First, I learned that eating Keto is not sustainable for the long-term or with a large family. Eating Keto requires food from scratch all the time. Who has that kind of time? Not me! So, learn to be good at moderation. Most people spout the maxim, "Moderation in everything," but are not actually good at moderation. You know what I learned from doing Keto and then going off Keto? That I am great at self-denial, but not so good at moderation. It made me ask what was wrong with me that I cannot be good at the 80/20 rule of eating 80% health, 20% fun. So, this time around, we are looking at 15g carbs at breakfast and for each of three snacks, 30 g carbs at lunch and at dinner, just like when I was eating for gestational diabetes. We are trying for less carbs than that at each meal (we would love to be at max 50g most days of the week), but we are happy with those numbers.
Do your own research to find out what is best for you as far as calories and macronutrients go. Even though I believe that not all calories are created equal, I do know that if you do not get enough calories, your body will go into starvation mode. I choose to get most of my calories from fat and protein, not carbs because I believe the research that shows the link between diabetes and cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I am re-learning how to eat. For a third time. Hopefully this will be the time we get it right!
Second, I learned that Candida feeds on glucose in our intestines, but when we have leaky gut, and candida is in our blood stream, that candida can feed on ketones in our bloodstream. I almost cried when I found this out-I thought that with four months of no sugar/carbs, that I was starving the candida in my body. It turns out that I was feeding it with a less efficient fuel. No wonder I still craved carbs-the yeast wanted glucose, not ketones, for fuel. I now take a probiotic to work on my leaky gut. I am done with sugar cravings! It is amazing to feel like I used to when food had no hold over me.
Third, I am off all soda. On Keto, I would drink diet soda or fresca because I craved my Coca Cola and because the soda would fill me up quickly when I didn't have time to make myself a meal or because I needed something sweet or I was tired of nuts and cheese for snack. I learned that soda, even diet, fills our stomachs up and prepares them to receive greater volume. This wreaks havoc on following hunger cues. After going off Keto, I thought I would enjoy a Coke every now and then. Wrong. Within days, I was back to 3 Cokes/day. So, now I drink only water, or carbonated water.
Here we go:
Breakfasts: 2 egg omelet (or scrambled) with 2 pieces of bacon and 2 ounces of cheese, same omelet but substitute with breakfast sausage,Maria's low carb shake, 4 pieces of bacon. Basically, you eat eggs every day. I just started adding pico de gallo into my eggs and love this! I like to use low-carb wheat tortillas to make a breakfast taco.
Snacks: Detour less-sugar protein bar, cheese cubes, 2 T natural peanut butter & celery, celery sticks with laughing cow cheese wedge, 1 serving cashews or almonds. The pb has 4 g carbs and the nuts have carbs, so don't eat them in the same day. 1 serving of plantain chips or most healthy tortilla chip I can find and guacamole. It's my goal to eat more cucumbers with ranch for a snack. You have 15 g carbs-look at snack crackers or other foods you like and see what you can get for 15 g net carbs.
Lunches: salad with any kind of meat, bun-less bacon cheeseburger without ketchup or mayo, leftover meat and vegetables, or lunch-meat and cheese roll-ups. I eat a lot of taco meat and chili over lettuce for lunch. Sandwich meat and cheese on low-carb tortillas, sandwiches on a lettuce wrap.
Dinners: meat (grilled, roasted, bbq [without sauce], baked, pan fried) served with 3 vegetables. Choose from sauteed vegetables, including shredded brussel sprouts, spinach, cabbage, or broccoli. Steamed green beans (check your portion size) [Look for microwaveable Cowboy green beans from HEB], bacon garlic roasted cauliflower. I live on zucchini and yellow summer squash. Asparagus, grilled rainbow peppers, or a salad. (Check your salad dressing for sugar and g of carbs.)
Things I do not fix: (just plan on 3 non-starchy vegetables at dinner, or 2 and some fruit)
carrots
corn, peas
white potatoes,rice
peas, soy beans, sugar snap peas
quinoa, other sprouted grains
beans (I might add beans to chili & my kids get beans with mexican food, but I don't eat them.)
Misc info:
Google the dangers of too much soy-avoid soy as often as possible. Atkins has a great app with recipes and a meal tracking function. Remember to go full fat on dairy (cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, hard cheeses), cook with cream or heavy whipping cream. Check labels for carbohydrates, subtract fiber and sugar alcohols. If you do not increase your fat intake, you will be starving. I cook with butter and bacon grease and sometime olive oil cooking spray. Pure olive oil or coconut oil cooking spray is the only spray to use. Sometimes I cook with coconut oil, but not often. HEB also sells reduced sugar Hershey's syrup, reduced sugar ketchup, sugar-free syrup, and sugar-free whip cream in a can. Watch out for too many sugar alcohols because they give you the taste of sweetness and make your body crave more sweet things. You will need greater and greater amounts of the sugar alcohol sweetened treats to be satiated. Malitol is particularly bad this way. Xylitol and Erythritol are better choices. Agave-it's the pits. Do your research and stay away from it. Stevia and Splenda. People have their opinions about these. They usually love one, and hate the other. I will use both. In moderation.
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