Carbohydrate should comprise 60 to 70% of your diet.  In our protein obsessive society this may seem high, but these are the numbers that registered dietitians will tell you are healthy for our bodies.  It is important, however, to note that there is a big difference between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates encompass a large variety of foods such as cereals, breads, pastas, fruits, and sweets.  Of this list, it's easy to see who would be considered the bad carbohydrate.  Obviously, the sweets are not considered healthy carbohydrates.  Common table sugar is your primary ingredient in these foods.  Sugar is a low-quality carbohydrate.  All of the other carbohydrates are excellent choices to include in your diet (the less processed the better;  processing removes much of the nutritional value out of foods).

Many people think they carbohydrates such as bread, pasta or starches are bad and that they will lead you to get fat.  This is simply untrue.  Carbohydrates don't make you fat, only over eating makes you fat. Carbohydrates, regardless of their sources, possesses 4 calories per gram.  There is actually no difference, calorie wise, between 100 grams of sugar, 100 grams of pasta or 100 grams of fruit. As a joke, I regularly tell people that you can lose weight on an all candy diet.  The fact of the matter is that as long as you only eat 1200 calories of candy per day you will lose weight. You will probably not feel good and you will be malnourished but you will lose as much weight as somebody eating a highly nutritious 1200 calorie diet.

Don't be afraid of carbohydrates.  They are excellent food choices and should comprise the majority of your diet.  The only carbohydrate you need to avoid is sugar.  It is the only evil carbohydrate.