www.instagram.com/coachianwood</a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>About The Forever Athletic Podcast</strong></p><p>The Forever Athletic Podcast is for busy adults who are tired of starting over every Monday. If you want practical advice on fat loss, strength training, nutrition and building sustainable habits without fad diets, fitness misinformation or all-or-nothing thinking, you&#39;re in the right place.</p><p>New episodes are released regularly to help you build a he