8/04/2010

Low-Carb Dieting


My Dom and I are currently trying out a low-carb diet. I'm going to file this post under my Submission household and cooking section, and if you are interested in using any of the recipes below please feel free.

I'm five foot five and a half inches, and in college and for three years after college I always weighed between 118-124 lbs. Once I moved back home for France, however, I suddenly gained some weight out of nowhere. I tried small things like cutting out soda or eating lower-fat snacks, I tried cutting calories, and I enrolled in some dance classes, but nothing worked for me. I'm currently 135 lbs. and would like to get back down to 125, which I think is a healthy weight for someone with a small body frame and is only 26 years old and never born children. Mostly, though, I'm doing it so I feel better about myself. My Dom likes me as much at this weight as he did before, but I'll feel better if I can fit into my old clothes again. It seems like 26 is too young to suddenly start gaining 10 lbs. in a few months.

The only diet I've really tried that worked for me was the low-carb diet, which is what Atkins and South Beach are based on. Since my favorite foods in the world are carbs (breads, pastas, cookies, cakes, potatoes, etc.) and sugars, this diet is hell for me, but at least I can eat as much as I want and don't have to starve myself. My Dom is doing the diet with me as a "sympathy diet," so I don't have to watch him snarfing carbs while I'm longingly watching, and so he can lose some of his tummy fat.

Right now I'm on day 3, and we're trying to stay under 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Since even non-carb foods like nuts, cheeses, and meats have a few grams of carbs, that means I can have NO traditional sweets or carbs and must watch even the types of meats and nuts I eat. It makes me tired and dizzy because right now my body is in "withdrawl" mode and isn't sure what to do without the carbs.

If you try a low-carb diet, you have to count grams of carbs really carefully. You also have to get creative with your meal and snack choices. The first few days, you can expect to lose about 2 lbs. per day, simply because you are losing water weight. After that, you can lose around 1 lbs. a day. You give yourself a "cheat" day once a week to eat whatever carbs and sugars you want, but the other 6 days of the week you have to carefully count grams of carbs in everything.

If you're interested in trying this diet for your or your Dom, here are some sample recipes I've created that are not found on the net and other dieting sites.

Snacks:
  • 1/4 cup pistachios, 2.5 g carbs.
  • 1/2 cup fresh raspberries, 3.5 g carbs
  • 1 c fresh whole mushrooms, 2 g carbs
  • 2 deviled eggs, 3 g carbs
Breakfasts:
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, with yolk, 2.2 g carbs
  • 2 scrambled eggs, 2.4 g carbs
  • 2 fried eggs (.8 g) with 2 slices bacon (.24 g)=1.04 g carbs total
  • 2 scrambled eggs (2.4 g) with 2 oz Velveeta cheese (5 g) = 7.4 g total
  • 2 scrambled eggs (2.4 g) covered with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (1.5) = 3.9 g carbs total
Meals:
  • 1 chicken wing, roasted, (0 carbs) with 1 large dill pickle (4 g carbs) and 1 c freshly steamed broccoli (3 g carbs)= 7 g carbs total
  • 1 c ground beef (1 carbs) mixed with 2 T salsa (2.5 g carbs) and 1 c shredded lettuce (.6 g carbs) = 3.1 g carbs total
  • 1 c broiled chicken, cut into small pieces (0 carbs), 2 T Kraft Mayo Light (2.6 g carbs), salt, pepper, and dill eaten in a leaf of iceberg lettuce (.6 carbs)=4.2 carbs total
  • 2 slices fresh tomato (2.1 g carbs), 3 slices cooked bacon (.4 g carbs), 1 T Kraft Mayo0 Light (1.3 g carbs), wrapped in a leaf of iceberg lettuce (.6 carbs)= 5.4 g carbs total
  • 1 fillet baked salmon (0 g) with 1/4 c sunflower seeds (5 g)=5 g carbs total
Desserts:

If anybody has any good low-carb or dieting recipes, be sure to let me know! :)

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