Carbs in the summer? This doesn't seem right.  Warm months are no place for hearty meals when we are trying to stay slim and fit into our bikinis, right? But if you think about it, the summer is when we are most active and expending the most energy. Whether we are at the beach, swimming, riding bikes or just spending more time outdoors - we are much more active than we were in the winter. So it follows that with all this extra activity, we can afford the carbs in the summertime.

People are typically cutting carbs to lose weight, but typically this is water weight you are losing. So you might be battling the bloat, but you won't see any real results but just cutting carbs. The goal is not to lose water weight but to lose fat. The way to do this is more exercise, clean eating and smaller meals. Moreover, during a time that you are using up a lot of energy, keeping carbs in your diet - this means grains, fruits and beans - will help you enjoy more of those summer activities without burning out.

Still not convinced to keep carbs around? Here are some more reasons to keep carbs present in your diet during warmer months.

1. Energy.

Simply, you need carbs for energy. Less carbs means lower levels of glycogen in the body.  We need glycogen as it helps fuel energy in the body.  The key is to choose complex carbs, like whole fruits, whole grains or high fiber foods that will break down slowly and fuel your body over a long period of time.

2. Portion control.

Eating carbs can also help satiate you and keep you from overindulging during meals or the one too common summer barbecue. Carbs (which turn into Glycogen) can signal the brain that the body is full and satisfied. Have a smaller amount of everything, is better than binging on non-carb alternatives.

3.  Proper hormone function.

Increasing your daily activity but cutting the carbs from your diet can affect your thyroid and metabolic function. You could be telling your body it is starving, so it wants to as much of that energy as possible.  Inadequate carb intake can also alter levels of hormones like cortisol or testosterone which are ucial to things like muscle growth, muscle recovery, and weight loss.

4. Muscle recovery.

One of the goals of working out is for lean muscle gain. Without the proper carb intake, muscle protein can breakdown and leave you with less energy than when you started. Carbs can also help stabilize insulin and glycogen levele to keep your body energy high the next day too.

5. Eating carbs doesn't have to mean not eating clean.

When we think of carbs the first thing that comes to mind are bread loaded burgers or hot dog buns. But there are lots of clean, and light carbs that can provide energy without the brewery calories that will weight you down.  Grain or bean salads, or fruit like watermelon, peaches, plums, and nectarines are all considered carbs, but won't be heavy in the summer.