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?

The Easiest Low-Carb Dessert Recipe Ever

Since I spend most of my time in my boyfriend's tiny apartment in Manhattan with no freezer and no oven, dessert recipes that are actually doable for me are entirely too scarce. So when I saw this suggestion in the comments section of one of the other low-carb blogs Tracey and I read, I was intrigued and added the ingredients to my shopping list.

Here's the entire recipe:

Mix sugar-free pudding powder into full-fat Greek yogurt.



I bought the 17.6 oz. Fage Total Plain and mixed about a quarter of a packet of Jell-o butterscotch pudding into it.

The tang of the yogurt was still present, but the pudding powder made it plenty sweet. I can imagine using chocolate protein powder, a little natural peanut butter, or some calorie-free Walden Farms strawberry syrup in future mixes.

And the best part is that the Greek yogurt is only 7g carbs for 1 cup. It does have 7g sugar for 1 cup, but yogurt is great for my gut, and I'm never going to eat a whole cup of the stuff at a time, anyway.

Thank you, unknown commenter, for you have changed my life.

Boredom, Laziness, and Kitchen Amnesia

Like Katie, I'm not opposed to occasionally "cheating" when I want to experience something delicious at a social event or if I feel like I might die if I don't have whatever indulgence I get a strong craving for, but I really do feel bad about going off plan when I know I'm doing it out of boredom or laziness.

Switching from a lifestyle where I eat 75 to 80% of my meals out to one where I try not to eat out more than once or twice a week has been a special challenge. I only enjoy cooking when I get really in the mood to do it (which is not all that often), and when my laziness combines with hunger, I develop this condition in which I suddenly forget about all of the delicious and healthy food in my fridge and cupboards just waiting to be eaten, and all I can think about is going to a restaurant where I will be sure to be tempted by bread baskets and loaded mashed potatoes and dessert menus. This is bad for both my waistline AND my bank account. It breaks my heart when I have to throw out the vegetables I find practically liquefied in my fridge, all because I never felt like chopping them up and exposing them to a heat source. Sometimes I really miss the days of Bagel Bits and Kraft Dinner.

I'm trying a new experiment, though -- one that will hopefully keep me from feeling that dreaded "But there's nothing to EAT here!" feeling that I get before mealtimes, and one that should keep me from letting good food go to waste. Right after I went grocery shopping yesterday, while our house's food inventory was super fresh in my mind, I wrote out a list of EVERY POSSIBLE healthy, low carb meal I could think of that I could conceivably prepare with the foods in my kitchen, and I posted this list to the fridge. I made a second list for snacks and posted it, too. The plan is to continue updating the lists as I use up groceries and shop for new ones so it's impossible to forget what I have. Now, when I feel myself getting hungry and I can't think of anything to make, I can go to my lists, and hopefully I'll be interested enough in something on them to work up the excitement I need to want to eat at home and stop craving restaurant food.

Think it'll work? What techniques do you use to make sure you get the most of your groceries?