Low Carb Eating Made Simple

Low Carb Diets, Not No Carbs

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:59:50 +0000

A common myth or misconception about Low Carb Diets is that you’re supposed to cut out all your carbs in order to lose weight. And while that certainly is a method taught by at least one low carb program I’ve come across, it is not the norm. In fact, it’s almost impossible to cut out all carbs from your diet on a regular long term basis.I think the mis-understanding comes from a lack of knowledge though. You see, with a general American diet that follows the FDA approved food pyramid, you’ll consume approximately 300 grams of carbohydrates every day. And for some people: That is way too much.

The key phrase here is “some people” though. Each of us has a different body makeup. Each of us has different lifestyles, and each of us has different genetic inheritances too. And to top it all off: Two people may consume the exact same amount of carbohydrates in completely different ways.

One person for instance, may eat 300 grams of carbs a day in the form of low glycemic, slow acting complex carbs. The kind you get from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Another person however, may consume 300 grams of carbs that are primarily made up of simple fast acting sugars and starches. Eating pasta, rice, white bread and sugared treats for instance.

The person who eats low glycemic complex carbs is more likely to lose weight by simply moderating or reducing their carb intake a bit. Dropping the total daily consumption to 150 grams for instance, is likely to create great results for that person. The one who eats simple, fast acting carbs though, may still gain weight even if they reduced their daily carb intake to 150 grams. They may even struggle to see results by dropping their daily carb intake to as low as 50 grams a day.

And that brings me to another important point: Because our bodies and genetic make ups are so different: Often two people can eat the exact same foods in the exact same portions, and you’d still see one having success with losing weight while another is struggling with their weight loss.

Now, if you want to lose weight quickly, a few of the most popular low carb diets work quite well for most people. The top two however, require you to reduce your daily carb intake to 20 or 30 grams of carbs. For some people that is just too restrictive. If this is a problem for you, then try going backwards instead with these steps:

1. Reduce or eliminate the simple, fast acting carbs from your daily eating. This includes table sugar, white bread, pasta, candy, pastries and similar items. Maintain this eating style for 1-2 weeks and gauge your progress. If you’re losing weight at a rate you’re happy with, then simply maintain this change in your daily eating habits. If you’re not losing weight though – or not losing as fast as you’d like to – try step two:

2. Reduce your overall daily carb intake to 150 grams. Do not eat 150 grams of simple sugars and carbs each day though. Fill this allotment out with fresh veggies, fruits and a limited amount of whole grains.

3. If that still doesn’t produce the weight loss results you’re looking for, try dropping your daily carb intake to 75-100 grams. Again, be sure you’re choosing healthy, low glycemic, complex carbs.

4. From this point, if you’re still not happy with your weight loss progress, you can take one of two approaches: First try dropping your daily carb intake by 10 grams each week. Do this until you reach a point of weight loss that you’re happy with but is still safe for you. Second: Drop all the way down to the 20 or 30 grams that popular low carb diets start you with.

Done sensibly, low carb diets can work quite well. Just remember there is no need to try eliminating all carbohydrates from your diet, and there are good carbs too.

High Fiber Low Carb Foods – Things You Should Know

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:53:47 +0000

Everyone knows that eating any food with especially high carbohydrate content is bad for the body. Carbohydrates not only make it easier for you to get fat, but it also makes you more vulnerable to many illnesses like diabetes to say the least. But what is fiber, and why is it important to us?Fiber is a substance that’s very hard to digest, and that’s why consuming a small amount of fiber allows you to feel full for a considerable period of time. But that’s not the lone benefit of fiber, especially when it’s eaten together with foods that have carbs in it.

High fiber low carb foods are a great match because the fiber content reduces the negative impact of the carbohydrate content of your diet. It’s unhealthy to completely get rid of carbohydrates in your diet. With high fiber low carb foods, you still get a complete meal but with less negative side effects.

High fiber low carb foods also help regulate your bowel movement. This is definitely a blessing for people with extremely hectic schedules and unable to eat properly and at the right time. With high fiber low carb foods, there’s less chances for you to suffer the embarrassment of having to excuse yourself from a meeting because of an emergency call of nature.

High fiber low carb foods consumed for the day should have fiber content of no more than 40g but no less than 25g. Anything lower or beyond this range will mean that you’re not maximizing on your diet. If you’re serious about losing weight and getting healthy with this type of diet then be serious and act like it! The weight loss process is still essentially scientific so you need to make sure you’ve got the correct amount of fiber intake each day.

Make sure that the high fiber low carb foods you’re eating for the day doesn’t contain 100% insoluble fiber because this is bad for your bowel movement and overall health. Your daily intake should contain anything between twenty to thirty percent of soluble fiber.

If you’re not used to eating high fiber low carb foods all the time, make sure that you increase your intake gradually.

Getting Started With a Low Carb Diet Plan

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:52:35 +0000

Once you’ve finally made the decision to lose weight, and you’ve decided you want to try a low carb diet plan, the hard part is practically over. All you need to do now is simply get started. So let’s look at what your first several days of a low carb diet plan might be like.Day one of your low carb diet plan should really start with some firm decisions. First you decide you will lose weight of course, and second you decide to go with a low carb diet plan to accomplish that weight loss. Next though, you need to choose which low carb diet plan you intend to follow. Three popular ones include the Atkins low carb diet plan, The South Beach low carb diet plan, and The Glycemic Index low carb diet plan.

Regardless of which plan you choose, the goal is to lower your daily intake of carbs, and start really losing some of the extra weight and fat your body has been holding on to. So on day one, decide which low carb diet plan you will be following and familiarize yourself with how that low carb diet plan works specifically.

Day two of your low carb diet plan will involve planning and preparation. First you need to clear out your cabinets, pantry, fridge and freezer. Toss out or give away any high carb, high sugar content foods that you won’t be eating with your low carb diet plan.

Most low carb diet plans don’t allow you to have certain foods in the first week or two on the plan, but you can gradually add those foods in later. So you may find yourself getting rid of foods you have right now that aren’t overly high in carbs, but aren’t yet allowed for the start of your low carb diet plan. Don’t despair though… many of these foods will be added back in over the next few weeks.

Next you will want to make a list of what you will be eating for at least the next week. Include meals, snacks and liquids, then create a shopping list for all of those items. Last but not least, you will go to the store and buy all of the foods on your list.

Taking these steps will help you get started right with the low carb diet plan of your choosing, and it will help you stick to the proper guidelines and instructions for that plan as well.

Day three of your low carb diet plan is when you will actually change the way you eat. You don’t have to wait until this day to get started with your new low carb diet plan, but it can be helpful to start fresh at the beginning of a new day, instead of starting in the middle of a day. Starting your new low carb diet plan at the beginning of a brand new day will make you feel more committed to the plan instead of feeling like it was an impulsive decision on the spur of the moment.

Day three is a good day to do a bit of cooking too. By preparing foods that are allowed during this beginning stage of your low carb diet plan, you’re making sure you will always have something good to eat that’s easy to just grab and go. One of the biggest pitfalls of most low carb diet plans is that you need to cook the proper foods for your particular plan. And if you don’t have something cooked and ready when you want it, you’re more likely to fall off the plan and sabotage your weight loss efforts.

The next several days of your low carb diet plan might not be the best. You will experience sugar and starch cravings, you may be tired and lethargic, and you may have headaches or mild dizziness. These are all standard symptoms of starting a low carb diet plan, because your body is cleaning out all the extra starches, sugars and junk that’s been stored up for awhile. You body is going through withdrawal from the lack of sugar that it’s used to, and these early days on your low carb diet plan are when having pre-cooked foods is most important, because you’re at a higher risk of quitting when you’re not feeling well.

Once those few days of withdrawal are over though, you will very likely be thrilled with the results of choosing a low carb diet plan. You’ll have more energy, you won’t feel as bloated, and you might even notice clothes are already started to fit more loosely too!

Health Benefits of a Lower Carbohydrate Diet

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:51:18 +0000

Although not as wildly popular as they were several years ago, the low carbohydrate diet still has a sizable following. The simple reason for this is because it works! Clinical studies show that people on a reduced-carb regimen lost more weight than those on a traditional low fat diet within six months. But there’s a downside to this, not the least of which is health experts’ concern about the diet’s recommendation of fatty foods. Before you go on a low carbohydrate diet, weigh the positives against the negatives and decide whether it’s the right weight loss strategy for you.Arguably the most popular low carb diet is the Atkins diet, founded by the late Dr. Robert Atkins several decades ago. Since its explosion onto the scene, similar diets have sprouted, including the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet, Sugar Busters, and Protein Power. All these diets require you to vastly reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume, but not eliminate them (as so many people assume). Your primary carbohydrate sources should be natural foods like vegetables and certain fruits. You will then find yourself eschewing many of the starchy and nutrient-deficient goodies that so many of us consume on a daily basis, like junk food and fast food (which, health experts agree, are bad for you anyway) and going for low carb foods.

Refined flour and sugar are perhaps the vilest villains that cause weight gain. Excessive intake of food products rich in these two ingredients can cause your blood glucose levels to increase, triggering the additional production of insulin, and causing the body to convert carbs to fat. Eating low carb foods would ensure that you get only the amount needed by your body. Deprived of surplus carbs, your body would then burn its fat stores instead of carbohydrates, and you start losing weight. What’s more, if you stick to the diet, you’ll find that you’ll tend to shed pounds at a faster pace.

Several studies show additional benefits of consuming low carb foods aside from weight loss. Lowered blood sugar levels will make you less vulnerable to diabetes. Also, clinical evidence shows that a low carb diet helps improve blood cholesterol, reducing your risk for heart disease and stroke. Another finding suggests a relationship between acne and carbohydrates. A diet high in carbohydrates increases insulin production, which would cause a series of hormonal changes that lead to clogged pores and oilier skin – fertile ground for the bacterium that causes pimples.

If the low carb diet has so many health benefits, why have many people abandoned it? One major reason is the diet’s advocacy of fat that is found in food like meat and dairy products. While it is true that low carb diets permit the consumption of fatty, low carb foods like butter, cheese, and pork chops, they do not in any way encourage the gluttony. You should eat only up to the point you don’t feel hungry anymore – there’s no “eat all you can” mentality involved.

Healthy low-carb options

Another reason may sound mundane, but is a serious challenge for many people: food boredom. A number of dieters find that they can’t do without the starchy, carb-rich they have become accustomed to; things like bread, pasta, candy, chips. However, if you do decide to go on a low carbohydrate diet, remember that there are many substitute products out in the marketplace that would still enable you to enjoy comfort food, but without the burden of carbs and sugar. For instance, instead of bread products made with refined flour, you can opt for whole grain breads or those made with soy flour and the like.

The abundance of naturally low carb foods cannot be underestimated. Fish, shellfish, and other seafood are rich in protein and low in carbs; so are poultry, meat, and many vegetables. Once you start incorporating all these natural and healthy foods back into your diet, you will find that you won’t miss the junk that you used to consume. And this practice of choosing nutrient-rich foodstuff will be something you will carry with you even after you reach your ideal body weight.

Whats more important – Diet or Exercise?

It’s not enough to go on a low carbohydrate diet, or any other diet for that matter, without getting the right amount of exercise. Even though the diet does not focus on calorie-counting, a calorie is still a calorie and if you eat more than what you burn, then you’ll become fat. So if you do decide to go on a low carbohydrate diet, make sure you do it right.

Maximizing Your Low Carb Nutrition Values

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:49:17 +0000

While carbohydrates are an essential ingredient in anyone’s diet, carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are not hard to find. All foods other than meats, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, and fats contain them, so for most people the issue is not how to ensure themselves an adequate intake of carbs, but how to avoid eating too many of them.Getting the nutrients which carbs supply while keeping overall carb intake low is possible; it simply requires learning how to keep simple and complex carbohydrates in proportion, with complex carbs making up the bulk of the carbs in a diet; to be certain the sources of those carbs are, as much as possible, natural and not refined; and to learn how to judge proper portions.

Making Good Choices
Low carb nutrition is simply a matter of making the decisions necessary to establish and maintain a healthy weight while making sure our nutrient intake remains at a healthy level. Low carb nutrition does not require that any particular food groups be eliminated completely from a person’s diet, but it does require that the food choices emphasize nutrient-dense carbs over refined ones. Because carbs are limited, every one consumed has to do its part in nourishing the body.

A healthy low carb nutrition plan will have as its centerpiece low fat meats, fish and seafood, poultry, seafood, and dairy products; of the high protein choices, fish is always preferred. A diet high in meat can mean a diet high in saturated fats. Those who wish to practice low carb nutrition should be careful to limit their fat intake as much as possible to vegetable and nut-based oils; olive oil is known to have a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels. The idea that low carb nutrition means you can down steaks and cheeseburgers to your heart’s content is simply wishful thinking.

Because any form of sugar is a carbohydrate, the lactose in dairy products means that a low carb nutrition plan should restrict the consumption of dairy products; the same is true for fruits, which contain the sugar fructose. But the essential nutrients in both dairy products and fruits are so important to health that they should still be eaten in small amounts on a daily basis.

Looking For The Good In Carbs
Using low-fat or non–fat dairy products will allow you to increase your intake of them, and choosing whole unprocessed fruits with no added sugar is far better for low carb nutrition than drinking fruit juice, which does not contain beneficial fiber, and often has table sugar, or sucrose, added. Fiber will slow down the digestion of the fruit, and keep its fructose from causing a sudden spike in blood sugar levels. Good low carb nutrition allows you the flexibility to substitute a healthier version of a carb-containing food rather than eliminating it entirely.

And this hold true for the practice of replacing simple carbohydrates with complex ones. Flour, be it whole grain or processed, still qualifies as a complex carbohydrate; and good low carb nutrition practices mean that wherever possible, products with whole grain flours be substituted for those with refined ones. While no kind of flour is an ideal choice for an low carb diet, whole grain flours can provide more of the fiber, vitamins, and minerals which will maintain the nutritional levels of a low carb diet.

Beat the Carb Cravings

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:47:38 +0000

Anyone who’s been on a low carb diet will tell you that the first week is the hardest. Some report actual physical symptoms of carb withdrawal, like irritability, headaches, and lack of energy. Others say it’s the emotional struggle to stay away from rice, bread, pasta, potatoes the staples that they’ve grown used to serving with every meal.These carb cravings can easily tempt you into giving up on your diet altogether. Don’t. You have so much to gain (or in this case, lose): think 10 pounds in the first two weeks, as some diets claim, and a visible reduction of tummy handles. (Hey, you’ll be able to fit in a smaller size of jeans!) So how do you survive the battle against bread? Here are some tips:

Indulge in the right food

One of the advantages of low carb diets is that you don’t starve yourself. You can eat very well, just stay away from certain types of food. How does help beat the carb cravings? If you’re not ravenous, you’re less likely to raid the fridge in a mad fit of hunger. You can also replace a high-carb snack (like a chocolate bar) with an equally tasty bag of peanuts, and not feel deprived.

Veteran low carb dieters actually advise keeping stashes of low-carb diets in their desk drawers, or by the television the places where most people get the desire to munch on something. Keep the portions small, just enough to make you feel that you’ve had a treat, without actually turning into a binge. You’ll need a lot of small plastic bags, or tiny plastic containers. Another tip: prepare the individual servings beforehand, preferably after eating a meal so you’re not tempted to put more than you should.

Keep yourself busy

Most of us eat not out of hunger but habit. You’re bored, stressed, or you’re killing time before you take on the next item on your to-do list. Avoid temptation by keeping your mind on something you enjoy. Some dieters carry a book around, others start a hobby like scrapbooking which will let them pass long hours without even thinking about food. For those who work at the office, and need something to keep them away from the vendo machine, bookmark a website that you can browse until the snack attack passes.

Look for other forms of recreation

It’s become customary to make meals the center of any recreational activity: eating chips while watching a movie, going out to dinner with friends. While you’re still getting used to the low-carb regimen, pass up the invitation to have drinks after work and invite everyone to watch a play, hit the badminton courts, or attend a museum opening.

Get a diet buddy

Dieting becomes more fun when you have a diet partner to give encouragement, praise you for every lost pound, and even help you scout for the low-carb friendly restaurants in your area. Don’t know anyone? Go online and join a dieter’s forum. Exchange recipes, share thoughts, and hey, even make new friends. You’ll still feel the carb cravings, but somehow, saying no is a little easier.

Dining Out Without Cheating On A Low-Carb Diet

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:46:30 +0000

You can hardly turn your head these days without seeing new studies that have been done that show the importance of cutting carbs out of your diet. New diet plans are coming out all the time that claim to have the perfect combinations of foods that will magically allow you to lose all of your extra weight without lifting a finger or sacrificing any of the tastes you love so much. Eating low carb foods sounds so boring and hard, but it doesn’t have to.You don’t have to stay home to eat healthy. Most restaurants have low fat options and are quickly adding low carb menus. Before going out, call around and find a restaurant with a menu that will be a good match for your diet. Once at the restaurant, there are ways to enjoy a guilt free meal.

The secret to success is in the initial ordering—you don’t want to find yourself staring at a plate of bad choices, and regretting it only after the plate is empty.

Some experts suggest that once served, you should ask for a take-out container and put half of it away for the next day’s lunch or dinner. This works great if you are incredibly self-controlled. However, if the knowledge that there is more food under the lid of that Styrofoam container is too much—change the way you order.

Side dishes, children’s plates, and appetizers are all great alternatives. Request that extras like gravy, butter, sauces, salad dressings, and sour cream be served on the side. Slightly dipping a fork in a condiment before you stick it into your food is a great way to limit the extra calories while adding flavor to your food.

Don’t be afraid to substitute. Substitute a salad for fries, a green vegetable for potatoes, or low fat versions for their fat laden counterparts. If there are no substitutions available, ask to have the item left off the plate. Such a request may result in your waiter explaining that you have to pay for it anyway. Simply let him know that you don’t mind—or you’ll end up paying with your waistline.

Sometimes another person at the table will want the item you want left in the kitchen. If this is the case, ask the waiter to serve the item on a separate plate.

Fast food restaurants offer a challenge to the average weight loss plan. However, if you must go to one, there are usually a few healthy choices you can make.

Order a salad, grilled chicken, or a roast beef sandwich. If you are on a low carb diet, request a plate and a fork with your sandwiches so that you can eat it without the bun. In casual and fine dining scenarios, simply choose items according to the way they are cooked, avoiding anything that is battered and fried. Instead, order items that are steamed, broiled, baked, roasted, or poached.

Stay away from food that is creamed, cheese sauce, or items marinated in oil. Especially destructive to your weight loss efforts are casseroles and pastry crusts.

As for drinks– water, diet sodas, and ice tea are all good choices. A single glass of wine fits nicely into most diets, but only if you have the willpower to pass on a second glass when offered.

Desserts don’t have to be off limits, especially if everyone else at the table in partaking. This will only cause you to dig into the ice cream in your freezer with wild abandon once you get home. Choose a dessert that does not come with ice cream, whipped cream, or any kind of sauce. But only order it if you have someone willing to share it with you. Have the waiter bring it out already divided up.

There is no reason not to enjoy a guilt free dinner out. There are many options available, you just have to make the right choices.

The Lifelong Solution to Staying Thin?

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:45:20 +0000

Low carb dieting has become a popular way to lose weight quickly, and has even become the preferred lifestyle for thousands of health and weight conscious people. The question is, are low carb diets a realistic lifetime regimen, and are they really healthy?Well, here’s the general consensus: Hats off to low carb dieters, for they have found the lifelong key to weight maintenance, heart health and peak physical condition. When most people hear the term “low carb diet”, they think of fanatical menus of bacon, eggs, cheese and other “zero carb” foods that, prior to the carbohydrate diet revolution, were considered high fat, artery clogging foods. In short, the typical low carb fare was a long list of high fat no-no’s up until the low carb revolution, and pastas and breads were hailed as “low to no fat”, so people were piling on the carbs in favor of less fat.

We’ve come a long way from this extreme school of thought, with the advent and teaching of a more healthy and balanced low carb dieting lifestyle. This new school of thought does not preach a zero tolerance for sugars and starches, but rather just making smarter choices in carbohydrate consumption, and a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio, with a healthy but moderate dash of unsaturated fat.

This new “moderation” method of low carb dieting has proven to be a huge asset for thousands of people suffering from obesity and excess weight. Many have adopted the moderation philosophy into their permanent eating habits and lifestyle with great long term success and permanent weight loss and maintenance.

Sure, most of us low carbers will have those moments of weakness, especially around the holidays, and overdo it on the sugars and starches, but it’s actually pretty easy to get right back in the swing of things again. As a matter of fact, there are also some effective supplements that actually absorb excess carb intake and help offset any weight gain through times like this. They are usually taken just before or shortly after meals to help eliminate improper storage of fat as well as even out blood sugar, which is on of the primary reasons for weight gain through excess carb intake.

Long Term Low Carb Dieting Benefits

Benefits of adopting this lifestyle are voluminous. Aside from the obvious weight loss and effective weight management benefits, there are other significant advantages to this type of diet.

Here are the top benefits:

1.) Increased muscle tone
2.) Mentally more focused
3.) Less incidence of depression and anxiety
4.) Healthy blood sugar levels = lower risk of diabetes
5.) Healing faster and more efficiently
6.) Get sick less often
7.) Skin, hair and all other external organs grow healthier and more radiant
8.) Eat less – low carb foods are more filling

Think about it. Even if this short list of eight benefits was the only reason to adopt low carb dieting as a lifestyle, it would be worth it, right? There are many – maybe even hundreds more benefits to this method of eating. If you want to live longer, be thin for life, and be healthier, this diet is exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Low Carb Foods List Dos And Dont’s

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:44:02 +0000

It’s not hard to come up with a low carb foods list; the nutritional labels present on all packaged foods gives a count of the grams of carbohydrate in each serving of the contents. The trick is just to remember that a serving can be quite small. But even those packaged foods which have little or no carbohydrate content may have been processed and have almost none of their fiber or nutrients left. Add to that artificial preservatives and high levels of sodium which is a major flavor enhance in many packaged foods, and the number low carb processed foods which deserve a place on y6our low carbs food list becomes even smaller.Artificial preservatives may be great for preserving the contents of the processed low carb foods in a package, but they do nothing to preserve the health of those who consume them. While salt contains iodine which is essential for thyroid health, the excessive amounts of salt in processed foods can lead to hypertension and if too much salt is consumed for too long, to fluid retention and heart failure.

Keep It Natural
The best foods to have on your low carb foods list, therefore, are those which are in as close to their natural state as possible. Because you will be restricting your consumption of whole grain products which are high in fiber and vitamins, you’ll need to find the nutrients somewhere else. Natural foods, especially raw or lightly steamed fruits and vegetables, even small amounts have significant amounts of minerals, vitamins, and phytonutrients.

When you start a low carb foods list, the first thing you should do is make categories for simple and complex carbohydrates. Only rarely will you be using simple carbohydrate foods when you are following a low carb eating plan; the small amounts of carbs which you are allowed should come almost entirely in the form of complex carbohydrates.

The most prominent foods on your low carb foods list, of course, will be high protein foods like meat, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, cheese, seeds, and nuts. You’ll also have fats like butter, olive and other vegetable oil, and cream, but nutritionists agree that monosaturated oils like olive oil are the best for us. And even though you may be under the impression that a low carb diet gives you carte blanche to eat as much protein and fat as you like, overdoing either of them will lead to weight gain and other health problems.

Complex Vs. Simple Carbs
Because you will need to eat simple carbs, like fruits, in very small amounts for the nutrients they provide, just make sure that you don’t waste you simple carbs allotment on canned fruit. Other simple carbs are milk sugar, or lactose, founding dairy products, and sucrose, or table sugar, founding thousands of frozen, canned, and boxed foods. Both fruit and milk deserve to make it to you low carb foods list. Anything with table sugar should be avoided as much as possible.

Even items from the corner bakery, although they may be freshly baked and contain no preservatives, will have sugar, and more than likely, processed white flour. They are taboo on all other diets, and should be taboo on you low carb foods list as well.

While no bread is a low carb food, there is a place for whole grain bread on your whole carbs food list. It will give you the fiber you need to help fill you and to slow the digestive processes so that you feel full longer, and that your blood sugar levels remain steady.

Low Carb Diet Eating – Super Salads

Shannon Macri — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:42:19 +0000

The foundation of any healthy low-carb eating is in its vegetable content. Any low-carb eating which does not include enough vegetables to provide the vitamins and minerals lacking in high-protein foods may lead to weight loss, but it will also lead to trouble if it continues for more than a few weeks.Many people today, however, are not big veggie eaters; the fast food culture has often restricted the daily vegetable intake of millions of rushed diners to the pickles, onions, wilted lettuce, and barely pink tomatoes on their burgers or chicken sandwiches. So it’s not surprising that those who decide to try low carb diet eating neglect the veggies.

Go Organic
But after a few days of low carb diet eating of nothing but meat, eggs, and cheese, even lettuce may start to look good. So when you feel the cravings for carbs kick in, be ready to head them off with a power salad, which will not only be a tremendous treat after all that protein. You can get pre-packaged salad mixes at the grocery store, so you don’t have to buy huge amounts of different salad fixings. And if you go for organic salad mixes, and dress them up with organic ingredients, you’ll have sweeter vegetables than you ever imagined.

One of the most nutritious ingredients you can add to any meal is spinach. This superfood has been shown to support eye health, as well as the brain, skin, and cardiovascular and immune systems. So be sure you salad mix contains spinach; even better, you can buy a bag of organic spinach leaves.

Diversify Your Choices
You have a wide selection of low carb vegetables to add to your salad, from red, green and yellow bell peppers to onions to broccoli and celery to tomato; you can also add nuts or a little bit of low carb fruit like grapefruit or berries. Sunflower seeds can add some nice crunchiness without a lot of carbs and make a great replacement for croutons. If you simply have to go the crouton route, limit yourself to the equivalent of a half slice of bread. You can also sprinkle blue cheese crumbles on your salad for an interesting contrast to the sweetness of the vegetables.

Because you’re on a low carb diet eating plan, you can treat yourself to some fat when you choose a dressing for you salad. And one of the most delicious, and healthiest, dressings you can make is an olive oil and fruit–raspberry or strawberry are wonderful– vinaigrette mix. Olive oil is a fat that actually helps your cardiovascular system instead of clogging it, and you can feel good about eating it.

You salads will have to be your main source of carbohydrates for the duration of your low carb diet eating plan, so it’s essential that you take the time to make them taste good. You can even add cooked meat or fish to your salad base, and have a complete low carb diet eating treat. Here’s a recipe to get you started:

Spinach Raspberry Chicken Salad

1 tsp olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3/4 lbs.) cut into bite-size strips
1 cup thinly sliced onion
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach or organic baby spinach salad mix
1/4 cup bottled raspberry vinaigrette dressing
1 cup fresh or fresh frozen raspberries, partially thawed
1/4 cup feta or bleu cheese

To Prepare:

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet or wok; add chicken strips and onion and stir-fry over high heat 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

Season chicken to taste with salt and pepper.

Turn off heat. Add spinach and vinaigrette to skillet; toss well.

Divide mixture among plates. Sprinkle each salad with raspberries and feta cheese.