Are You on a Low-carb Diet? What Do You Eat?

Get the Atkins cookbook - there are a ton of ideas. My ex was Type 2 diabetes (also similar to what you said about emotional eating) and I found the Atkins diet to be tailor made for him. I also found the variety outstanding - we never got sick of eating the same thing.... because we didn't.

I did find he had better success when he didn't 'cheat' by using those new fandangled these-carbs-don't-really-count carbs.... like in tortillas or chips that have upped the amount of fiber or sugar alcohol so it "reduces" carbs. Those, to me, defeat the purpose.

One of the good things is that you don't have to have breakfast for breakfast. Lots of time he would eat leftovers from the night before.... however, he would eat alot of rollups - without a bread..... just sliced ham or turkey (thicker - not shaved) rolled around a slice of cheese. I also made him egg or chicken salad (no sugar - just chicken, mayo, garlic, parm cheese, celery, onion) and he would eat that just with a spoon out of a bowl.

One of things I did was do index cards - 90 of them (that's 3 meals a day for 30 days). Some of our faves duplicated, but you would just pull a card for each meal.

Some of my faves:

*egg salad - you can also eat this out of a tomato or green pepper as well as just out of the bowl. I also would sometimes hollow out a cucumber if I wanted to be cute.
*deviled eggs. Remember though you are only doing mayo, mustard and the yolk. No sugar.
*scramble eggs with any sort of ingredient that has no carbs. I kept baggies in the freezer of sausage, onion, garlic, ham, pepperoni, chicken, green pepper, tomato, shrooms, cheese. Then you can scramble quick (or you can do omelets on Sunday and freeze 5 of them and you have b'fast for a week)!

*meat roll ups - I baked a spiral sliced ham each month (no glaze) and then cubed some and left some sliced to wrap around cheese. You can also do the same thing with a baked turkey breast.

Chili- no beans. I did hamburger, red gold brand tomatoes are lowest in carbs and I used them sparingly, chili powder, onion, garlic, cheese and sour cream. I still eat this now and I'm not on the Diet.
You can also do chicken chili.

You can have chef salad with sliced egg, ham, turkey, cheese and then blue cheese dressing. Or any cesear salad and add chicken.

I cooked pot roast every couple of weeks. With celery, cauliflower, onion. Then I would make stew/soup for the next night.

Also you can eat meat - any meat. We did pork chops, steak, grilled chicken. Pick a veggie - broccoli with butter and parm cheese, green beans with slivered almonds, sauteed asparagus.

cucumbers are a great substitute for 'chips'. you can also get carrots sliced to look like chips. You can then dip them in ranch dressing for a snack - I made the dip myself with sour cream and the hidden valley ranch packet.

FYI - my husband lost 75 pounds in about 10 months. Now, he's a guy. I only lost about 40 :-( But that was with very little change in habits.

You have to drink LOTS of water. Or you kidneys can't process the extra protein.

Hope that gets you started - good luck!

I'm afraid a low carb diet won't work if you can't gain any self control over portion size. Eating and weight gain/loss really does boil down to a balance of calories taken in and calories you burn off, period.
I have cut WAY back on carbs over the years, and also the overall amount of food I eat. I work out moderately (an average of three to four times a week for about an hour, either a vigorous walk or an exercise class) and even so I am still twenty pounds heavier at 43 than I was at 23, argh!
Still, if I hadn't changed the eating habits of my youth I would be MUCH heavier, I'm sure. I try to eat lots of whole grains (brown rice and oatmeal) and lean proteins (beans, lean beef, chicken and pork) plus veggies of course! If you like to cook it's easy to keep the food from getting boring, just use lots of garlic, chilies, ginger and other herbs and seasonings that add flavor without adding calories and fat.
I do NOT make special meals for myself, my family either eats what I am making or they can fend for themselves, lol! Luckily my husband has a desire to be healthy so that helps.
Also, I do NOT keep junk food in the house, especially things I am likely to binge on, like donuts, ice cream or potato chips. And if I'm going to eat fast food I order a kid's meal, I still get my "fix" but at a much smaller size, and price.
Good luck, changing your diet is a lifestyle change and a process that takes time, but once you start to lose some weight you will feel better and be even more motivated. It does get easier:)

I agree with Wickerpark girl on getting the Atkins book. Also, the South Beach Diet is basically a low carb diet, but it has a healthier reputation I think because the fat isn't unlimited. Anyway, they have a 2 week starter meal plan with recipies at the end which is good and gives you some ideas. I also agree with the poster who said to avoid the fake low-carb foods, they are just filled with chemicals. That being said, I'm a fan of the Atkins brand "milk chocolate delight" flavor of protein shakes which have 15g of protein/2 net carbs/160 calories and I have one for breakfast almost every day when I'm in a hurry. I think you might need to do some reading and self-evaluating to decide if you want to do a true extreme low carb diet or if you are looking for a lower carb, but not carb free, life style. If you are looking for an Atkins-style extreme change, be prepared. The first week is really hard because after about 48 hours with no carbohydrates you will probably get a horrible headache for a day or so. However, if you stick with it, going carb-free is a fantastic way to reduce/eliminate food cravings and stabilize your blood sugar (I'm sure you know this already but this is not appropriate for pregnancy as the ketones are harmful to the baby.) Another word of caution -- if you decide that you want to pursue an Atkins-style diet for the weightloss, don't quit the plan. Every time you quit, it makes it harder for your body to get back into the fat burning state, and the headache can last a little longer. I eat a lot of eggs, especially crustless quiches and frittatas that I can make ahead and grab when I'm hungry. The summer vegetable frittata from the williams sonoma catalogue is delicious. Good luck!

You say you are an emotional eater... so as I see it.. NO program will work until you examine those emotions.. food , whether carbs or protein.. etc etc.. will always be there as will those emotions.. get to the bottom of why you over eat at times and you the rest will follow suit..
I too am an emotional eater at times and what I discovered is... it's not always emotions that drives me to eat, it's ANXIETY... how do I curb my anxiety. I EXERCISE... and one, that relieves my anxiety, two.. I am not as hungry and three, I sleep better... which those three together, make for better eating habits in my case..
for now, if you can't handle not eating carbs.. then get into a cardio exercise routine.. that is a good first step.. I have found that if I tackle my food cravings on a physical level with exercise, then the emotional is much easier..
give it a try and see how it works for you..
my best to you and yours..

p.s. the dr oz website has a lot of emotional eating and good nutrition.. check em out..

Due to issues with PCOS, I've been trying to stick to a low-carb diet as well. I've found some good dinner recipes on www.eatingwell.com. (The Maple-Chili Glazed Pork Medallions are my favorite so far!) As for breakfast, sometimes I'll have an egg or two & mix in some leftover veggies from dinner the night before. Sometimes I'll make some toast - I've learned the best low carb, highly nutritious bread is "Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain" bread, found in the natural/organic section of the Jewel freezer. It's expensive (almost $5 a loaf) but doesn't taste bad. For lunch I'll have a fairly low carb soup, like Campbell's Select Southwest Vegetable, for example. Or a piece of the bread toasted with some turkey & cheese on top. I also will sometimes have greek yogurt with granola & blueberries mixed in. I like the Bear Naked Fit vanilla almond granola, it only has 4g sugar in a 1/4 cup. For snacks I eat a lot of low-fat string cheese, handfuls of almonds, apples with peanut butter, baby carrots with low-fat ranch dressing, the little Cuties oranges & Fiber One cottage cheese. The holidays have been tough with all of the cookies, candy, pizza delivery & Chinese takeout dinners but I've been managing okay. It helps to have lots of small meals & snacks throughout the day, rather than several bigger meals. Hope that helps - I know you specifically asked for some food ideas, so wanted to try to help you out there. Good luck to you!

I recently read an article in Life Extensions that new studies have determined that adding good oils to your diet like omega 3's, fish oil, etc will help control diabetes. It will even eliminate the problem for borderline cases. My mother is borderline son I'm giving her the issue.

Try having a protein shake with flax oil for breakfast every day. 3 Tablespoons a dY of omega 3 oil will actually help burn fat. I've been doing this for 12 years and have stayed pretty thin at 50 without working out.

Mamazita is right. If you're an emotional/binge eater and cannot control portion size, the calories you're giving up with carbs is just going to be replaced by protein- and fat-based foods. Foods that are inherently lower in carbs (cheese, meats, nuts) can do a better job helping you feel fuller and for a longer period of time, but they are also higher in calories, so if you eat half a can of nuts you'll have eaten way more calories than having what you'd normally eat.

Weight Watchers is great because you learn that you really do need to change the way that you eat. If you want to continue eating your regular diet, you have to make a lot of trade-offs. It's not for everyone, though, because it requires planning, probably measuring food and reading labels, especially at the beginning, to really succeed.

Try keeping a food journal and writing down what you eat as soon as you eat it. Sometimes the act of recording what you eat can be a deterrent to overeating later when you can see just how much you've eaten. I'd also recommend weighing/measuring in the beginning because people have a tendency to underestimate how much they eat.

The key is finding something that you can stick with forever so that it's a way of life for you and not a diet. As long as you consider something to be temporary, you're just going to gain back the weight. Remember the bigger picture to is prevent type 2 diabetes. Good luck to you!!!

I'm in the same boat! Had gestational diabetes with all pregnancies, diagnosed with type 2 after my third. Went on a diet, just counting calories on sparkpeople.com and working out at least 4 times a week, hoping the diabetes would go away. Lost 40 lbs, still had about 60 more to loose, but got pregnant again by accident. they put me on insulin right away and my sugars were well controlled all through the pregnancy. My 4th baby is 4 months now. I'm back to dieting and working out, hoping to lose the weight and hoping the diabetes will go away. I've been back at it for about 10 weeks and lost 15 lbs. this time Im trying the Sout Beach diet and it seems to work for me.

Im the same way, I dont like to restrict my portions, if I try to eat controlled portions or tell myself I can't eat something I find that I get more hungry and want to eat and eat and eat.
The nice thing with South Beach is that you can eat as much as you want, as long as its allowed food. Lots of veggies, salads, low fat protein..

I also get videos from the library and do them at home about 4 times a week. I kind of accepted that this is my lifestyle now and if I want to get rid of the diabetes, get healthy and lose weight I have to keep going, even if I fail one day and eat too much carbs or sweets, I go right back to it the next day and keep going....
That used to be the hardest part for me, if I failed one day, the next day I would say "oh, I already fell off the horse yesterday, I'll just go back tomorrow and then tomorrow I would say tomorrow etc"
Now I just set my mind on weight loss, health and the fact that it will take time.. and for some reason the mind set is working, if I overeat one day, just go back to regular eating the next day and I'm ok...
As far as the sugar cravings, you can add some dark chocolate for dessert after the initial 2 weeks on SBD and for me I've been drinking diet coke to curb my sugar cravings. I know, diet coke isn't good, but it helps me with the cravings and it keeps me going....
My husband keeps telling me how bad the coke is, but I just can't quit everything. I used to smoke, drink wine, eat sugar and bread I LOVE bread, but quit all those things, so at least I have my diet coke!
Good luck!