Why “Earn Your Carb Challenges” can be dangerous.

I’ve been seeing a common trend on social media lately. “Earn You Carb Challenges” are popping up left and right, and can set a very dangerous and misleading perception of food, calories, and carbohydrates. These programs are designed around the fact that in order to consume carbohydrates, you need to “earn” them by working out. This is a misguided and cheap coaching strategy.

It sets the precedent that carbs are only allowed if a person works out, and that if a person is not training, then carbohydrates are off-limits. With all the fear currently surrounding carbohydrates, this further enhances the issue. It also creates a stressful relationship with food, where some foods are deemed “bad” or “off-limits”.

In reality, carbohydrates are a very important part of our diet, and should be consumed on a daily basis. To put it into context, an athlete on a regular exercise program would need to consume anywhere from 3 to 12 grams/kg of bodyweight a day. Most athletes should aim for at least 5 grams/kg as performance tends to decline with lower values. That means a 150lb. athlete should be consuming AT LEAST 340 grams of carbohydrates per day!

Yes, carbohydrates are our main source of fuel and energy, and we certainly need more when we are training at a high level. If weight loss is the goal, then we may manipulate calories or even carbohydrates to create a caloric deficit. However, context, communicating, personalization, and execution play an important roll in client success. To encourage clients that they need to “earn” them is damaging.