Category Archives: Low Carb Menu Planning

I’ve evidently become a hoarder, a food hoarder that is.  When I look in my fridge, upright freezer and pantry I have waaay more food than one person should be allowed. I’m not sure why I let this happen, but here is what I’m going to do about it. I’m not going shopping for ANYTHING until I’ve eaten what I have on hand. If it’s not in my food stores then I’ll either not make it or substitute something else for it. I’ll be planning meals around only what I have. The ONLY thing I might allow myself to buy in the next 2 weeks is salad mix, but that’s only after I run out. So, here’s a brief list of what I have available to me this week and what I’m going to do with it.  It won’t be super Paleo, but it will be mostly low carb.

1. Bag of lemons
2. Olive Oil
3. Pork Chops (freezer)
4. Ground Beef (freezer)
5. Italian sausage links (freezer)
6. Mozzarella cheese
7. Swiss Cheese
8. Cheddar Cheese
9. Brie Cheese (man I’ve got a lot of cheese)
10. Almond Milk
11. SF chocolate syrup
12. Tea Bags
13. Mushrooms (fresh)
14. Salad Mix
15. Baby spinach
16. Zucchini
17. Marinara sauce
18. Trader Joe’s Mandarin Chicken (freezer)
19. Ribeye steak (freezer)
20. Dutch potatoes
21. Green beans (freezer)
22. Chicken thighs (freezer)
23. Chicken and Beef Broth
24. Heavy Cream
25. Coconut Milk
26. 1.6 dozen eggs
27. Uncured Bacon
28. 2 small shallots
29. Cherries
30. Greek yogurt
31. Homemade Beef Jerky
32. Shirataki Noodles
33. Various spices, vinegars and condiments

That is a lot of food. I could feed a small country off of what I have stored up. You’d think I was a squirrel or something. Sheesh. Here is what I’m going to make:

Sunday (today):
Breakfast  and Lunch – Intermittent Fasting
Dinner – Steak w/ grilled zucchini and green salad with Lemon vinaigrette, Brie and Mushroom soup

Monday:
Breakfast:  Omelet with Cheddar cheese and bacon
Dinner:  Meatballs in Marinara, Green salad w/ lemon vinaigrette

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs
Dinner: Pork Chop, Green Beans and Roasted Zucchini

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Omelet with Cheddar cheese and bacon
Dinner: Spicy Shrimp Salad, Green beans and Mushrooms

Thursday:
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs
Dinner: Curry Pork over Shirataki Noodles, Green Salad w/ lemon vinaigrette

Friday:
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs
Dinner: Coconut Shrimp and green salad

Saturday:
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs
Dinner: Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps

For snacks or dessert:
Beef Jerky or Greek Yogurt with 4-5 Cherries chopped up. I’ll be drinking water exclusively this week.

You may have noticed that I’m only planning for 2 meals. I am following the IF Life’s 2 meal a day challenge.  I intermittently fast pretty regularly, and I’ll be opening a feeding window around Noon for breakfast and closing it around 530pm each day. I will also get up an half an hour early to exercise. This week I’m going to do a combo using Chalean Extreme dvds, interval training and I may throw in a day of Tabata sprints on my bike. We’ll see how it goes.

in·duc·tion

[in-duhk-shuhn]

–noun

1. the act of inducting; introduction; initiation.

The act of initiation… again. It’s no secret that Induction is my least favorite part of low carb eating. It is the strictest period of time and the only way to get through it, for me,  is to really eat things  I like that are allowed. Even if I eat the same thing every day for a week. So, with that said, here are my menus for the first week of induction.

Breakfast:

Cheescake Muffin and 3 slices of Natural Bacon

Or

2 Eggs fried in butter and 3 slices of Natural Bacon

Lunch:

Super Salad

2.5 cups of veggies mixed together

Lettuce

Cucumbers

Grape Tomatoes

Sliced Mushrooms

Slices of Pepper

6 – 8 oz of Chicken – Baked or Stir-fried

2 tbsp Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing

Supper:

6 – 8 oz of Chicken, Beef or Pork – grilled or baked

½ cup of vegetables

Dessert:

Sugar free Jell-O w/ 1 tbsp whipped cream

It’s pretty staunch, but the motivation to get back on track is there so I know I can stick with it. Now I’ve just got to go shopping to be prepared for it.

It’s been a hell of a couple of weeks around my house. I’m afraid I lost my 14 year old Maltese Gracie and it’s really sent me into an emotional tailspin. I’ve never thought of myself as an emotional eater but Holy Cupcakes Batman have I become one. I know what it is – all those carbs that I’ve consumed here and there and there and here have caused a badly needed and wanted serotonin surge during my time of sadness. It’s also caused my blood sugar to be between 140- 180 in the mornings. Not good for anyone, especially a diabetic like myself. So I’m taking a stand and pushing away from the table. No more sugarliscious goodies for me Mom! This sugar addict is going into carbohydrate rehab….I stand by my conviction that sugar and heroin are sisters people…don’t let anybody tell you any different.

So what’s carbohydrate rehab look like? There will be 3 days of detox, where I will probably feel like crap but once I’ve sweated it out and overcome the physical cravings I will have more energy than a kid in desperate need of Ritalin.

Here’s the plan:

20 grams or less of carbohydrates a day. True Atkins induction which means I can eat any from the following low carb food list :

Eat Liberally*:

I will be loading up on fiber and nutrients by eating up to three cups of vegetables a day.

The following salad veggies are allowed and encouraged:

As are these veggies:

I can also have plenty of herbs for seasoning my foods. Lucky for me I’ve got some of these growing in my garden. I would recommend watching seasoning blends because a lot of times they have added sugar.

I’ll be cooking with butter, olive oil and organic coconut oil for flavor when I sauté or stir fry. Mmmmmm butter. I avoid most other oils because of the way they’re processed but they’re ok if you can find cold-pressed, such as cold pressed canola or safflower oils.
Other things I can have include:

• Broth – check labels here for added sugar and go for low sodium
• Water – at least 64 oz a day minimum. I’ll try to drink a gallon a day.
• Decaffeinated teas – Whether Black Tea or Herbal both make great iced teas for the heat.
• Decaffeinated coffee – I won’t be drinking much of this but you can if you’re following a long with me.
• Heavy cream – limited to only 3 tablespoons a day
• Club soda
• Diet soda – I actually try to avoid diet soda because it intensifies cravings for me, but if it keeps you from drinking the real thing go for it. Just try to find those that are sweetened with sucralose (Splenda).

Three  more things…

First, I’ll be exercising. I’ve got to get my serotonin from somewhere, right? I just got a new set of exercise DVDs called Turbofire which is based on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) principles. So, I’ll probably add a protein shake in there too for recovery because I’ve done a couple of these workouts and they kicked my ass. I look forward to more ass-kicking this week.

Second, I’ll be writing down everything and I do mean everything I eat this week in an Online Food Diary . This is just as crucial to me as the diet and exercise. If I don’t write it down it’s too easy to slip up.

Third,  I’ll keep a cheat sheet with me at all times with my food list items on it. This way there is NO doubt about whether I can have it or not.  If its not on the list, I’m not eating it for the next 2 weeks.

So, I’m checkin’ into carbohydrate rehab now people… I’ll see you on the other side.

Numbers, numbers, numbers, my life is ruled by numbers.  I count the grams of carbohydrates and protein I consume. I count the number of calories I intake. I watch the number on the scale. I keep track of the measurements of my waist, hips, breasts, arms and thighs. I count the minutes that I exercise each day. I take my blood sugar every morning because I’m diabetic and I worry if my blood glucose level is above a certain number. Likewise for my blood pressure, which I take weekly. For someone with a degree in English Literature, I sure seem to do a lot with numbers these days.

So why do I worry about the numbers so much? Because if I didn’t keep up with them, getting off track would be easy AND inevitable. Is it tedious to keep up with all these numbers? Sometimes it is, especially on weekends, when my schedule is not dictated as much by the clock. Does it behoove me to keep up with the numbers despite the tedium? You bet it does.

Americans spend $35 billion dollars a year on weight loss products. Pills, shakes, exercise equipment and more. That is equal to the gross domestic product of countries like Costa Rica and Nigeria. All those dollars – numbers – to lose weight, focusing on being thin, not necessarily healthy; and what would those people who spend that money (including me) benefit from most? Writing down the numbers. People who track what and how much they eat, how much water they drink and how often they exercise are twice as successful than those that don’t. Whatchoo talkin’ ‘bout Willis? Well, Arnold, since you asked so nicely… Those folks who keep a food diary and exercise log,  statistically lose twice as much weight in the same amount of time as those who don’t. And, those same people not only take it off but KEEP it off.

Keeping up with the numbers can be very simple. One easy and free way to do this is to keep a spreadsheet of calories, exercise time, and body measurements. If you don’t have access to a spreadsheet program or prefer connecting pen to paper amazon.com sells several really great food diaries. Of course using this method, you will also need a book, like The Ultimate Calorie Counter or The Doctor’s Pocket Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter.

My favorite method is using an online food diary program. There are several out there that are really great and even free. You can sign up for free accounts at websites like fitday.com or thedailyplate.com. Both of these are excellent resources if you don’t want to spend the money or don’t have the funds.

I actually pay a monthly fee for myfooddiary.com’s services. The features on this site make it totally worth the price for me because when it comes down to it, I’m too lazy to look stuff up in a book and I really hate doing the math. So, what did I look for when choosing a program? I wanted a really extensive food database as well as a way to enter foods manually AND most importantly, since I love to cook, I wanted some way to get the nutritional data per serving for my recipes. Myfooddiary.com has all of these features and many more, such as keeping up with the amount and type of exercise that I do daily, and tracking my measurements in their handy dandy body log. There are also reports and colorful charts and graphs if you’re into that sort of thing. The only thing it doesn’t do, that I wish it did was create a shopping list for me, because I would totally use it to plan my meals every week.

Getting into the habit of using some sort of food diary is like any new habit. You have to make the decision to use it and dedicate yourself to following through. I want to be healthy – not just thin. I want to stop lining the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies and be medication-free and I want to accomplish some other more physical goals. These are pretty strong motivators for me to change my life. So taking the time to use a tool to help meet those goals makes sense to me. In the meantime, I’ll just keep plugging in the numbers and looking at my pretty trend line chart of my weight going down, down, down.