Resources for Low Carb Success!

I know how difficult it can be when learning a whole new way to eat. You may have questions or concerns or just need to vent your frustrations. Maybe you need recipe ideas or inspirational weight loss stories or anecdotes. I know I am one that needs this stuff to keep me sane and motivated. This post is for everyone that needs more information or extra help getting started. This is a post full of some places on the web that I visit every week (some I visit every day).

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/ – I am here in the forums every single day! These folks know their stuff and are so friendly and helpful when you have questions or concerns. I try to share what I know with others also because I believe in paying it forward! They have recipes too!

http://www.fitday.com/ – Awesome site! I enter every bite of food I eat every day in fitday. It helps me keep track of how much fat/protein/carbs/calories I am eating. It also lets you track your weight, BMI, measurements and a lot more! One of the best things is that you can calculate your base metabolic rate which lets you know how many calories you can eat per day and still lose weight! Trust me when I say its way more than you ever thought you could eat! I suggest everyone should track their food, it makes a big difference.

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html – Linda’s Low Carb is AMAZING! Best recipe site around for low carb in my opinion! She separates everything into neatly organized categories and she tries all the recipes she posts! I have made so much good food from here, I can’t recommend it enough!

http://blog.yourlighterside.com/ – This is where I got the oopsie rolls recipe from! Amazing stuff including cauliflower pizza crust that is super yummy! She has lots of tasty ideas and tasty thoughts as well!

http://www.sugarfreesheila.com/ – Again lots of great recipes and a wonderful success story. She has a lot of dessert ideas for when you just have to have something sweet! Not everything is appropriate for every stage of Atkins so make sure to read carefully and know if it is allowed at the stage of the program you are at. :0)

http://www.atkins.com/Homepage.aspx – This is the Atkins Nutritionals page. Now let me say first off that first and foremost these guys are trying to make money. Please take this site with a grain of salt and be smart about the information you glean from here. I personally have never and will never use the Atkins bars or shakes or any of their other products. They are not as good as real whole foods and actually stall many people or make it hard to break that sugar/carb addiction. I do like a lot of things here though. They have a recipes section which is great. They also have a good carb counter and allowed foods list so that you can reference what to eat. They do not express the Atkins diet in the way that Dr. Atkins intended so please tread lightly.

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Atkins-Diet-Revolution-Revised/dp/1590770021/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305445549&sr=1-1 – This is the Atkins bible. I only use the 2002 edition because it is the last edition that Dr. Atkins was personally involved with before his death. Then Atkins Nutritionals took over and added the bars and shakes and such. You can literally buy this book used on Amazon for 1 cent plus shipping. You have to have this book! You need to read it cover to cover and reference it often! I actually bought mine in a thrift store for next to nothing, they are out there in abundance and extremely cheap so please get a copy!

Ok, that should get you started. Any questions please ask and don’t be afraid to search out your own resources! There are lots of low carb recipes and forums online that are great. These are just my personal favorites but I am finding new things all the time! If you find something great please share with me too 🙂

Fried chicken!

So back in 2008 when I started Atkins for the first time I noticed that people ate a lot of pork rinds. Now, pork rinds are really not my favorite thing. I will have a few once in a while but I really eat them fairly rarely. I started reading about a lot of people using crushed pork rinds to simulate breading on things like chicken. I decided to try it tonight and OMG! SO GOOD! I cant believe it took me this long to try it. You cannot taste the pork rinds in and of themselves, they just make for a really crunchy piece of fried chicken. Who does not love fried chicken? I also tried breading mozzarella string cheese sticks with pork rinds and deep frying those and they are equally as delicious! Give it a try! Dip chicken (or cheese) in beaten egg and roll in crushed pork rinds and fry. I promise, you will be in food heaven! Yum! :0)

Low Carb Lunch for Kids…

This low carb kids thing is admittedly fairly new to me. I am very familiar with a low carb lifestyle but it is certainly different for children. Kids eat differently and exercise differently and just have slightly different nutritional needs than I do. I will say that my daughter has adapted extremely well to low carb eating. She has lost 10 pounds and her moods have completely changed for the better. I definitely let her have a lot more wiggle room than I give myself. She has occasional treats like ice cream etc but I talk to her about her portions and about how often it is healthy to have those kinds of foods. I am really proud of her.  When your child comes to you and begs you for your help to lose weight, what can a parent do but help?

One of the hardest things for me to figure out for her was what her lunches would look like at school. Obviously she can no longer eat the high carb/sugar meals they feed millions of children every day across this country. At her school they offer chocolate milk every single day! Thats just crazy to me and not going to help her shed pounds. So we talked and came up with a plan for a bagged lunch that would make her happy. The following is typical of a lunch she might take with her to school every day.

Tuna Fish sandwich on an oopsie roll
Sugar free jello cup
String cheese
Pumpkin seeds
Celery and Ranch or No sugar added peanut butter or strawberries
Bottled Water

Looks pretty healthy right? It does to me and thats why I will not stop supporting my child in this way. I wish parents would wake up and realize that the childhood obesity problem in this country is because we are feeding our kids horribly! High sugar cereals, cookies, breads, soda, kool aid etc. School food is no better and is also very high carb and extremely processed. Educate yourself as a parent and I promise your child will reap the health benefits!

Pepper Enchiladas

So sorry it has been a while since my last post. I am a student and am currently taking a math class that has been kicking my butt and eating up much of my free time. My final is this week and then good riddance to that class! Phew!

I want to share one of my own recipes. It is an easy enough idea and my whole family loves it, kids included! Here are the deets!

ground beef or diced or shredded chicken breast
Large can of enchilada sauce (read labels, some have sugar!)
cheese (any kind works, I have used cheddar, pepper jack and monterey jack before)
poblano peppers (I used 10-12 of them for this and had leftovers)
onion
black olives

Cut off the top of the peppers, then cut peppers in half so that they lay flat. Clean out the seeds and membranes. Blanch peppers in boiling water for 2-3 minutes then drain. Sprinkle the inside of peppers with salt (optional). Brown meat and onion. I also dice up the pieces of pepper that were cut from the tops and throw those in to brown as well. When meat is cooked remove from heat and add half of the enchilada sauce to the meat mixture. Then add 1 cup cheese and 3/4 of a can of sliced olives. At this point you can season this mixture any way you like, I usually add some chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Coat the bottom of a baking dish with a small amount of enchilada sauce, then simply spoon the mixture onto the halved peppers and place in the baking dish. Pour remaining enchila sauce over all the filled enchiladas, top with more cheese and the rest of the olives and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes. Serve with sour cream and/or salsa, Heaven!

Oopsie Rolls…

*EDIT* So… the lovely lady who created these little tasties has kindly let me know that she has slightly changed the recipe to make these easier. She also has great step by step photos to help you on your way! So the new link is
http://blog.yourlighterside.com/2008_01_04_archive.html

She has lots of yummy ways to use these!

Thanks Jamie! :0)

The recipe here is the old version which I have also used with success… let me know which works best for you! 🙂

I discovered these in 2008. They are delicious and satisfy that craving for some kind of bread to put your egg salad or tuna fish or turkey on. They also work awesome as a burger bun! They also are very customizable. I have made them with herbs and cheese and also plain as stated in the recipe. They are a little tricky. The last batch I made turned out pretty flat although they were delicious topped with tuna and cheese and warmed under the broiler – Tuna Melt! I suggest making only two rolls at a time till you get the hang of the process. So that would mean 1 oz cream cheese and 1 egg etc… Make sure to really whip your egg whites a long time and don’t over mix the yolks. They should be just mixed with chunks of cream cheese in it. Then incorporate them very slowly and do not try to get a uniformly mixed batter. We made these in greased muffin tins today and they turned out perfect!!! For burger buns I would make them on a cookie sheet.

Ingredients

3 large eggs
1 packet of Splenda
1 dash salt
1 pinch cream of tartar
3 ounces cream cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Separate the eggs and add Splenda, salt, and cream cheese to the yolks. Use a mixer to combine the ingredients together.

In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff (if you’re using the same mixer, mix the whites first and then the yolk mixture).

Using a spatula, gradually fold the egg yolk mixture into the white mixture, being careful not to break down the whites.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and spoon the mixture onto the sheet, making 6 mounds. Flatten each mound slightly.

Bake about 30 minutes (You want them slightly softer, not crumbly). Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes, and then remove to a rack and allow them to cool. Store them in a bread sack or a ziplock bag to keep them from drying out.

I actually suggest letting these dry out some, they get a more bread like texture as they dry. If they dry too much, simply pop them in a ziplock bag and they should get some moisture back! Freezes well too!

Makes 6 @ about 85 calories a piece, >1 carb per.

1st pic – Herb and cheese “burger bun” oopsies
2nd pic – Plain oopsie batter in muffin tin
3rd pic – Cooked Plain oopsies… YUM!

My Low Carb Story…

One of my close friends began Atkins in 2008. I freaked out on her, telling her how unhealthy what she was doing was. I told her that it caused kidney problems and an unsustainable weight loss. I didn’t understand low carb and was simply regurgitating what I had heard over the years.

After a month, my friend had lost 20 pounds and looked great so I decided that I would research low carb diets. I am the kind of person that has to understand how things work before I can ever hop on board. I had tried every diet known to man and needed to know that science was on my side with low carb because low fat diets leave me STARVING. What I found changed my entire thinking process about low carb. I found out that a low carb lifestyle can reverse diabetes and high blood pressure. I found out that only people with kidney disease have kidney problems on low carb. I found out that cholesterol goes way down after eating low carb for several months. I also found out that I could lose weight simply by eating.

I love eating! I was ready to try it. I had just been to the doctor and had totally freaked at the number on the scale when I was weighed. Then they took my blood pressure and it was HIGH. Scary high. I also was pre-diabetic. Something I had known for years because I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my youngest child and had been warned that it would become full blown diabetes within 10 years if I didn’t lose weight. So I embarked on the best learning experience of my life.

I made a follow up appointment with my doc for two weeks later and bought all the meat, cheese and veggies I could eat in a week. The day before I started Atkins, I binged on english muffins and cookies and bread. I was such a carb addict that I could not honestly believe that I would ever be happy with my meals again. Boy was I wrong.

The first week was rough, I felt sick, had constant headaches and was hungry. After about 3 or 4 days something miraculous happened. I wasn’t hungry anymore and I had more energy than I ever had in my entire life. That was it, I was committed to at least 2 weeks of low carb. I had to see what would happen. I ate heavy cream, eggs, bacon, butter, mayo, meat and veggies. I loved the food, I could eat as much protein as I wanted and was never hungry anymore.

Two weeks after I started, I went back to my doctor. I stepped on the scale and I had lost 19 pounds! 19!!! In two weeks! I couldn’t believe it. Then the nurse took my blood pressure and it was normal. Matter of fact, it was in the low end of my normal. This all happened in two weeks. I also stopped having those sugar highs and lows that left me feeling so frenzied and starving before. I was hooked!

I lost the first 50 pounds with no exercise! I did it in 4 months. Then I started walking and exercising and lost another 20 by the time 6 months had passed. It was effortless and amazing. I could have easily lost 100 pounds that first year but instead fell off the wagon. I let the carbs creep back into my diet and gained every single pound back. Disappointing! Great learning experience though because I finally figured out how I lose weight. I know I can reproduce those results. I know how to do it and I know how healthy it is.

Now a new chapter… back at it and this time I am going all the way! I am older and its a tad slower than last time. I lost 14 pounds in two weeks this time. It is still an amazing loss for 2 weeks of time. So if you are curious about low carb or think you might have some insulin resistance (I believe all overweight people do) then just give it two weeks. Keep an open mind and a positive attitude and you will surprise yourself with success! I know I did :0)

Moderate Low carb diet for kids is OK…

Yep, my kids are on a modified low carb diet. My whole family is on this eating plan because I believe that it is so much more healthy than the flawed govt guidelines and food pyramid(of course eating 11 servings of grains a day will make you fat!) I have an 11 year old son who is stick thin and a 10 year old daughter who is overweight. I have checked with her doc and have the go ahead to try low carb with her.

This is an interesting article from the National University of Health Sciences on the subject…
http://www.nuhs.edu/show.asp?durki=358

Steamed Artichokes with Melted Butter

My recipe for today is so easy and delicious that you wont believe it! Beautiful artichokes are in season and the price is right! I bought 2 for 97 cents each just yesterday. They are one of my favorite foods and at about 4-7 grams of carbs per artichoke, depending on size, they are a low carb snackers dream come true! They are also full of fiber and really delicious! A lot of people get intimidated by preparing a whole artichoke but nothing could be simpler than these little beauties!

Ingredients
~1 artichoke
~butter or mayonnaise for dipping

Thats it!

In a steamer basket or pot, place artichoke upside down and steam for 30-50 minutes. Watch the water level and don’t let the pan dry out! To check if they are done, slide a knife into the stem and if it is soft they are done. Dip them in melted butter or mayonnaise and scrape the leaves with your teeth to remove the edible portion. When you finish eating the leaves, scrape the stem clean and eat the artichoke “heart”.

So delish! I like to eat them with both butter and mayo, they are both great dippers! Enjoy 🙂

~Lacey~

Why this blog exists…

I have eaten low carb off and on since June of 2008. By December of 2008 I had lost 70 pounds and felt better than I ever did before. Then I slipped and gained it all back. I am now back on low carb and plan to maintain this diet for life. I am doing this to 1. lose weight as I am fat fat fat, 2. improve my health including my borderline blood pressure and pre-diabetes, 3. it is delicious and completely sustainable for me, 4. I believe, and medical research backs, my belief that all grains are unhealthy and the root cause of many of the health problems we face today including heart disease and obesity. Yes I know some people do not understand how eating more fat and calories could possibly be healthier than a low fat diet. I will simply say, the blood results do not lie. Go get some blood work, ie: cholesterol, sugar etc. Those are your baseline readings. Practice diligent low carb for several months and then repeat your blood work. The results will speak for themselves.

Most often I follow the Atkins eating plan because it is familiar to me and allows me to have cheese, butter and cream which I LOVE! I also really like The Paleo diet as well. The only problem I have with it is the no dairy rule. I think everyone should follow the low carb plan that works for them. I am not here to tell you how to do these eating plans (I hate the word diet), but I will point you to the right places to find that information for yourself. If you decide to try Atkins or Paleo, please get the respective book and read it. You cannot properly follow an eating plan unless you understand it.

Now onto the really yummy part, the recipes! I absolutely love to cook. It is one of the ways I love my family. I just love them with healthy low carb meals now instead of the high carb fare that is typical in many American homes. This blog will be a place to share my original recipes as well as recipes that I have picked up here and there from other sources. So this is part personal blog, part low carb recipe blog and part low carb research and nutrition blog. I hope you enjoy it. It is a labor of love and is dedicated to the good health of you and your family!

~Lacey~