Well, I’m more than 2 weeks into my 8 week low-carb adventure and I LOVE it!
It’s not easy, but it’s awesome.
In fact, I would go as far as to say if you are trying to lose weight or get over a sugar/carb addiction, this is the BEST way to go!
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Over the past year, I’ve tried working out a ton, limiting sugars (but not totally low-carb), counting calories, eating 6 small meals throughout the day, yada, yada, yada….
None of them have even come close to how I feel after 2 weeks of low-carb.
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I’ve kind of avoided going low-carb for a while because I knew it would be very hard and I wasn’t ready to make the commitment
But what’s cool, is that after 3-4 days, I didn’t really crave sugar anymore.
All of the other “lose weight strategies” I’ve tried have been so hard because I crave all my favorite foods and feel like I’m depriving myself all the time!
Don’t get me wrong, I still love my favorite foods and would love to eat them, but I feel strong and it’s not hard to resist them.
I’ve noticed I get full faster, I don’t feel so run down (unless I’ve stayed up too late the night before…which I’ve been known to do!), I’m sleeping better, and my body just feels calmer.
It’s hard to explain.
Also, I love to drink a TON of water (a gallon+ a day), but I used to think it was funny that I didn’t go to the bathroom all that much (TMI, I know…but maybe someone else out there can relate!)
I also used to feel bloated and like I was retaining a lot of water all the time.
Well, after a few days of low carb, the water’s going through me like it should! Yay!
I don’t think extreme low-carb is a healthy diet long term, but it is exactly what my body needs right now!
Oh and in case you’re wondering, I lost 4-5 pounds on week one and only 1 pound on week 2!
I’m trying not to be discouraged though because I’ve watched The Biggest Loser a couple times and it seems like Week 2 is always a tough week! 😉 So, I’m hoping to see more results on the scale this week!
It’s a fun journey nonetheless.
Oh, and Kev is doing this all with me (thankfully!), and he’s seen great results so far too. It’s been fun.
One of the most important things I’ve found that helps me with this diet is to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. I make a menu each week and make sure I always have food options on hand. It’s made it much easier because I’m never wondering what to eat.
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Here are some of the things I’ve been eating.
This may be long…
Breakfast has mainly been the same thing….1 whole egg and 3 egg whites (usually scrambled with various veggies) served with a side of low-carb toast/tortilla.
On Sunday I’m always in a hurry (we have church at 9:00), so this has been a great, quick breakfast…
3 Hard Boiled eggs (only one yolk), with a side of low-carb toast topped with natural peanut butter.
Here are some of my lunches…
Low-carb tortilla with ham, leftover salad, peppers, avocado, Laughing Cow cheese, mustard, and a little lite Ranch.
Chicken salad with a low-carb tortilla with peanut butter! Yum!
I made the chicken salad with some leftover cooked chicken that I had in the freezer and I added a can of chicken as well.
I added celery, green onion, and slivered almonds.
I then made a “dressing” with 1 part lite sour cream, 1 part lite mayo and seasoned salt, onion powder, and dill weed to taste.
Sorry, I don’t really follow a recipe for this one. It was yummy though. I had it for lunch for a few days!
More lunches…
Deli Turkey, Cheese Crisps, and Kale Chips!
If you want to know how to make Cheese Crisps, click here. Easy peasy.
What the heck are Kale Chips you ask??? Well, they are pretty tasty. Kev and the kids weren’t fans, but I liked them! Hey, when you’re eating low-carb you gotta be creative, eh? Here is how you make them (I found this recipe on All Recipes.com btw)…
Rip the leafy part of the kale off of the stalk and wash it really really well (I used my salad spinner).
Lay the kale out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Spray it lightly with olive oil (I used my little oil mister thingy) and then sprinkle it with seasoned salt.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.
Make sure you bake them long enough so they are crispy, but not too long that they burn! Mine took a little longer than 15 minutes, but I think my oven is whacked.
Ta da! They actually taste like light, crispy, salty broccoli. Perty good!
I also have leftover dinner for lunch a lot as well!
Here’s some of the dinners we’ve been having…
BBQ Pulled Pork, “cauliflower potatoes”, and a side of peanut butter low-carb toast
Pulled pork is super easy and all of our family loves it! This time I made it with a lowish-carb BBQ sauce.
I put a big pork roast in my Crock Pot, added just a tiny bit of water and a package of onion soup mix (has some carbs, but I figured it was minimal) and I cooked it for 6 or so hours on high.
Then I shredded it all with a fork…
Usually I add a bunch of BBQ sauce at this point and cook it for a few more hours….
BUT….
I wanted to use Stubbs BBQ Sauce and it doesn’t have very much sugar in it. I learned that “low sugar BBQ sauce” doesn’t cook very well.
So, I found out it was yummier to add it to the pulled pork just before eating it.
We usually use Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce (which is the bomb), but Stubbs is yummy too.
Stubbs has 5 carbs (4 grams of sugar) and 30 calories per 2 Tablespoons, but Sweet Baby Rays has 17 carbs (16 grams of sugar) and 70 calories per 2 Tablespoons.
Sweet Baby Rays is awesome, but for our low-carb purposes, Stubbs was a good tasty fit. We really didn’t have too much sauce on it anyway. I would have liked to have added more, but was afraid to overdo it on the carbs.
The cauliflower potatoes were awesome too! I made some cauliflower potatoes several years ago and wasn’t too impressed. However, I used a recipe in the book Metabolism Miracle (which is the diet plan I’m following) and it was very yummy! Here’s the recipe…
1 head cauliflower, florets only
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring the cauliflower, garlic, broth, and salt to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until extremely tender.
Drain, reserving the broth.
Place the cauliflower in a blender with the pepper, butter, sour cream, and Cheddar.
Puree, adding broth as needed for a mashed potato consistency.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve warm as you would mashed potatoes.
These were very good! I’m sure I will make them again. I think I mixed mine a little too much though. Next time, I’ll try mixing them a little less.
More dinners….
Shish Kabobs (our fav!) with a side of Green Bean Fries (yum!)
If you want to know how to make our favorite Shish Kabobs, click here. We usually serve them with brown rice or quinoa, but they were great without it!
K, Green Bean Fries might look and sound freaky, but they are so so so good! We actually made them twice last week. I know I’ll make them this week too! Yum. They are super easy to make, but they take a while to cook.
You can use fresh or frozen green beans (I used fresh one night and frozen the next and they were both great!)
Just wash and snip off the ends and break them in half if you’re using fresh.
For frozen, I just broke them in half.
Add some olive oil and seasoned salt to a big Ziploc bag (yes, Ziplocs are a staple in my kitchen).
Throw the green beans in the bag and mix them up until well coated.
Lay them out on a cookie sheet lined with crumpled foil…
Cook at 425 for 30-45 minutes.
You just want to make sure they are brown and crispy. Seriously, the ones that were more brown were yummier!
Enjoy! These are really really good! I promise! Even my kids liked them!
Oh and I made some “fry sauce” to go with them. Just lite mayo mixed with low-carb ketchup. Seriously, yumm.
More dinners…
Grilled Chicken with Green Bean Fries and leftover Cauliflower mash
Ham, Deviled Eggs, Salad, and yet some more leftover Cauliflower Mash!
I think that’s all for the dinners…
Here’s my go-to snack on the run…
Raw Nuts (Almonds and Pecans) with string cheese and a water bottle!
Also, I’ve been using Skippy Natural Peanut Butter. It’s not quite as healthy as “totally” natural, but I love the taste and texture. It has added palm oil and some sugar, but no hydrogenated oils.
I also found these tortillas at Smiths and they are yummy! It was like $2.50 for this pack too, so not too bad!
I have also found some yummy low-carb treats that I’ve been enjoying! This post is already way to long as it is, so I will share those recipes next time!
Btw, if any of you want to start this “diet” with me, I would LOVE it! I have a few friends who are doing it too. Yay! I would highly recommend it!
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