my new low carb journey ( ha ha )

 Well I'm  TRYING   ya gotta give me a LITTLE credit ....  I ate fresh salad  and ( it turned out )  meatloaf burgers with fat free  cheese  for dinner which were great high protein choices (  and no wine either !  )  

I wasn't hungry ....

Ok around  12 Am  .. i started getting hungry  for ... what else ..  CARBS ...

specifically whole grains  exactly like i used to eat at the beginning of my WL journey  ...  

 the little all  bran pillows 

organic  no sugar raisin bran 

i figured  if I was willing to eat ( swill especially the stale  tasteless raisinless raisin bran ) that  well ... it was ok   in moderation ...  so I had some of those  probably too many  ...

am I ever going to have a chance to defeat the "carb monster "  honestly ?  I mean ... I LOVE carbs ...  I love eating .. I love  baking ...

and i really mistrust DIETING  i think it makes people  FAT  ...  

I'm more or less Ok with my weight and size   where it is  thank God  with exercise  factored in ... shouldn't I be just trying to get the empty fat cells sucked away with liposuction  and concentrating on eating fresh  and getting in the water ?  

I love baked goods too, they have always been my weakness.  Cakes and pastries were my love affair for years.  

There are a zillion recipes out on the net though for carbless cakes, cookies etc.. (using coconut, flax, almond flours) that you can modify to make sugar free if they aren't already.  

Lately I've been making flax and almond flour (with added protein powder) 2 minute cakes in the microwave that kick ass!  I add mashed banana to them and turn them into banana bread, today I'm going to add pumpkin puree and see how that goes.

I make my own flax "bread" with just flax meal, egg white replacer and a little olive oil.  Nuke for a minute, let dry out on a rack for a few minutes and toast.  It's high in fiber and 0 net carbs!  :0)

Wow, I want receipes.

This is the flax "bread" I make, it's great toasted and I use it to make a fried egg sandwich.  It is NOT low calorie though but it's full of fiber and omega 3.

http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/yg-1-minute-flax-meal-muff in-naturegg-white-savoury/

This is the muffin I've been making, you can add whatever flavouring or fruit that you want to it or try it plain.  Again, this is not low calorie but half a muffin is more than enough for a serving for me.  The stats on livestrong are for 1 entire muffin.

I've been adding half a small mashed banana and a little banana extract and 1 tablespoon of Torani SF Peanut Butter syrup to them lately.  I eat them with peanut butter on top!  So yummy!

http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/yg-1-minute-flax-almond-meal-muffin-naturegg-white-protein-powder-spices-add-separately/

Thanks for the reminder about these things.  It's been years since I made one.

I used 1 whole egg instead of the egg whites and no banana or extract.  Just the basic recipe.  I topped it with a little cream cheese and found it very filling.  I think I have some almond flour that I may try next time.

Great reminder that there are yummy things to make.  I've been keeping everything very simple and not preparing things so this is a nice treat.

I really like it with the almond flour, I find it gives it a nicer texture and adding the protein powder makes it denser and more filling.  I used egg white replacer to try and cut down the calories a bit.

My mom made a chocolate one that she said turned out awesome!  I may just have to try a chocolate banana one tonight.  :0)

I'll give the almond a try!  :)

 wow Yasmeen ,thanks .  I sure can't argue with Ur  amazing results .   U know I am TERRIFIED  to let go of  the fat free thing and eat fat  ! 

I think its because  when i  had the congenital hiatal hernia I would always have a rebound effect a few hours later where I would be craving MORE fat  ...

even now  thats why i largely stay away from real cheese  and nuts because when i let my guard down i catch myself repeatedly nibbling on BOTH  every few hours for quite a few days ...  and my weight goes up and stays up ( grrr ) 

somehow my body largely  forgives  my iniquities  with  the  carbs  and the grazing as long as its  strictly fat free  it seems ... and then when i run im back to a normal and attractive  weight  ... but if i try to do the same thing with fat .... I don't know  ... 

I guess I could try  it    wish they had a little guy  walking a plank  ..... the  closest I can get to the FEELING is THIS   LOL !!!   This  sure is a long strange (  but interesting )  journey !  

 

I can understand your fear of fat, my fear is refined carbs.  I don't eat potato's, rice, white bread, pasta etc... 

I try to eat very low fat/no fat as well.  Even with my baking I substitute applesauce whenever possible for butter or olive oil and if not possible drastically reduce the amount of butter.

I have never liked fatty food even when I was fat, if I could see the butter on my toast it would have to go back into the toaster to be melted.  LOL  

And I NEVER did double fat, if I had cheese on a sandwich I would never add mayo or butter to it. 

As far as complex carbs go, I don't worry about them at all.  Initially I stayed away from fruit to try and maximize my weight loss because I realized that eating an apple a day at 4-5 months out was slowing my loss down.  Now that I'm at goal I eat as much fruit as I want as long as it's within my calorie limits for the day.  

Ava, it's all about choices, as my WW leader always says.  He keeps saying that we have an intention in mind and then we act on it.  If you really want to tame that carb monster, you can.  But you have to really want to.  It's like quitting alcohol or smoking or whatever.  You have to really want it.  I wanted to quit smoking for 22 years but until the day (summer solstice 2000) that I REALLY wanted to, I couldn't.  Haven't had a smoke since that day I made the decision.

I stayed the same weight from Thanksgiving to New Years Day.  Up and down the same two pounds.  I clearly wanted carbs more than I wanted weight loss.  That's ok, but I had to understand that I was eating to my intention which was to enjoy the holidays with small treats here and there.  Of course my back injury and lack of understanding added to the problem but I knew that and didn't adjust my food and calories down to account for the lack of 120 minutes of daily exercise.  The 30-60 minutes of walking is more maintenance mode for me.

On January 10th I decided that getting to goal was more important than that party in my mouth.  Even those added 20 carbs a day were undermining me.  I had to just be willing to undergo the uncomfortable feeling of having those carb cravings.  I went into Atkins Induction of under 20 total carbs until the cravings passed me by, and they did.  It's amazing how quickly the carb monster backs off and goes to find a new victim to prey on. 

I've changed from low fat cheese etc to full fat dairy, except I don't use milk, just 40 calorie Almond Breeze.  I use butter and olive oil when I want to without thinking about the calories.  Eating low carb my calories are down because my hunger is down.  Eating three times a day got much easier without carbs to coax me on.

My weight is coming down.  I'm able to exercise more now that my back is finally healing.  I'm eating a little more carbs in the form of green veggies and occasional 1/4-1/2 cup of berries.   Would I rather be eating carbs?  No really as I hate the cravings, and subsequent bad feelings about me that I get from caving in.  I finally have confidence that I'm going to get that little golden apple that I've had my eye on for over a year now. 

My personal trick is to keep hardboiled eggs in the fridge.  Both here an at work.  If I'm wanting to eat and it's not meal time, I ask myself if I want an egg.  If it's head hunger, I generally don't want it.  If I'm really stomach hungry, I'm happy to eat that egg!

I love carbs too.  I love eating baked good too.  I love feeling good in my body -  more.