Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Few Tips for Success (and a Food List)

I often get asked what kind of foods that I eat. Well it can kind of vary sometimes and it depends on if I am being super strict and I only want 10 carbs per day or if I am allowing myself my normal 20 carbs per day. Some people can not eat certain things or it might trigger you to have a craving you can not resist. This is where you have to use trial and error and do what is right for you. But this is a list of what I usually keep around. Set yourself up for Success not Failure. If you don't have low carb foods handy and all you have is carb loaded stuff then you are probably not going to do very well.

***A Few Tips for Success***
1. The first 2 weeks are the hardest, don't give up. (If going to 20 carbs or less per day is really really too hard for you to start with and you keep giving up and don't think you can do this and about ready to pull your hair out with frustration........ Then try to do 30 carbs but have those carbs be from veggies, cheese or if needed a low carb product. Don't let them come from sugar, rice, pasta or breads. You won't get the same results as doing induction properly but it is a start.)

2. Drink a lot of water and only eat when you are hungry. Don't be afraid to snack on a low carb item if needed, but if you feel hungry drink some water or crystal light first. Then wait a bit and see if you are still hungry. A lot of times we think we are hungry when we were really just thirsty. Be sensible, don't starve yourself but don't eat an entire pan full of bacon just because you can..... unless you are really hungry. I found I was more hungry to begin with and less hungry over time with the more weight I lost and the longer I had been low carb. If you feel dizzy or light headed then you may not be eating enough food or you might need more protein. Try a boiled egg or two, or a hamburger patty with ketchup or some cheese are good sources of protein and fairly easy to keep around. I you are still feeling dizzy or light headed then you should probably see your doctor just to make sure nothing else is wrong like an inner ear infection or something else.

3. Keep low carb snacks on hand, prepared and easy to access. I found it easier when I had carb friendly snacks prepared for myself ahead of time, so I could just grab something if I felt really hungry. Set yourself up for success not failure.

4. I moved all of the carb loaded stuff to a different shelf in the pantry and made myself a shelf with green beans, tuna, some low carb candy, crystal light, canned chicken breast, beef jerky and some gross tasting low carb bars that I don't buy anymore, but they helped me to transition to low carb.

5. If you do cheat, you are only cheating yourself. Don't go eat a bunch of carbs because you feel bad about cheating, just suck it up, drink a bunch of water and go right back to being strict on your next meal. Then be extra strict for the next few days and stick to mostly meat, eggs, cheese and veggies and not so many of the added low carb products if possible.

6. Make good choices and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself would you rather be unhealthy, unhappy and feel bad about eating the carbs or would you rather feel good that you took control over your eating and didn't eat the carbs and feel better in the long run? You control yourself, the food does NOT control you!

7. That said everyone is entitled to a bit of an "off" meal once in awhile. BUT this should never be during induction and it needs to be limited maybe to once a month, once a week, but certainly not every day. If you do decide to have an "off" meal just be smart about it, drink a lot of water and don't feel like you have to eat the entire plate full of food, get a to go box. Limit yourself to one carb item, for example don't have pasta and bread together. (I once went to IHOP and ate 1/4 of a waffle and brought some home and gave some away. That 1/4 of the waffle was all I needed to make the waffle craving go away. I had been ignoring it for almost 2 weeks before I went to get one.)

 8. I made my own area in the fridge and stocked it with:
Cooked Hamburger Patties
Boiled Eggs (some whole and some chopped up)
String Cheese
Monterey Jack and Cheddar Cheese cut into cubes
Baby Carrots
Hidden Valley Ranch
Hellman's Mayo and Mustard, low carb Ketchup and lower sugar BBQ sauce.
Sandwich Cheese, Lunch Meat (gotta watch the carb count, some has more then others, don't buy honey ham)
Oscar Meyer plain hot dogs
Shredded cheese (gotta check labels some brands have more carbs)
Dannon Carb Control yogurt (I like it more in the summer then the winter)
Low Carb Icecream like Breyer's Carb Smart
Lettuce, both a head of lettuce and shredded if you like it.
Pre-Cooked Bacon
Pepperoni Slices
Chorizo and Eggs


I would cook scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese and put it into little containers for quick breakfasts. Also I cooked omelets with cheese, bacon and a little bit of bell pepper and froze them, it was so easy to nuke one of those in the morning. I cook grilled chicken breast and could make a lettuce wrap or a salad or just eat one with green beans. I also cook hamburger patties and chopped up hamburger meat, some plain just with black pepper and some with taco seasoning to made tacos salads with. The plain hamburger I will eat with mayo, cheese and lettuce like a salad. If you like Chorizo and Eggs cook some of that too, just don't eat the tortillas and then once you are off induction you can have a low carb tortilla.

4 comments:

  1. Good stuff. I just said I woke this morning feeling a bit dizzy, and assumed it was from not eating enuff the day b4. Im ok now. You were pretty on plan and it really show's how committed u were in the beginning and still are now.

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  2. Your blog is great! I added you to mine.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. DO OR DO NOT..
    THERE IS NO TRY.

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