While I call this a low carb diet, it’s not really. If you were to follow the Atkin’s plan, you’d be expected to eat less than 20g of carbs the first couple of weeks, then slowly add carbs back in until you find the perfect balance for your body. Of course, you are more than welcome to give that a try and you will lose weight more quickly, but I honestly think it’s easier just to start at the recommended 200g mark that you should be getting anyway and go from there. If you find that you need to lower that to continue to lose weight or feel better (as I would in my situation), then do it.
-Fiber is your buddy! For every gram of fiber you eat, you can subtract it from each gram of carbs. So if something says it has 10 grams of carbs in it, but it has 2 grams of fiber, the net carbs is only 8 grams and that’s what you keep track of.
-The first week is the hardest. Your body is addicted to sugar/carbs so you will have some withdrawal in the form of craving it and feeling hungry. I know for me during that first week, it seems like no matter how many low carb things I eat, I still feel hungry. But after I get over that addiction... I start feeling AMAZING!
-Eat a high protein, high fiber breakfast! I think this is key because you've already not had anything to eat all night so your insulin levels will be screwy to start your day off with. If you go for a high carb breakfast (cereal, doughnuts, bagels, pancakes, etc.) you are just setting yourself up for failure from the get-go.
-Tomorrow is a new day! So you did kind of bad one day. By the next day, everything you ate for breakfast the previous day is getting out of your system so even if you did horrible the day before, just start over.
-Don't beat yourself up if you go over a little. My goal is 100g… if I go over 10-20 grams, then so be it. No big deal. I don’t make a habit out of it, but it’s not destroying my diet if I fudge it once in awhile.
-Keep snacks handy so if you get hungry when you are out running errands you’re not tempted to just stop and get fast food. (Unless you know what you can eat where that won’t be overly carby.) I keep baggies of nuts, Atkins bars and bottles of water in my purse at all times.
-You may have to have your own shelf in the cupboard/fridge with a "hands off" sign. Low carb eating is a little more expensive so if you are the only one in your house who needs it, there's no point in spending extra money for them to eat it, too. They can have full sugar stuff and real bread and all the cereal they want. If you are doing it because you have PCOS or diabetes, you have to look at low carb eating as treatment for a medical condition you are dealing with. Your family needs to respect that and not eat it all the low carb food, leaving you with stuff you CAN'T eat.
-If you are doing this for PCOS/diabetes, I have had amazing results with Metformin, a diabetic drug. It doesn’t work for everyone, but without it I feel awful. It helps control your insulin levels, which is what makes you feel icky if you eat too many carbs. I can always tell if I forgot to take it in the morning because by 10 a.m. I am starving again.
-It’s all about moderation. You can still have sweets – just pay attention to the carbs/sugar. If you are really craving a certain something that has crazy high carbs, just eat half instead and then walk away.
-Protein and fiber fill you up faster and keep you full longer!
-If you know you will be going out to eat, take a quick peek at the restaurant’s menu on their website. They all now post their nutritional content so you can familiarize yourself with the carb content of your favorite dish… and perhaps realize you really need to choose something different.
-If you have an event to go to and you don’t know what they’ll be serving, try to do really well all day with your carbs so you’ll have a lot to work with at the event. If anything, most events will have some sort of main dish that is meat based so you’ll know you can at least eat that. (Be it a wedding or even a cookout.) And if you’ve done well all day then you also know that you’ll be able to splurge at said event… be it wedding cake or smores!
-Great website with quick reference guides to carb counts:
http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/4486.asp (Always check the labels of what you are actually eating – every brand is different!)
And last but not least, I know it’s not easy. It takes willpower and self-restraint and constantly remembering that even though others are eating them, you just can’t. (Or you can – but you have to do so in moderation.) I know I was only successful because our fertility was on the line. Nothing like having a life-long dream shattered to make you buck up and take control of things!
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