'Carbaholics'

You're eating low-carb. You're feeling great, and the weight dropping off as if by magic. You're not hungry between meals! You have energy! You can concentrate better! Wheee! You think you'll have a piece of toast! It doesn't matter! You still feel great! You think you'll have some low-carb ice cream! Hey! You're still losing weight! A little sugar in your coffee can't hurt, can it? Maybe not, but...uh oh. Something has sent you over your own personal carb limit.  Suddenly, you’re having cravings, you're hungrier, you're gaining weight, and you're in a vicious cycle that's hard to break of eating carbs, being hungrier, and eating more carbs.

Sometimes it happens more subtly, but it's common to let more and more carbs creep in,  sometimes unawares. If that happens, it's time to take stock and probably start over, at least for a few days, to break that cycle.

Comments:  I've been here!  Before the Christmas holidays I started losing weight.  Then came all the goodies that everyone keeps around for the holidays.  As it says, I'm not hungry between meals and do have more energy.  But that small slice of cake looks so good.  How can I not just take one bite, which we all knows leads to another and another until the whole piece is gone.  Then later comes the craving for just a little more of those delicious carbs.  I go out to a restaurant for breakfast and tell myself I'll just cheat this one time and have a slice of that toasted rye bread that I love so much.  Yes it does come as 2 pieces so I decide I won't waste it.  I'll just eat the middle that has all the butter and leave the crust.  Yeah right!  This must be what it's like if you're an alcoholic.  You think you can take that little bite and be ok.  Not!  One bite leads to another while that leads to another at the next meal as well as the next and the next, and so on.  So yes, we have to look at ourselves as the alcoholic and realize that we are 'carbaholics' and must treat ourselves as such.  But we can do it.  I had to start over but am back to seeing the weight start to fall off again as well as my increase in energy.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2 Green Pepper

1 lb(s), lean ground beef

0.25 cups, Onion

1 tsp, minced garlic

1 cup spaghetti sauce, meatless

¼ cup, cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown the ground beef, onion and garlic.  Drain.  Stir in spaghetti sauce.  Slice the peppers in half, remove seeds and core.  Place in a baking dish.  Fill each with the ground beef mixture.  Bake 30 minutes.  Sprinkle evenly with cheese and bake another 5 minutes.  Serves 4.

Comments:  Most recipes call for boiling the peppers.  I didn't do that because I wanted the flavor to go into the meat mixture and not into the boiling water.  This recipe can be cut in half and made for 2 or you can do it like I did and freeze one or two for a later date.  I put mine in a tight sealing container and will be eating it within the next couple of weeks.  To cook I'll simply thaw and heat in the microwave or that and put in the toaster oven.  Both will work.

The cost of this dish for 4 ended up being - $4.50 for the ground beef, $1.75 for the 2 peppers, the cheese came from a package I had already opened costing me for 1/4 a cup about $.25 (I buy my cheese when it's on sale for $2.00 per pack), the sauce was left over from a dish I made a couple of days ago so I'll give it a cost of about $1.00, which is probably a high estimate.  Total cost is about $7.50 or about $1.90 each.  Can't beat that.  Add a small salad or even some slaw and you have a great meal.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 247
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8 g	13 %
Saturated Fat 2 g	10 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 65 mg	22 %
Sodium 717 mg	30 %
Potassium 303 mg	9 %
Total Carbohydrate 19 g	6 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g	18 %
Sugars 8 g
Protein 27 g	54 %
Vitamin A	23 %
Vitamin C	232 %
Calcium	4 %
Iron	12 %

Spinach Lasagna

1 lb, extra lean ground beef

2 Tbsp, Onion

1/8 tsp., Spices, garlic powder

1 cup Spaghetti, meatless, canned or jar

8 oz, cream cheese

1/8 tsp. pepper

10 oz. Frozen Spinach – thawed, chopped, drained

4.00 oz, Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

2 Tbsp, Cheese - Parmesan, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef with onion.  Drain off fat.  Mix in the garlic powder and spaghetti sauce.  Soften the cream cheese in a medium-size microwaveable bowl for about 40-60 seconds.  Stir until creamy.  Beat in the egg and pepper until well mixed.  Blend in the spinach.  Spread half of the meat mixture evenly in the bottom of a greased, 8 x 8 glass baking pan.  Spread the spinach mixture over the meat.  Top with the rest of the meat.  Sprinkle the mozzarella over the meat.  Bake about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Let stand 3-5 minutes before serving.  Serves 6

Comment:  This is a really good dish that has low carbs due to it having no noodles (which aren’t really needed).  I started to cut the recipe in half but that just wouldn’t be very practical, so I froze half for a later date.  Add a small salad and you have a great meal.  This is also an inexpensive meal with the main cost coming from the ground beef.  The spaghetti sauce I used was in a jar, so I used half refrigerating the rest for another dish.  The estimated cost of this was $4.00 for the ground beef, $2.00 for the full jar of spaghetti sauce, $1.00 for the frozen spinach, $2.00 for the cream cheese, the cheeses I always have on hand and buy on sale, so the cost of the cheese was $2.00 using only about ¼.  Total cost was just under $6.00 which equaled about $1.00 per serving.  Not bad for a delicious, healthy dish.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 325
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 13 g	20 %
Saturated Fat 5 g	23 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 54 mg	18 %
Sodium 232 mg	10 %
Potassium 98 mg	3 %
Total Carbohydrate 5 g	2 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	5 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 32 g	65 %
Vitamin A	15 %
Vitamin C	4 %
Calcium	20 %
Iron	9 %

Cheesburger Pie

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 1/2 cup shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese, divided

4 eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink; drain liquid. Stir in onion powder and 1 cup cheese. Place mixture in prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg substitute, mayonnaise, half-and-half, salt, and pepper; pour over beef mixture.

Bake 25 minutes, sprinkle remaining cheese on top, and cook another 5 to 10 minutes, or until firm in center. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  

Comments: This is also a fairly inexpensive dish to make.  Your biggest cost will be the ground beef.  If you don't have half and half, try evaporated milk (canned cream).  The eggs on top come out light and fluffy and oh so good.  I froze a serving of this dish and when thawed and heated in the microwave it came out not as good as fresh but still good enough for me to freeze it in the future.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 360
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 21 g	32 %
Saturated Fat 9 g	43 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 218 mg	73 %
Potassium 123 mg	4 %
Total Carbohydrate 3 g	1 %
Dietary Fiber 0 g	1 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 36 g	72 %
Vitamin A	10 %
Vitamin C	1 %
Calcium	27 %
Iron	17 %

Fiber

Eating enough vegetables and fruit goes a long way toward ensuring you are getting enough fiber in your diet, which can prevent gastrointestinal disturbances such as constipation and bloating that people often experience when cutting out high-carbohydrate, high-fiber foods (think grains and potatoes).

Familiarize yourself with high-fiber, low-carb foods  (most of them can be found in the produce aisle, so make sure you head there!), and the different types of fiber you need to be getting each day. Also, you may want to keep high-fiber flax and chia seed, as well as a low-carb bran cereal such as All Bran, on hand in case you get backed up.

Comment:  This is what I’ve found so far regarding high-fiber, low-carb foods.  The list will help determine what to eat and what not to eat.  Looks like I’ll be eating a lot of green veggies.  S

Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran & Whole Wheat Pita Bread

There are times that I simply have to have some kind of sandwich but don't want to mess up my day's carb intake by eating bread.  I've found my solution!  It's Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Peta Bread.

It has 60 calories for 1 whole pita.  The total carbs are 9 while the protein is 6.  I cut all of this in half by only eating 1/2 a pita which is plenty for me.

It contains Flax which is a great source of Omega-3.  It has has no cholesterol and even has 4g of fiber.  Oh yeah!  No sugars.

I've used this to make a chicken sandwich, a roast beef sandwich and will be using it to make my 'Rabbit Sandwich' which is made up of veggies and cheese.

As for taste.  It's delicious.  You actually feel like you're cheating by eating a sandwich.  You need to try this one.  I found mine in Walmart and it is a little pricey, but if you use it as I do and keep it refrigerated, you'll find yourself enjoying that sandwich without the guilt.

Panko Cod

5oz Cod Filet

1 tsp(s), Mayo

1/4 cup(s), Panko

Preheat toaster oven to 400 degrees.  Place a piece of foil in the bottom of the oven tray.  Rub the cod filet with Mayonnaise.  Press them into the panko.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until cod is done and lightly browned on top.

Comment:  This is a simple, yet delicious dish.  I sometimes make it with crushed vinegar and salt potato chips and sprinkle it with a little malt vinegar.  Also, if you have one that fits your toaster oven pan, place the cod on a raised rack allowing the juices to drip into the pan and the bottom to brown some.  You can also increase the portions and even cook it in the oven if needed.  The cost of this dish depends on how you buy your cod.  I normally buy a package of about 4-5 costing about $6.00.  The panko and mayo are items I always have on hand so this dish will cost around $1.25 per serving.  I serve this with a salad keeping my meal healthy.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 143
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4 g	7 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	2 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 50 mg	17 %
Sodium 106 mg	4 %
Potassium 0 mg	0 %
Total Carbohydrate 3 g	1 %
Dietary Fiber 0 g	1 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 21 g	41 %
Vitamin A	2 %
Vitamin C	2 %
Calcium	2 %
Iron	2 %

Inventory Yourself

In my reading I've found something that I think is really important to anyone starting a diet.

1 - List the reasons why you want to lose weight.  (Boy do I have a number of reasons!  - health and appearance are the basic reasons but they can be broken down to many sub-reasons.  Health - I'm tired of being tired.  I'm tired of being inactive.  Appearance - I'm tired of looking at myself in the mirror and not liking what I see.  I'm tired of looking at others that have a bit less fat than I do.  I'm tired of putting on clothes that simply won't button.  I'm tired of my smaller clothes being stored in the attic while my fat clothes are in the closet.  Those are just a few reasons I have for wanting to lose weight.

2.  Take your measurements and keep a record of what they were when you first decided to diet.  (I promise you!  Taking my measurements became one of my biggest pushes to go on a diet.  I'm looking forward to taking them every week or so to see how much they have changed.)

3.  List all healthful low-calorie foods you really like.  (Not such an easy task, especially if you're doing a low-carb diet.  I love my fruits and veggies, which most are high in carbs, but I also love chicken and fish which are higher in protein.  And of course I love rice and potatoes which are virtually out on the low-carb diet.)

4.  Record your eating patterns for a week.  (Boy was this an eyeopener.  Each day I wrote down everything I ate as well as my mood.  This amazed me but also educated me to the fact that a lot of my eating and what I ate seemed to be connected to my mood.  If I was upset I seemed to want nothing.  If I was bored I wanted sweets.  If I was tired I wanted quick foods.  Creating this list also helps you keep up with what you eat when you start your diet.)

5.  List your danger foods.  (I made a list of the foods that are completely off limits and posted it on the side of the refrigerator.  I put it there and not on the front because it felt more personal to me and was kind of out of site from others.  It wasn't that hard for me to always look at it before opening the refrigerator and was also there by the cabinets to keep me safe when opening them too.)

Psyching Up

I ran across this article about psyching yourself up before starting your diet and it made so much sense to me.  I think it helps me understand why I'm having such a hard time keeping my diet going.

1.  Once you've decided to start dieting, you won't want to wait too long to get started, but try to give yourself at least a week to get ready.  (I didn't do this!  I started the next day)

2.  Spend some time thinking about how you got overweight.  By understanding your problem, you'll be best able to determine an appropriate dieting plan.  (When I read this I had to stop and think about why I gained weight.  My main reason was because I quit smoking, which was a great thing to do but the habit of putting something into my mouth continued, just not with cigarettes.)

3.  Forget about miracles and realize that you'll be giving up instant gratification in foods that make you gain weight for long-term gratification in being thin, in having a new body and a new life.  (I fell for some of the miracles.  I even spent a small fortune on NutriSystem.  They worked as long as I ate their foods but when I tried to quit, so did my dieting.  I didn't learn anything about how dieting really worked.  I even tried some of the 'super duper pills' that are supposed to help curb your appetite.  They don't teach you anything either.  You have to LEARN how to eat and how to control your own life.)

4.  If you are to succeed, you'll need commitment to whatever diet you choose, confidence in yourself and patience to wait for results.  (Commitment is SO important.  But you have to do a little more than just commit.  You must make the diet fun.  Doing the same thing day-in-day-out will get boring and you'll end up finding yourself giving up.  Try different foods.  Try different recipes.  Teach yourself how and what to eat while enjoying it along the way.)

"Low-Carb" Packaged Foods

Be wary of low-carb ice cream, meal replacement bars, and other "treats" labeled low-carb or sugar-free. They often contain ingredients such as maltitol, which is just as bad as sugar in a lot of ways; it's a carbohydrate that affects blood sugar. In general, products that talk about their "net carbs" or "impact carbs" deserve close scrutiny of the ingredients and careful experimentation.

Comment:  I almost fell for one of these 'low net carb' snack bars.  I was in Walmart and they had several boxes of these delicious looking snack bars on sale.  I looked at the front and it said "3 net carbs".  That sounded perfect for my diet.  I picked up 3 boxes in different flavors and as I was about to put them into my basket I decided to look at the back.  It said 26 carbs!  I have no idea what 'net carbs' are but I do know what the carbs listed on the back of the package are.  Needless to say, I put them back on the shelf.

So, if you see a package that says low net carbs, read the back before buying.

Artichoke Chicken Casserole

8 oz. chicken breasts

1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup green onion tops, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

8 1/2 ounces artichoke hearts (drained)

1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup Italian cheese blend, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook chicken (any way you choose) cool and shred, should make about 2 cups.  Saute mushrooms and green onions in butter.  Sprinkle with garlic salt.  In a large bowl combine all ingredients.  Place mixture into a 2 quart casserole.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Comments:  This recipe is great in carbs but a bit high in protein so you'll want to really watch what you eat the rest of the day.  The calories aren't too bad, under 400.  But the taste is delicious and served as a lettuce wrap it is unbelievable!  1/6th of the dish will give you from 2-4 wraps depending on how full you fill them.  And believe me, you'll be full when finished. 

This dish ended up costing me about $7.00, counting the Romaine leaves, giving it a cost of about $1.25 each.  This dish will also make a great cracker spread but remember that the crackers will add carbs plus.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 386
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 18 g	28 %
Saturated Fat 7 g	36 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 137 mg	46 %
Sodium 433 mg	18 %
Potassium 373 mg	11 %
Total Carbohydrate 8 g	3 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	4 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 45 g	90 %
Vitamin A	10 %
Vitamin C	4 %
Calcium	5 %
Iron	12 %