Low Carb Ain't Always Low Carb #lowcarb

When I was first learning about low carb eating, before I even started (I researched for 2 years before taking the plunge) I remember getting cook books from the library to see what I would be eating, were I to actually try that WOE, and I remember thinking, "This might not be so bad. I can still have sugar and flour..." Say WHAT???

Yeah. There are a lot of recipes out there that label themselves low carb, and in the broadest sense of the word I suppose they could be considered thus. After all, 8g/serving isn't much, right? And in my naivete I believed that all there was to low carb eating is counting carbs. Of course, as most of us do, I later learned that, just as all calories aren't created equal, neither are carbs.

So to this day, I really resent when a low carb claim is made for foods that are misleading to those who know that the whole point is insulin response, and it doesn't take many grams of some types of carbs to have an impact.

So even after 6 years following low carb eating, it's a sore point with me when I pick up a low carb cookbook at a thrift store for 59¢ because it seems to have some rather interesting recipes in it, and read, "1/2c all-purpose flour...3/4c sugar..." or tune into a YouTube "low carb" recipe video and see a woman and her little girl dumping sugar into a bowl.

In its purest sense, eating low carb is about good health. It isn't about seeing how many insulin-spiking foods you can get away with in a recipe, if you just make the serving size small enough. And we know that sugars and starches are unhealthy. So why...???

So the little cookbook is in the trash, and certain YouTube producers are on my mental "ignore that one!" list. And life goes on...with one more rant out of the way :).

What I 8 Friday (4/2/10) #lowcarb

I munched on some bacon in the morning, and had a grilled burger and a grilled hot dog in the afternoon. For an evening snack I had a couple more grilled hot dogs, with just a little SF ketchup.

I'm not a fan of hot dogs, usually. But put them on the grill and let 'em go until they are crispy and starting to get black and I'm a sucker for 'em. Grilling season in our house means the Koegel franks in the skins - oh yeah, baby! (Yes, there is a gram of sugar in each one, and I'm not thrilled about the sodium nitrate either...it's a choice we each make for ourselves.)

Today will be steaks on the grill early in the day, and something light later. I'm about to go have some of the heavy-cream-yogurt I made a few days ago. Very thick, thicker than pudding, and oh-so-decadent tasting!

Eating mostly fats and proteins I don't get hungry very often, and definitely don't get that gnawing "gotta eat NOW!" feeling.

What I 8 Today (4/1/10) #lowcarb

coffee with heavy cream, bacon in the morning

grilled chicken and a couple bites of buttered corn in the afternoon

fried hamburger with mayo in the evening

Easily less than $5 for the day but it's late and I don't feel like doing the math :).

What I've Been Eating...not much! #lowcarb

First, I've been sick. I went one day eating nothing at all (couldn't drink much either), and another day I didn't eat much. Then yesterday I ate some leftover steak and some leftover pork tenderloin. And some popcorn, heavily buttered as always, for an evening snack.

Today I had eggs fried in butter for breakfast, and ate an early supper at Taco Bell...love their chalupas, even though I don't know how many carbs are in them. Had one of those and a double decker taco. They were worth it - the last time I had them were probably about 6 months ago - hardly a habit, and good.

For tomorrow I have chicken thawing.

We're also cutting back on vegetables and concentrate more on fats (mostly) and protein. The reason for this is that my gut issues seem to be more hair-trigger, and I'm having a hard time controlling the bloat; we're not talking about just little bloat, but can't-wear-any-of-my-clothes-because-my-belly-is-so-massive, terribly painful bloat. (Yeah, I know, Taco Bell isn't the greatest for that problem; I'm paying the price tonight!) So we're cutting back to basics, for a few days, in addition to my enzymes, to get this under control again, then I will start adding foods back in. But cabbage won't be on the list for a while yet :).