Back on the Wagon?

I'm pretty mad about it, but I'm back to low-carbing. When I first read the Atkins book three or four years ago, it made such sense to me that I was incensed when half the low-carb blogs I found had been abandoned. I think it's so annoying when people are constantly hopping on and off the low-carb bandwagon. But now I understand how it happens, because it keeps happening to me.

The first time I tried Atkins, I was SO SERIOUS. I took the book at its word when it told me I couldn't have caffeine, and I got scared when other people told me sugar-free candy made them stall. I gave up soda and only ate 2 ounces of cheese per day and limited my heavy cream to mere teaspoons.

By the end of my low-carbing, I had lost 33 pounds, was going to the gym regularly, and fit into clothing sizes I couldn't remember wearing my whole life. I looked great, and looking back at those pictures now makes me sad. The problem was that I felt like I was eating unhealthily. I was living on sugar-free pudding made with heavy cream, crustless pizzas with half a package of pepperoni on top, and all the mayonnaise I could handle.

So I decided that I was going to start eating only "natural" foods and counting calories. Of course I eventually forgot the natural part and turned meals into a game of How Many Chicken Fingers Can I Fit Into 1200 Calories Per Day?. I gained all of my weight back plus more, as everyone seems to. Since then, I've casually low-carbed, meaning that I eat right for a day or two and then decide it's fine if I have just one pita and then one bag of chips and then one cupcake.

I've been quietly maintaining about the same weight that way for a while, but I'm sick of it! I'm sick of rifling through my closet every morning for something that actually fits. I'm sick of feeling hungry yet bloated after every carby meal. I'm sick of knowing I could change everything if I could just stick to the way of eating that I actually believe in.

So, here goes. Again.

Friday Meatspiration (or Cheesespiration, Maybe)

I just had my first piece of pizza without the crust in a loooooong time.

I remember when Tracey and I first read the Atkins book several years ago and were so convinced that every stick of sugar-free gum and every can of Diet Coke was going to throw us off the weightloss train; we'd stress about the tiniest carb intake. My company would order pizza every Friday, and I'd only eat the white pizza because I thought the tomato sauce had too much sugar. But the white pizza had fresh mozzarella, which I figured wasn't hard enough to count as one of the acceptable cheeses on Atkins. Fridays felt like a field of land mines to me.

Then, when I got interested in the Belly Fat Cure last year, I started allowing myself a whole slice of pizza if I ate one without the crust first. Those initial toppings would seem so dumb to me when all I wanted was to get at that second slice with the crust still intact. The problem was that once I gave myself the freedom to eat some crust, I'd end up going back for the leftovers with my co-workers a few hours later and have another whole slice. And sometimes two. I'm not good with an un-strict diet.

Now, I'm trying to eat according to the primal blueprint with some protein shakes added in for convenience, so I made myself eat a salad for lunch today with the promise of a crustless slice for a snack later, and boy, did it taste great.

Maybe treating diet-appropriate foods as if they were treats is the way to go.

Keeping Your Goals Stylishly Visible

Check out this adorable printable resolutions poster from Li'l Magoolie, available in both multicolor and blue. I especially love that "LESS SUGAR" and "EAT MORE GREEN THINGS" are the very first resolutions listed.

Via Odeedoh.

Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Mushrooms

I spotted this mouthwatering low-carb creation on a non-low-carb blog, and it made my renewed enthusiasm for non-starchy foods kick into overdrive.

Butter-sauteed mushrooms stuffed with ground beef, pepperjack cheese, bacon, and mayo, topped off with french fried onions. And you know all about my love for french fried onions.

I can't wait to make these.

Microwave Flaxseed Bread

Sorry for being so silent lately. Tracey has about 100% less free time now that she's out of grad school and has a job, and I've been moving to a new apartment and obviously paying too much attention to my other blogs. Rest assured that we're still on the wagon and talk daily to each other about our struggles and successes with low-carb.

I happened to have a really positive "cooking" experience last night that made me excited to have chosen this way of eating, and I'm sure you know well how important these little motivations to keep going are.

I made a flaxseed bread shared by TNT Man, a friend of our friend Grace. Since I spend almost all of my time at my boyfriend's small apartment with a stovetop and microwave but no oven, I never get to try any of those low-carb bread recipes that keep most low-carbers from going crazy when a muffin craving hits. But this one's made in the microwave!

Microwave Flaxseed Bread

1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon sweetener (I used a packet of Truvia)
1 teaspoon butter

Mix all dry ingredients in a straight-sided coffee mug. Add egg and butter, and beat until smooth. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes until it reaches your desired consistency (the top will be a little firmer than the bottom). Allow to cool slightly, then loosen edges with a blunt knife and remove from coffee cup and cut into slices. This is a lot like a nutty whole-wheat bread and can be toasted.

It comes out looking like a muffin and tasting like nut bread. It was somewhere between sweet and savory, so I could see using it for sandwiches or icing it with low-carb cream cheese frosting. And it's all fiber and protein!

When Cravings Attack

This pretty much sums up my relationship with food lately:

Friday Meatspiration

A little Thanksgiving meatspiration this week:

Even though this photo comes from Worth1000, a sharing forum for creative uses of Photoshop, we can all dream of Thanksgiving turkeys that actually come in this size.

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?

A Healthy Weight Does Not a Healthy Person Make

You might have seen the CNN article yesterday about the human nutrition professor who lost 27 pounds in two months while subsisting on a diet mostly made up of Twinkies, Little Debbies, Doritos, Oreos, and the like.

He wanted to prove that what matters most in losing weight is calorie-counting, not nutrition. And when it comes to the markers society traditionally uses to measure health, this "convenience store diet" was a real winner: his body fat dropped from 33.4 to 24.9 percent, his "bad" cholesterol dropped 20 percent, his "good" cholesterol increased 20 percent, and triglycerides level decreased by 39 percent.

The professor questions, "What does that mean? Does that mean I'm healthier? Or does it mean how we define health from a biology standpoint, that we're missing something?", and I'd tend to agree, especially after these past few years of reading low-carb research. I know I can lose weight on a low-fat, high-carb diet, but I don't think the constant sugar high is good for my long-term health. And I'm positive I could never sustain a low-calorie diet, especially one centered entirely on sugar.

At least the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet, as counter-intuitive as it seems, has a couple of lower-carb options; the creator of the Belly Fat Cure recommends 3 crunchy tacos (at 39 carbs total) for an easy meal option.

And those tacos will keep you full for hours, unlike the blood-sugar-spiking Twinkies, which must have left the professor starving half the time.

Recipe Roundup

Enjoy this weekly list of great low-carb recipes. Leave your own links and recipes in the comments!


Sugar-Free Low Carb Recipes: Low Carb Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Cream of Mushroom Soup, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

GoodLife Eats: Pumpkin Soup with Toasted Walnuts

Elana's Pantry: Creamy Cranberry Dressing

Jennifer Eloff: Tuna or Salmon Burgers and Red Pepper Soup

24/7 Low Carb Diner: Pizza Supreme Casserole

Kalyn's Kitchen: Pan-Fried and Roasted Pork Chops with Apricot-Dijon Sauce and Five Recipes for Roasted Winter Squash

Nutty Kitchen: Crock Pot Spiced Whole Chicken

A Doctor's Kitchen: Curried Mango Chicken Thighs

Before the Cookie Eats You: Savory Chuck Roast with Rosemary, Onions, & Dried Mushrooms

Kelly the Kitchen Kop: Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

The GFCF Lady: Migas (This "Tex-Mex Omelette" sounds delicious, and it's totally BFC friendly if you count the tortilla chips carefully.)

Heart of a Country Home: Sausage Cream Gravy on a Low Carb Biscuit

The Food Lovers' Primal Palate: Slow Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Roasted Pumpkin Seed Spread

Simply Sugar & Gluten Free: Almost Pumpkin Pie

Big Daddy D: Pumpkin Cheesecake

Comfy Belly: Portobello Pizza

Mrs. Ed's Research and Recipes: Grain Free Butter Cookies (Replace the honey with sugar-free maple syrup or another sweetener to cut carbs.)

Grace2882: Broiled Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese and Cranberry Pecan Muffins

And I don't want to keep my personal distaste for cooked cauliflower to keep you from enjoying these great-looking cauliflower-based recipes from Maria Emmerich:
Carmelized Cauliflower Gratin
Easy Cheesy Scalloped "Potatoes"
Sweet "Potato" Casserole