Please LOW CARB educate me!!!!

Parent Cafe
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<p>I, like others here, am battling the 50-year-old Mom middle body bulge. :(</p>

<p>A couple of years ago, I lost about 13 pounds and felt really good - carbs was one thing I watched. Now,I’ve gained about half of those pounds back, and I swear each ounce is smack dap in the middle of my body!</p>

<p>(disclosure - I do like to check out the diet/exercise thread, but honestly it’s a little too die-hard for me and I am not at the point to live up to many of the folks there standards - please don’t try to convert me - yet!!!)</p>

<p>So, while I’m the “student” and I’ve asked you to “educate” me, I have a few rules and requests :slight_smile:

  1. I already exercise and will be bumping that up a bit, but please don’t turn this thread into a fitness guru thread.
  2. LOW carb, not NO carb. I’m not going to cut carbs out completely or almost nil. I love steel cut oats for breakfast. Occasionally, I want a hunk of good bread.<br>
  3. PLEASE share low carb breakfast/lunch/snack ideas!!! I can usually adjust dinner when I am cooking for others, but since I can “personalize” my breakfast/lunch and snacks, this is where I would love some tips.
  4. I am not a huge meat eater - will eat some, but small portions. Fruit, somewhat minimal - apples are big in my diet this time of year. Love vegetables - raw and cooked. Love cheese. Like eggs.<br>
  5. I do allow myself a small “treat” at night - sometimes I want something sweet. Any sweet lowcarb suggestions appreciated. </p>

<p>Like today, I come home from work about 3pm - I WANT a snack!!! What can I grab that will satisfy me for a couple of hours - today I cut off a small chunk of parmasean reggiano (sp?!) and that satisfied me. I DO like strong flavors, spicy things - bland = yuck!</p>

<p>I have a feeling that there are others out there like me, that would benefit from a little less “in the middle” too. So please, share a LOW CARB food idea or combo.</p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>3pm snack options:</p>

<p>1 ounce of almonds with a piece of low fat string cheese</p>

<p>sliced apple spread with: Laughing cow lite cheese (there are some new flavors)</p>

<p>um, spicy and healthy: there are 100 cal packs of guacamole in our supermarket: Shoprite; I don’t have the name right now (ran out) but I will get it for you tomorrow or Wednesday; dip with slices of cucumber/carrots/celery</p>

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<p>Rodney, that’s what I’m talking about!!! :)</p>

<p>Great suggestions - it’s like you know just what I like to eat! Have some of the laughing cow cheese in the refrig right now.</p>

<p>Also have some small hummus servings from Costco - will have to see if that is low carb…</p>

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<p>I know this isn’t answering your question, but something that’s helped me recently (I am also battling the 50 year old mom bulge) - I asked my doctor to let me try a prescription to phentermine. I just had my 4 week check up today. I’ve lost 8.5 lbs in 4 weeks. It’s not magic, but it’s helping. It basically allows me to say “no” to food. </p>

<p>I also saw the “Twinkie Diet” on CNN -
[Twinkie</a> diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - CNN.com](<a href=“Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - CNN.com”>Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - CNN.com)</p>

<p>I thought his experience was pretty interesting!</p>

<p>Personally I have been snacking on baby carrots - they are crunchy, sweet and filling!</p>

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<p>No fad diets or pills for me. I only believe in a lifestyle change that can be lasting as a way of eating.</p>

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<p>I was the Carb Queen and I am also hungry at 3. I usually try a TBS of peanut butter on a multigrain cracker, Light Laughing cow cheese spread on celery, cucumber or red pepper, almonds, hummus, hard boiled eggs,2 oz of turkey breast or a chocolate whey protein shake. It is the fat and protein that will keep you satisfied. </p>

<p>And hey…join in on the wellness thread…didn’t know there were any standards! We all struggle every day. I couldn’t continue this journey if I couldn’t have wine! ;)</p>

<p>You might like some of the ideas here.
[Healthy</a> Recipes, Healthy Eating, Healthy Cooking | Eating Well](<a href=“http://www.eatingwell.com/]Healthy”>http://www.eatingwell.com/)</p>

<p>Salsa and veggies…spicey and good.</p>

<p>For breakfast I make sandwiches or omelets. I can have an egg white and veggie omelet cooked in Canola oil with a Thomas’ light multigrain muffin for under 300 calorie. Or an egg white sandwich with a Morningstar veggie sausage patty on same muffin for exactly 300 calories.</p>

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<p>Berries… blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or strawberries on top of cottage cheese makes a good snack.</p>

<p>I always keep almonds on hand too. I get a large container of them for $10 at Sam’s Club.</p>

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<p>Sweets…I really like sugar free double chocolate pudding cups and then dip strawberries or rasperries in it! Yum-O!</p>

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<p>I try to limit my cheese because it’s so calorie dense. If I’m starving the first thing I do is drink a cup of coffee or tea then I have something to eat.</p>

<p>I think any snack is okay - just aim for something in the 100-150 calorie range.</p>

<p>That could be:
Half a banana or apple with 1 Tb peanut butter.
1 cup of papaya with lime juice
Some nuts (about 1/8 cup).
A tiny piece of cheese.
A huge salad maybe with a little feta for flavor
Half a multi grain English Muffin or lite whole wheat bread slice with a tsp of jam or a Tb of peanut butter
1 low fat yogurt your favorite flavor
1/2 cup Greek yogurt with some fruit and a tsp or so of granola
Granola Bar
A hardboiled egg
Hummus on cracker or whole wheat pita. (It’s not bad with some grate carrots mixed in)</p>

<p>Lots of us on the wellness thread aren’t as fanatic as a few of the posters.</p>

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<p>A 2 pound per year weight gain translates to an average of about 15-20 excess calories per day.</p>

<p>This is not much. It doesn’t take much of a slowdown in your metabolism for 20 calories to suddenly become excess. It also doesn’t take much extra exercise to burn 20 calories, either, so this is something to consider.</p>

<p>Have you kept a detailed food diary for a week or two, where every bite of food you eat gets recorded? This can help pinpoint where there are problems.</p>

<p>Two things sort of jump out at me:</p>

<p>“I can usually adjust dinner when I am cooking for others” - how much tasting are you doing while cooking? It’s not hard to eat 50-100 calories while cooking just from tasting as you go along. I catch myself doing this all the time.</p>

<p>“I do allow myself a small “treat” at night - sometimes I want something sweet.” - exactly what are you eating for this small treat? Even something small can contain a lot of calories.</p>

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<p>I just cut out all the junk carbs: candy, pringles, pretzels, tortilla chips, and so forth. </p>

<p>I cut out the potatoes and rice starches with dinners. For asian stir fry wok meals, I serve it on a bed of stir-fried brocolli instead of rice.</p>

<p>Eating fat in your diet does not make you fat and, for me, it’s been key to continuing to enjoy olive oil, butter, and cheeses (blue or parmeggiano reggiano on salads). This stuff goes a long way towards making a lower calorie diet more satisfying. I have lost 64 pounds drinking half n half in my coffee every day.</p>

<p>Having said that, I have taken a hard look at the amount of cheese I was eating. I would nosh on a couple big slices of extra sharp cheddar and adding a lot of calories that way, so I have tried to cut back on unnecessary cheese. For example, if I just skip the slice of cheese on a grilled hamburger, that’s 100 calories that really doesn’t keep me from enjoying a hamburger on a good bun from time time. Likewise, I don’t really need the cheese omelet when a couple of eggs are good by themselves.</p>

<p>As for snacks, it’s good to work on breaking the grazing habit, but a few ideas:</p>

<p>baby carrots, celery are obvious. One of my favorites is giant green olives. They are salty and flavorful, six of them are under 50 calories. There are some frozen fruit bars and italin ice cups that aren’t bad – about 100 calories for a nice treat.</p>

<p>I have not completely stopped eating carbs and I don’t think that’s a great idea. There is research showing that your body will eventually start reducing its metabolism to keep from losing fat and that a shot of carbs once a week prevents that from happening. So I generally have one good carb dinner a week – a reasonable pasta portion, some pizza, a sub, maybe a turkey on rye sandwich for lunches. I just try to make it the exception, rather than the rule and I try to keep those days within my general calorie target range.</p>

<p>Honestly, the main thing is to track your calories for a week or two (and I mean every taste and nibble) and find out what you are really consuming versus an estimate of what you are really burning. Once I started actually paying attention to calories, it was pretty easy to see why I had been putting on weight.</p>

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<p>Oh, and microwave popcorn, if you get the varieties that have “light butter” or less, can be a pretty reasonable snack from a calorie standpoint.</p>

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<p>^^yes, microwave kettle corn 100 cal packs are terrific…</p>

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<p>I agree with Idad, carbs may not be the problem at all. I really recommend a week with livestrong.com to track your calories. I know it keeps me honest. I can lose weight and eat a piece of chocolate every night, you just have to eat less somewhere else. It takes a five to ten minute walk to burn off my dessert. Too bad it’s sleeting today and dark already!</p>

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<p>I also am at a similar place. I started watching carbs back in Jan and have lost 30 lbs. If I was fanatical I would have lost more.
I have cut out white carbs during the week. No bread, potato or rice. I start each day with a bowl of oatmeal (plain). I find the oatmeal satifies the carb feeling but doesn’t trigger me to binge. I have found that I can not have just a small amount of popcorn or crackers.
I snack on strawberries, string cheese (a bit bland but because it is already sized I don’t over indulge). 8 raw almonds. A greek yogurt. Cucumbers. Sometimes if I am in a hurry a spoon of peanut butter. Just something to get me over the afternoon hump. If I am out I will sometimes get an unsweetened iced tea or a non fat latte. A few bites of leftover chicken breast dipped in hummus. Red pepper strips dipped in hummus.
Sweets - I have discovered dark chocolate. I buy high quality big bars and eat two or three squares a day. I have also used Special K bars the one with chocolate, pretzel and caramel. The problem with the Special K bars is if I am starved I can eat 3 or 4 before I know it.
On the weekend I eat what I want. This is what has slowed down the weight loss but I think it is what keeps me going. I look forward to my friday lunch out.</p>

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<p>For sweets after dinner, I have jello, the low-calorie puddings (60 calories), Weight Watcher or similar low calorie ice cream (fudge bars for 80 calories). I used to eat yogurt for lunch, now I have it after supper, and that helps satisfy my sweet tooth also.</p>

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<p>Maybe not. You might have thrown in the towel after five days and gained 20 pounds! This whole move more/eat less thing has to be sustainable. We each have to find the little tricks – that over the short term and the long term – keep us motivated by the positive changes rather than feeling like we are “giving up” something. For me, writing a little bit about my ol’ fat guy workouts is a positive reinforcement and it’s been that way from day one, when it was just laughable to see the old fat guy panting on the exercise bike. </p>

<p>Speaking of which, it’s that time. Spartacus here I come. This could be ugly, I’m still a little sore from last week.</p>

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<p>I already do Livestrong/Daily Plate. In fact, I think I was one of the first advocates of it here! And because of that, I know that my CALORIES are fine, but I tend to be high in carbs and salt. </p>

<p>Some of the things suggested - yogurt for example - not low carb, right??? I am NOT worried about counting calories - I’ve got that under control, I just want low carb ideas!</p>

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<p>I like Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds. 3 or 4 feel like dessert.</p>

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<p>^^^I just bought those almonds at the grocery store today. They were buy one/get one free. I couldn’t resist.</p>