Beans are bad?

cecemama1

I just got on a really long internet search about beans/grains and how they are full or carbs and basically make you fat.  I am vegetarian, so these make up a huge part of my diet.  Plus, I have always heard they are great for you!  I am TTC #1 and want to be as healthy as possible, and also don't want to experience too much weight gain during/after pregnancy.  My typical weekday diet is the same every single day:

B: oatmeal with skim milk and chia seeds

S1: banana

L: lentils with spinach, small apple

S2: broccoli, cauliflower, and/or carrots with hummus

large spinach salad with lima beans and corn and 1/2 avocado (1 tbsp. evoo as dressing)

Dessert: 0% greek yogurt with fruit or granola cereal on top, or some other healthy dessert, usually involving Peanut Butter and bananas

 

So basically, from what I read today, all of these things are pretty bad.  Bananas have as much sugar as a can of coke, lentils and limas are full of carbs and make you hold on to fat, and oatmeal and all grains, whole or otherwise, are terrible for you.  What are we supposed to do?  Its information like this that makes me want to just stop trying.  Thoughts? 

interzone

Are you really overweight eating your current diet?  Do you feel good and have lots of energy?  These are the important things to ask yourself.  Obsessing over what some (I'm assuming) low-carb/primal/Paleo sites say is going to make you crazy.  I've been there, and I found that my weight and health were great whether I was eating super low carb or if I had largely unprocessed grains, beans, and fruits in the mix.  It sure is less stressful to ask yourself if a food makes you feel healthy and happy than to worry about the number of carbs.  A bowl of lentils will surely be more filling and delicious than fake "foods" like soy burgers and other crap that may be low carb but certainly aren't found in nature.

 

Yes, bananas have sugar, but its not corn syrup like Coca-cola's sugars.  It's a different combo of glucose, fructose, and starch.  Plus, it has fiber, vitamins and all kinds of goodies that a soda does not.  Enjoy!

cecemama1

Phew!  You are so right, I was in fact reading this on the Paleo website, and then started googling a lot of mess.  I think I got really into it.  Now that its been a few hours I have calmed down and realized that beans and bananas probably aren't going to make me fat.  Which is good because I just killed some hummus.  

ljanette85

that sounds like a pretty healthy diet to me...

emmabug727

I loosely follow the Paleo diet, but I don't think its possible to do so if you are vegetarian!  Paleo's underlying theory is that humans should eat what our bodies were built to eat and process - we're talking caveman and earlier days.  Meat, fish, eggs, veggies, some fruits, nuts & seeds, and no sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, and obviously no processed foods.  We eat grass fed and organic when possible, and I say I "loosely" follow it because I do eat dairy (full fat, usually greek yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast), and I will treat myself to a piece of pizza or a cookie from time to time. There are lots of articles about the science behind why our bodies aren't made to process grains & legumes if you google it.  I found marksdailyapple.com was a great introduction to paleo, plus, he's a big proponent of the 80/20 rule, which really is more realistic in today's world,