Thursday, November 11, 2010

Low-Carbing When Life Hands You Lemons

I read somewhere once that the key to maintaining a low-carb lifestyle is taking advantage of the heightened energy you get from having a stable blood sugar in order keep up the hard work of planning and preparing more healthy food so that you continue the process. It made total sense to me, since sugar and carbs make me feel way too sluggish and lazy to even think about spending time in the kitchen.

For the last week, though, I've been under the weather with a nasty cold, and until yesterday, I've been all too happy to use my lack of energy as an excuse to go back to eating fast food, sugary treats, and instant boxed meals. Part of me knew that eating better would probably make me feel better faster, but the thought of toiling in the kitchen while in my drowsy, congested, cold-medicine-induced state was so unappealing that I just gave in to the temptation to get food in the easiest way possible.

So how do you stay on track when you're thrown for a loop? Are there any strategies you use when you find yourself in a position where you have little time or energy to plan for healthy eating? Or if you allow yourself to slip a little when life gets tough, how do you get yourself back on track?

Comments (9)

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Hiya!
I hope you feel better real soon, I was sick recently myself--AFTER having an abcessed molar pulled so yeah I was in a living hell for about 10 days!!! I guess what I do is just fall back on convenient low-carb stuff; even if it has me eating olives with cream cheese, some sliced deli meats, string cheese and slim jims!!! Sooner or later I get bored enough to attempt to cook some semblance of a real meal! Other alternative was sending hubby to get take-out, but I stuck to steak & salad, or a bunless double whopper sans ketchup. Not fun but it got me through! Take care!!
Well we just don't keep anything in the house that is unhealthy and high carb. We always make twice or three times the amount of meat that we need for a meal and freeze it. So when no one feels like cooking we just heat something up and add a salad. It really makes it easy for those times when you are under the weather or just out right busy. Feel better... Take a Vitamin D supplement to help your immune system fight off illness. good Luck
I'll allow myself more carbs than normal, like a sandwich with two low carb breads (5g each) or an extra serving of greek yogurt w/extra fruit. I really just need to watch the meter. When I have had something completely sugar laden, I've paid for it BIG TIME .... I'm quite sensitive to a sugar spike (from months of low carbing -YEA!), BUT, i still crave real sugar treats here n' there.

Bottom line: it's HARD sometimes!LOL! My thinking is, just don't let it get to the point you can't return to what you know you should be doing...period or to the point you feel like CRAP!
I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I would think soups and stews would be easy and low-carb friendly. I'm trying a stew recipe this weekend, actually, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Hope you feel better!
I have more carbs than usual when I'm sick because comfort carby foods are the only things that sound appetizing when I'm sick. Of course, the better you eat when you're sick the better it is for you, but I wouldn't worry too much about it since it's just a couple of days when you're sick. Maybe next time you can buy yourself some healthier, already prepared meals, cans of healhty soup, etc. that you can still easily grab and eat but will be better for you.
Sometimes I get off track, but it dosen't take long to get back, the fatigue is a good incentive. Homemade chicken broth is great for colds and flu, and seems to coax me back into eating right.
I always have low carb soups in the freezer. I try to make the first batch in August and then restock as necessary. I also have scoped out low carb takeout options to fall back on when I can't cook.

Those two things have really saved me. The ONLY time I go carby when sick is if it's the stomach flu, then I give myself a few days of saltines and 7up until I'm back on my feet.

Michelle
nice post admin
good post

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