The Simple Carb Solution
"SO what do I do?"
At this point your probably wondering what YOU should do. That questinon could have many answers, which is why you must attempt to catogorize yourself. Each person has diffrent dietary requirments, and the factors that influence these requirments are primarily current body composition, and activity levels. So below are the two ends of the spectrum. Most people can identify themselves with one of these two and progress from there.
When you should go "high" carb
If you are young, active, lean, an athlete, or any combination of them this path is for you. An active indivdual who follows a regular training regimin, as well as being relatively lean, you should absolutly be following a diet with an adaquate intake of carbohydrates. You could eat anywhere from 150g to up over 300g depending on your indivdual situation. The more active and lean you are, the more carbs your body can tolerate.
When you should stick to a lower (but not absent) carb diet
If your are overweight/obese, insuline resistant, and sedinatary, or any combination of the 3, you should refrane from eating a higher carbohydrate diet. This is because your body is not prepared to handle high amounts of carbohydrates, and will be very likely to convert many carbs to excess fat storage, further worsening this situation. Until you reach a lower bodyfat percentage (15% for males 20% for females), sticking on the lower end of the spectrum is appropriate even with activity.
Why your body needs carbs.
An analogy to think about is this: If your body is a car it has a gas tank that needs filled when it has been out driving all day. If you drive your car around, it needs refueled at the end of the day so that it may continue to run. This is the same as your body with carbs. Your body requires new energy because it was depleated of its energy through vigourous activity throughout the day. So fill up your gas tank! In this case, getting many of your carbs can come from starch like rice and potatoes.
Why your body doesn't need as many carbs
As stated above, your body is not prepared to handle high amounts of carbs. looking at the analogy to the left, your gas tank is full and you are not using what you already have therfor puting more gas in with only result in over filling and spilling over (fat gain).In your case, a daily intake ranging from 100g to 125g a day would work very well. This base level of carbs is to support optimal brain function and other basic body functions. Most carbs in this case should also come primarily from vegtables, fruits, and small amounts of starch.