Table of Contents

How does the app count carbs?

The RP Diet app counts carbs as total carbohydrates minus fiber.

For example, if a nutrition label displays 20 grams of total carbohydrates, of which 15 are dietary fiber, the app will display the food as containing 5 grams of carbs. Sugar alcohols are counted.

Though many food manufacturers exclude sugar alcohols from their reported “Net Carbs” values, the app counts sugar alcohols as carbohydrates. Though some sugar alcohols have very few calories, many commonly used sugar alcohols have a considerable calorie load, and are thus treated in our data as equivalent to other carbohydrates.

Fiber consumption promotes both health and satiety (check out this in-depth article), while sugar alcohol consumption is at best neutral for health and can cause considerable gastric upset in even moderate quantities. Thus, our treatment of the data encourages more fiber consumption, and moderates sugar alcohol consumption, which is likely a net benefit for the vast majority of dieters.

Check out the following two examples:

How do I measure my carbs?

The recommendation in your diet plan is for grams of carbs in DRY WEIGHT unless otherwise indicated. Please measure out your carbs before cooking so that you can get the measurements right.

Will this many carbs make me fat?

No. Your carb recommendations are based off of several individual factors (provided by you in the app diet design questions), and specifically tailored to your goals and exercise habits.

Rest assured that your recommendations are carefully considered by PhDs in the nutritional and sport sciences, who have extensive experience with both the general population and with elite athletes aiming for enhanced performance and body composition.

I thought sugar made you fat. What’s the reasoning for drinking sugar (workout shake carbs) during exercise?

Sugar is rapidly digested, providing a readily available fuel source for muscles during exercise. Other major benefits of consuming workout carbs during training include:

  • Readily Available Energy: Workout carbs will be quickly digested and sent to the blood. This will serve as a primary source of energy, deferring your body’s need to significantly tap into stored energy reserves. This readily available fuel source will enable you to maintain a high level of performance during your workouts, which will help drive substantial progress over time.
  • Maintain Muscle Glycogen: The workout carbs will be quickly absorbed into the blood. This will serve as a primary energy source, deferring your body’s need to significantly tap into muscle carb (glycogen) stores. This is crucial because, as muscle glycogen is depleted, a cascade of changes happen to conserve energy, which induce fatigue and greater muscle loss risk.
  • Improved Focus: Glucose (a broken-down form of carbs) is also the primary fuel source for the brain. A readily available fuel supply will prevent mental fatigue, which is crucial for focus and safety. It’s hard to squat heavy when your mind is fuzzy!
  • Decreased Muscle Breakdown: Carbs directly reduce muscle breakdown. This will help to enhance recovery and allow you train hard more frequently.

Here is a short article by RP’s founders on the facts about sugar consumption.

Will drinking sugar during my workout make me feel sick?

The list of RP-verified options provided for “workout carbs” are quickly and easily digested. In 99% of cases, it should not bother you during training. HOWEVER, this isn’t the case for everyone. If applicable, please choose a source of workout carbs that doesn’t make you feel unwell. A couple such options are coconut water or just thinner, more heavily diluted workout shakes.

Veggie FAQs

There are many many benefits one can expect consuming vegetables. They contain vitamins, fiber to help with digestion and helping you feel full, and are generally low in calories, allowing for larger volume of food.

On the old RP Templates, veggies where unlimited. Is that still the case?

No. Vegetables contain calories just like all other foods. Treating them as “unlimited” may negatively impact your progress.

In the case of weight loss, eating too many may take you out of a calorie deficit. In the case of weight gain, eating too many vegetables may fill you up before you consume ample protein, carbs, and fat, thus possibly preventing you from eating enough to drive progress.

Your plan contains a specific amount of veggies per meal. We recommend sticking to it for optimal results. The only exception is if you’re trying to gain weight and the veggies are really filling you up to the point where eating all of your meals is becoming almost impossible. If that’s the case, feel free to reduce veggie intake temporarily until you gain the weight your plan specifies.

Do my veggies have to be organic/GMO-free? What about frozen veggies?

There is currently no research that proves the benefits of consuming organic veggies. You may have fresh, frozen, or canned—whichever you prefer. Use the same weights of veggies no matter the prep method.

What If I don’t like veggies? What should I do then?

Vegetables contain many essential vitamins and minerals that work to optimize health, immune function, energy, exercise performance and more. Plus, they’re rich in fiber, which supports digestion, fullness, and long- lasting energy. As such, we strongly encourage you to eat them. Here are a few strategies to “sneak in” vegetables throughout the day:

  • Omelet: Sauté peppers, onions, tomatoes, broccoli and/or spinach into an omelet. The fluffy eggs, herbs, spices, hot sauce, ketchup and/or potential cheese you add will mask the taste of vegetables you dislike.
  • Smoothies: Add spinach or kale to smoothies. You will NOT taste the greens (though kale will be more palpable than spinach), but beware it will turn your smoothie green. Carrots also work well.
  • Sandwiches: Sneak a piece of dark, leafy green lettuce between your bread and protein, and you’ll hardly notice it! Pile on any other vegetables you can tolerate as well, because, if you’ve packed your sandwich with protein and delicious bread, you’ll notice the vegetables’ texture more than their taste.
  • Juicing: Juicing fruits and vegetables into a small liquid beverage is another simple strategy for consuming vegetables each day. Note that this liquid form will not assist in keeping you full like the solid forms would (unless you incorporate the skin/peels for added fiber).

Can’t I just supplement a multivitamin instead of eating veggies?

Although beneficial, nothing replaces the combination of essential nutrients, phytochemicals, antioxidants and fiber that vegetables provide. We strongly suggest favoring whole food sources, and treating a “greens” or multivitamin supplement as “icing on the cake” to a solid “food first” foundation.

Why does the app recommend carbs at night?

Eating carbs at night will not make you fat. The change in your weight is directly related to the relationship between the food you consume and the energy you burn. As long as you’re taking in less than you’re burning, you will lose weight. This is regardless of when you eat.

Weight Change = Calories In vs Calories Out

Several studies looking at carb distribution throughout the day in overweight individuals trying to lose weight demonstrated that skewing carb consumption to the latter half of the day (eating almost 80% after work) actually further promoted weight loss and reduced hunger during the day (which means increased adherence to the diet) compared to a group eating carbs evenly distributed throughout the day. This is not a reason to immediately begin only eating carbs at night, just further proof that the “no carbs after 6:00pm” myth has been debunked.

What’s most important is that at least some of your carbs are timed around exercising—which is already worked into your app. This will ensure they’re efficiently used as energy for your workouts, as well as used to replenish your energy stores immediately after exercise. This significantly reduces the likelihood of them being stored as fat.

Can I eat other sources of carbs not on the RP verified foods list?

Yes, you can. However, for optimal results, we strongly encourage you to stick to the options provided or other very similar, unprocessed, unpackaged items, like fruits or grains of your choice. When you do eat other sources not on the app list, count all of their proteins, carbs, and fats to the meal.

Can I eat vegetables that aren’t on the list?

Yes. Just make sure you count their carbs toward the meal total.