Low Carb Breakfast, Right Way To Start The Day?

Dec | Leave a Comment

If you’ve paid any attention to the latest diet trends, you surely know about the low-carb craze. How did this ever come about one may ask? It’s simply, really. Carbohydrates are one element of the human diet that provides our bodies with long-term energy. Naturally there is a downside to this wonderful energy source. If too many carbs or the “wrong carbs” are consumed, this can lead to weight-gain. Our bodies can only burn so many carbs at once. The ones that fail to get burned-off will naturally be stored as fat. Most folks dread this! The last thing we need is more fat on our bodies. This is where the low carb breakfast concept comes into play. If you begin your day with a low-carb meal, your body will have fewer carbohydrates to burn off before lunch-time hits.

In general, the standard low carb breakfast starts with eggs. Maybe you like them and maybe you don’t, but the truth is you’ll encounter plenty of low carb breakfast ideas that involve the incredible edible egg. I have a buddy who’s heavy into bodybuilding and he starts his day with six egg whites and one slice of whole wheat toast. This way he gets some healthy carbs to burn for energy and plenty of protein from the egg whites. Extracting the yoke is key. That is if you want to ditch the fat and cholesterol found in eggs. Eating only the egg whites allows you to get the good aspects, but minus the unhealthy side. You can’t beat that low carb breakfast idea. Also, omelets are a great way to get a healthy breakfast without a heavy dose of carbs. Try vegetable omelets for a wonderful array of protein and vitamins. Simply select a couple of your favorite veges, such as red peppers and onions, and dice them to compliment your healthy low carb breakfast.

Living in the age we do, you can certainly count on oodles of supplements. Regardless of where you shop, there are plenty of quick and easy breakfast bars at your disposal. Most of these are low in carbohydrates and high in protein. This way you’re able to feed your muscles and not your spare tire. So if you’re seeking a more convenient low carb breakfast alternative, this is perfect for you.

Low Carb Recipes

Dec | 2 Comments

I was surprised when I first found out how many low carb recipes that were. You see, I have been having a huge amount of trouble losing weight. I have tried cooking with low calorie recipes, but they never filled me up. I hated being hungry of the time. You see, I grew up without enough to eat all the time. As a result, I was pretty addicted to food. I munched whenever I felt uncomfortable. A low calorie diet just wasn’t going to work for me. That is why I started looking at a low carb diet recipe book.

If you are not familiar with low carbohydrate recipes, you probably should be. After all, believe it or not you cook them every day! A steak and onions? Perfectly reasonable low carb recipe. What about eggs and bacon? Just the same! There are low carb meals everywhere if you just look for them. Unfortunately, healthy low carb recipes are little more difficult. You see, eating steaks, eggs, and bacon every day isn’t exactly the best thing for your health. Fortunately, there are plenty of low carb recipes that are healthy for you.

My favorite low carb recipe is salad. It is easy to make a low carbohydrate salad. As a matter of fact, as long as you don’t add potatoes or other starchy vegetables to it, you are almost guaranteed that it is low in carbohydrates. You can add anything you want to it – meat, avocados, nuts, vegetables – and it will stay low in carbohydrates. Adding a little bit of fat on to your salad isn’t so bad for you as long as it isn’t combined with high carbohydrate food.

We even tried doing low carb recipes for the wedding. We had a wedding planner who was skilled in putting together alternative sorts of weddings. They could cater for vegetarian recipes, vegans, Kosher dining, and everything else. We talked about doing low carb recipes, but in the end we decided against it. After all, a wedding is such a special day. You only have it once – at least you hope you will only have it once – so there is no point in wasting that day eating healthy food. Bring on the steak and wedding cake! You can start dieting again after the honeymoon. In the mean time, it is better to just enjoy yourself. After all, you only live once.

Atkins Dieters Only – Do You Make These Common Mistakes?

Nov | Leave a Comment

The Atkins diet is one of the simplest weight loss plans to follow. Although the principles are clearly set out in the books, there are some common misconceptions that occur for dieters. These mistakes can make a big difference in the amount of weight you lose and effectiveness of the diet overall. If Atkins isn’t working for you, or you find yourself suddenly gaining weight after weeks of effective dieting, make sure you aren’t making any of these common mistakes.

First, make sure to be patient with your weight loss. If you lose 8 lbs per week on the Induction phase and then slow down once you enter ongoing weight loss phase, this is perfectly normal. The level of carbohydrate grams that are acceptable on the Induction portion of the diet are not meant to carry you through the rest of your dieting experience. Induction is meant to break you of carbohydrate cravings and detoxify your body from sugar. Starting with the ongoing weight loss phase, you will begin introducing small levels of carbohydrate grams each week. This may slow down weight loss a bit from the level it was at during Induction, but this is completely normal.

Also, people are different and react differently to the diet. Some people lose weight in spurts, and other lose weight more steadily. A plateau can last for a few weeks and then voila, you’ve lost five pounds in a matter of a few days.

Make sure you are avoiding caffeine in all of its forms as well as aspartame, a common artificial sweetener. Both of these chemicals can impact blood sugar levels negatively. Look out for caffeine in coffee and diet sodas. Watch out for aspartame in diet sodas and sugar-free gelatin. These can cause cravings for sugar and take your body out of ketosis after just one serving.

Watch your daily intake of cheese. Although cheese is on the acceptable foods list, it does have small amount of carbohydrates. Your best bet is to limit your cheese intake to 4 oz per day. You can have more on special occasions, but it should not be used as your mainstay for protein. Meats, eggs and tofu are much better choices and don’t contain carbohydrate grams.

Remember to emphasize vegetables during Induction and beyond. Your carbohydrate grams should be primarily derived from leafy, green vegetables and other acceptable vegetable choices. Vegetables fill you up without spiking your blood sugar. They provide essential fiber and nutrients that help your weight loss efforts and overall health. After induction, you should have 3-4 cups of salad and 1 cup of cooked vegetables each day. Make sure the vegetables you are using are on the acceptable foods list. Eliminating vegetables from your diet can shut down your metabolism and cause your weight loss to stall.

It is also very important that you eat regularly while you are on the Atkins plan. Never go more than five waking hours without eating a combined snack of protein and fats. Two things happen when you skip meals. First, you cause a blood sugar drop that will have you craving carbohydrates like bread and sugar. Secondly, continued periods of not eating will slow down your metabolism and make it even harder to lose weight.
Finally, make sure you are drinking enough water each day. Water has a myriad of benefits for every human being, not just those on the Atkins diet. Thirst can sometimes be masked as hunger, so staying well hydrated will keep you from craving foods you shouldn’t be eating. Water also helps you avoid constipation, which is an occasional side effect of the Atkins diet. Drinking 8 eight ounce glasses of water per day will also help you flush out the toxins from your system that are produced when you burn fat.

These common mistakes can make people frustrated with the Atkins diet when there is no need to be. If you are just starting out on the diet, make sure to prepare yourself for these mistakes. If you’ve been on the diet for some time, evaluate your eating habits and make sure you are following the program correctly.

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