Holiday Food and Sabotage

Posted on December 16, 2013 by therapysoup

Here is my blog for Holiday Food with Your Family Friends and Low-Carb Substitutions that can be made.

https://skinny-rules.com/2013/11/24/holiday-food-time-and-delicious-low-carb-substitutions/

However, today’s blog is about holiday parties–family, friends or work. This time of year, I hear a lot about people being surrounded by parties with bad food choices, bad drink choices, alcohol and desserts galore. I went to my chiropractor and there were many chocolate items there.

5 Things You Can Do To Not Gain Weight at Holiday Parties!

1. Take a piece of food or dessert, if you must, take a bite and then toss it in the trash when no one is looking. A bite won’t kill your diet, but if you can’t say no to the rest, then this strategy is not for you.

2. Just say “NO!” Seriously, how much do you love yourself and your commitment to your diet? Most of the sugar and GMO products are not good for your health anyway. Do you care at all about how it will affect you? Stop poisoning yourself with white sugar.

3. EAT before you get there. You are more likely to nibble on healthy things because you are not ravenous. You can nibble on fruit and vegetables, and have water or if you must, one hard liquor cocktail. The more you have wine, beer or champagne–and especially fruit cocktails, the more carbohydrates you are consuming unnecessarily. I have had someone tell me that they go to these things and are hungry and then, the bad food looks extra good to them and it is harder to say, “No!” Why tempt yourself? Why drive yourself crazy? Eat an egg, cheese, nuts, a piece of fruit, yogurt–something low carb and healthy before you get there. If you know for sure that there are good low-carb food items, then you need not worry.

4. If you know the host, you could make a request for something like a vegetable platter or low-fat meat and low-fat cheese platter.

5. Don’t succumb to peer pressure to eat badly. Most people NOT on a diet, who know that they SHOULD be on one, can’t wait to watch someone doing well on a diet–fall off of their diet. It makes them feel better about themselves being heavier or enjoying thinking they are the best looking person in the room. So, don’t give them this satisfaction.

I get pleasure in telling people, “NO! Stop pressuring me!” Worse case scenario, just blame your doctor and say you are under a doctor’s care and these are his orders. If they are NOSEY and ask you for what–“tell them that you don’t like talking about it.” And if they ask again, repeat what I just wrote. If they ask the third time, then you have a right to say, “I would appreciate it if you stop trying to delve into my medical history. I like to keep it private.” I hate nosey people.

And the same thing goes for the alcohol. Alcohol has to be very limited to NOTHING during the weight loss process. If your body is busy using its energy to metabolize the alcohol in your liver, then there is no energy left during that period to break down fat.

I want to stay thin, I rarely drink. I gain easily. It is not worth it to me. I prefer being thin. Much more fun than eating something that goes inside in less than a minute. Thin lasts longer.

Society is Addicted to Crap Food and Lost Their Discipline

Posted on December 14, 2013 by therapysoup

Going to be tough today!

Every day I have a salad with some form of meat and/or cheese–with vegetables, for lunch. I also have a salad at dinner, but the salad and veggies might be separate from my meat.

But, for the most part, that is what I eat. I have discipline. I have snacks in between and after dinner–protein-based.

It saddens me to see people trying to lose weight and still get stuck on eating white bread sandwiches (which have gluten and no nutritional value at all–it is all about just FILLING UP THE BELLY)–and boy does it fill up the belly, outwardly.

But, SO many people now seem to feel that they need to wash that sandwich down with a bag of chips.

I eat at a lunch place where they serve salads, sandwiches and soups. There is a rack of potato chips to choose from. Everyone who orders a sandwich (except my husband), grabs a bag to have with their lunch. Most people eating salads seem to know better and don’t eat the chips.

What is the deal with the chips? Is everyone so addicted to the carb, glucose-high?

Do you want to lose weight? You have to get through the addiction. I did it. I was addicted to pasta (wheat-based). It takes a few weeks and you must have a lot of low-fat cheese snacks and hard-boiled eggs to tide you over until the addiction clears…but it does. I learned to like coffee even more.

Then, you will lose the weight and keep it off.

Until then, the chips and bread are winning, not you! Nutritionally, they are useless. A lot of sodium (Not good for the heart), few vitamins, only 2g of protein and 24g of carbs. If you want to lose weight and only want 50 to 100g of carbs a day, you are going to waste it all on a bag of empty chips? It is going to turn to sugar and only make you crave more sugar later (about 6 sugar cubes worth)….

The sandwich in itself is about 24g of carbs for the bread. Great–in one sitting, little nutritional value and around 50g of carbs. This is not going to help with losing weight.

So, it is your choice. Do it or not. Stop complaining though if you don’t lose and you hate how you look!

Time Lapse of a Woman Losing 88 Pounds in a Year on the Ketogenic Diet

Posted on December 9, 2013 by therapysoup

My diet is based on a Paleo diet that focuses on being ketogenic. What is that?

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, measured out amount of adequate protein and low carbohydrates.

The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose (sugar), which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fueling brain function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketones.The ketone pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as ketosis, and that is when you start burning fat and lose weight.

I followed the ketogenic diet and I lost about 10 pounds a month, which then trickled down to a lesser amount until completion of the diet. I started my diet in September, 2011 and lost 40 pounds by the the end of January, 2012 (about 5 months).

My diet consists of 6 protein based meals a day, every 4 hours. Two small salads a day, four small servings of vegetables a day and two small servings of fruit per day (with my carb instake being only 50g to 100g per day). I stopped eating most wheat products, rice and potatoes. In the maintenance phase, you can incorporate those in, but you should measure out carbs and you should not go over 150g of carbs per day if you want to stay thin.

Below 50g of net carbs each day is sufficient for most people to stay in ketosis. Make sure to get your carbs from vegetables (10-15g), nuts and seeds (5-10g), and fruits (5-10g). Keep in mind that in Europe food labels generally show net carbs, while America shows total carbs. Calculate net carbs by subtracting fiber from total carbs.

Medicaldaily.com wrote about a woman following this diet and they showed a time-lapse video of her transformation of 88 pounds in a year. Check it out. I can attest to the magical effect of this diet, as far as I changed in the same way. However, I did exercise during my transformation, which is why I lost 10 pounds a month and she seemed to lose about 6 or 7 pounds per month.

http://m.medicaldaily.com/time-lapsed-video-shows-womans-transformation-ketogenic-diet-88-lbs-lost-5-seconds-255799

Eat Well, Look Good and Live Well

Posted on December 4, 2013 by therapysoup

I read stories daily about how eating well can actually heal your body. How many of you want to lose weight, but also have health concerns?

It doesn’t just affect your blood sugar and diabetes, or your high blood pressure and hypertension……I read today that nutrition has a lot to do with plantar fascitis foot pain. And there are many other issues due to poor nutrition.

. http://www.everydayhealth.com/foot-health/nutrition-and-your-feet.aspx?pos=2&xid=nl_EverydayHealthManagingDiabetes_20131203

There are many cancers and health issues coming from just eating processed foods, artificial dyes, high fructose corn syrup, GMO products, etc.

If you are addicted to junk food, there are a bevy of health issues that could lead to health concerns, mental health issues, as well as obesity.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/359768-why-is-junk-food-bad-for-your-health/

Junk food:

It’s low in fiber.
It’s high in palatability (that is, it tastes good).
It offers a high number of calories in a small volume.
It’s high in fat.
It’s high in sugar in liquid form

Processed food:

It is highly addictive and slowly killing you with its low nutrition, its use of genetically modified products, they cause gut inflammation and lead to further breakdown of the immune system, they are full of pesticides and they just ruin your insides.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9686/how-processed-foods-are-killing-you-one-bite-at-a-time.html

The best foods for you are on the outer skirts of the market. The organic fresh fruits, veggies, lettuce products, fresh grass-fed meats and organic eggs, bovine growth hormone free milk products and nuts. All of the stuff that is easier to get to–in the center–about 80 percent of it didn’t even exist 100 years ago. That stuff in the boxes–those are processed foods. And some are way worse than others.

If you choose to eat a Paleo diet, chances are that you will not only lose weight, but you will get well or stay well.

Since I stopped eating things that were not so prevalent many years ago, I am feeling better and look my best. I used to be very sick and I am doing much better than ever. Even my skin glows now. I stopped eating stripped wheat and I actually avoid wheat. Once in a while, I have a Perfect 10 Wheat Bagel from Western Bagel. I also stopped eating rice…if I had any at all, it would be brown rice or quinoa (and only a golf ball sized portion). I stopped eating starches like potatoes and once in awhile, I put some carrot strips in my salad. No one has to eat potatoes. If you want minerals or iron, there are so many healthy foods to choose from to get those things. Kale, Spinach, brocoli and Cauliflower have many necessary minerals in them.

And I hate to ruin your breakfast or lunch (hopefully it is not some nice GMO cereal or Mac and cheese, because here is an example of what the processed food companies would like you to not ever see.

Here is what happens to rats who eat nothing but GMO products: (I hope it makes you think!)

REMEMBER THIS SHOULD BE YOUR MOTTO~

Perhaps Your Choices and Portions at Thanksgiving is Why You Gained Weight

Posted on December 3, 2013 by therapysoup

I have talked to many people about Thanksgiving food. I am not sure how it came to be that a holiday designed to give thanks and spend time with relatives–has now somehow turned into a carbolicious food fest.

A few years ago, I went to my husband’s cousin’s house for Thanksgiving. I had a tough time finding something decent to eat. The turkey was ok, but there was no salad. There were green beans, but they were smothered in horrible bad GMO Velveeta cheese and not some kind of low-fat bovine growth hormone-free cheese. And there were those horrible processed onion things were on top. There was white bread in unhealthy fattening stuffing, cranberry sauce (sugar fest), white GMO dinner rolls, margarine (where is the organic butter?) and nasty box-made mashed potatoes. No wonder people get fat. Then, there is pie! One small slice of pumpkin pie alone is 300 calories. I think the average amount of calories eaten at Thanksgiving dinner tops 1500, easy.

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE SUPER-SIZED PORTIONS THAT PEOPLE SERVE THEMSELVES, AND MORE THAN ONE!

Here is what most of the portions looked like at the cousin’s house (throw in a non-nutritious dinner roll):

Next is the proper size of a “Traditional Thanksgiving Meal–made in a more healthy way–and the right measured out portions. At least if you eat this, you will not gain a lot of weight. (4 ounces of protein and keep in mind, only 50-100g of carbs per day. More on the veggies, less on the stuffing and potatoes. In this picture–turkey, a touch of stuffing with mushrooms, just a splash of cranberries (not the canned stuff), and a serving of veggies. Perfect!

It takes 30 minutes of running fast for 3 miles to burn 300 calories, and about an hour to do fast walking to lose 300 calories. You would have to walk for 5 hours to burn off that dinner. It could take many days of exercise to burn off that meal.

What I had for Thanksgiving:

For breakfast, I had a Western Bagel Perfect 10 low carb bagel with egg and cheese on it.

I made turkey meatballs and sauce with spaghetti squash for lunch.

For dinner, my husband and I had the sliced turkey breast that we bought the day before. We had a little gravy and had some great grilled asparagus and baby broccoli, with a great salad with cheese. A nice normal sized portion too.

And my snacks in between were nuts and a protein bar.

For after-dinner dessert, I had low carb ice cream.

I was full, satisfied and happy. I didn’t gain a pound. I will do something similar for Christmas.

If I am stuck at a person’s house again:

I will either eat before I get there and just have some turkey.

I also could ask the host in advance if there are going to be vegetables and salad, and if not, I will bring my own.

**I have NO qualms or embarrassment that I have to eat a certain way. If you are embarrassed, you can just say it is for “doctor’s orders for more greens.”**

You should never have to gain weight or make yourself sick with wheat products, gluten or excessive carbs to make others feel comfortable.

If someone gets their panties in a twist over it, they either do NOT give a damn about you and your quest to be skinny, of they feel guilty because they wish THEY could go on a proper diet and they are either too stubborn, too carb-addicted or afraid to rock the boat in their relationships.

Any way you look at it, YOU have to take care of YOU! There is a good chance that you gained weight because you have trouble saying NO! Learn healthy boundaries for your own happiness and stop worrying about others.

There are always food saboteurs out there. Like the man in my Pilates class, who is thin and brings the class (who are there to get in shape) brownies or chocolate cake. I think he gets some sick, twisted enjoyment out of watching them eat his stuff. He never knows what to do with me, because, I always tell him, “No thank you. I don’t eat sugar anymore.” And the fact that he still asks me, shows how manipulative he is!

What if the problem is your cravings cause the problem with eating fattening things?

Yes, it is hard to get over cravings, but it is possible. I did it! Takes a few weeks, but you have to stick to it and find healthy alternatives (I write about that all of the time in my blog, just do a search).

If someone is having onion rings, I sometimes will allow myself to eat ONE, then I am done. Fried food with breaded batter=unhealthy and fattening.

You have to learn this and get over what McDonalds got you addicted to eating. Those carbs are killing America-and you and me. We have to take charge of our bodies, our mouths and our lives. Eating potato starch, pie sugars, fatty cheese, white breaded stuffing carbs and sugars–even once or twice a year is not showing respect for your body. Even ONE cheat is do-able, but it is nothing but bad food city all the way through on this crazy holiday food fest.

10 Bad Food Habits

Posted on November 30, 2013 by therapysoup

1. Mindless Eating

The larger the plate or bowl you eat from, the more you unknowingly consume.In one recent study. Don’t buy the extra-large popcorn at the theatre for the great price…and don’t use a large bowl or dishes at home.

The Fix: Eat from smaller dishes. Try swapping out your large dinner plate for a salad plate, and never eat straight from a container or package.

2. Nighttime Noshing

It is WHAT you eat and WHEN you eat that counts. Nighttime eating is worse for a diet.

The Fix: After dinner, teach yourself to think of the kitchen as being closed for the night, and brush your teeth — you’ll want to eat less with a newly cleaned mouth. If a craving hits, wait 10 minutes. If you’re still truly hungry, reach for something small like lite string cheese, low-fat Greek yogurt or a piece of fruit.

3. Endless Snacking

Snacking round-the-clock, often on high-calorie foods that are full of empty carbs is bad for a diet. People are snacking more and more often on unhealthy junk food–including salty chips, soda, and candy.

The Fix: Keep only healthy snacks within reach, such as hummus, low-fat cheese, eggs, carrots and cucumber slices, air-popped popcorn, yogurt, and nuts. Don’t stock your desk or pantry with potato chips or cookies you know you can’t resist.

4. Buying Chips Every Time You Eat a Sandwich Out

You know that breakfast I eat at a sandwich/salad shop a lot. I always have a salad with vegetables and a protein in it. But, a lot of people come in for a sandwich or a salad and then order a bag of potato chips too. They could get a side of soup, hummus or guacamole, but I have noticed that many people think that it is almost a requirement to have chips with lunch. Chips are about 30g of carbs per bag, full of genetically modified ingredients and send your blood sugar through the roof. They aren’t necessary and they can sabotage a diet. Get out of the habit.

5. Skipping Breakfast

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, but with so many other tasks competing for your attention, you may decide you don’t have time to eat. When you skip meals, your metabolism begins to slow, Breakfast gives you that boost of energy you need to take on your day. Without fuel, you’ll just overeat later. A new study of Chinese schoolchildren found that those who skipped breakfast gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who ate a morning meal.

The Fix: Have ready healthy breakfast foods you can consume on the run,. If you’re rushed, try easy items such as ready to eat–hard-boiled eggs, whole fruit, yogurt, low-carb protein bars, homemade cereal bars, and smoothies.

6. Emotional Eating

You had a bad day and when you get home, you open the refrigerator and eat —which sabotages a diet. Food in your mouth should not be a coping mechanism.This is a weight-loss stumbling block.

The Fix: Find a new stress-buster, If you’re stressed out at work, when you get home, take a walk (instead of eating), go to the gym, go to dance class, yoga, Pilates, Cardio Barre, Zumba, etc.– or call a friend who will be empathetic–or meet up with one. Choose any activity you like as long as it keeps you out of the kitchen.

7. Eating Too Quickly

Eating rapidly, whether you’re snacking or eating a meal, doesn’t give your brain time to catch up with your stomach. Your brain doesn’t signal that you’re full until about 15 to 20 minutes after you’ve started eating. If you gulp down your meal in 10 minutes or less, you could end up eating way more than you need.

The Fix: To slow down your eating, physically put your fork down between bites, take smaller bites, and be sure to chew each bite thoroughly. Also, drinking water throughout your meal will help you slow down and feel fuller as you go. Burgers are too easy to eat fast, but whatever you are eating, if you force yourself to sit and use a knife and fork, it will give your brain time to tell your stomach that it is full.

8. Not Getting Enough Sleep

Poor sleep ruin your weight-loss efforts. In a study, men and women who slept five hours or less a night were more likely to gain weight than those who slept seven hours or more.

The Fix: Establish a routine for yourself, and try to go to bed and wake up at about the same times every day, even on weekends. Keep the bedroom dark and comfortable, and avoid TV or computers for at least an hour before bed. If you need extra motivation to shut off the lights early, take meds, do whatever it takes. Remember that the sleep and the scale work together.

9. Vegging Out With Video Games or TV or the Computer

If you’re watching TV, sitting in front of a computer, or playing video games, it’s not only mindless snacking in front of the screen that you have to worry about. Teens who played video games for just one hour ate more the rest of the day, which resulted in weight gain.

The Fix: Take frequent breaks when you’re in front of the computer — get up and walk around the room or office every 15 to 30 minutes. When the workday or your favorite TV show ends, remember to carefully monitor what you consume to you don’t overstuff yourself.

10. Eating Junk Food

Several animal studies have found that rat’s brains find high-fat, high-sugar foods to be addictive — much like cocaine or heroin. Eating comfort food actually triggers feelings of happiness in humans.

The Fix: The solution isn’t to eliminate your favorite indulgences from your diet — that will only make you crave them more. The key to weight-loss success is to identify what you really want, and indulge in your favorite foods in moderation as special treats, not every day or find lower sugar, lower carb substitutes.

Thanksgiving Post Mortem and YummybCauliflower Cheese Souffle/Casserole Instead of Mashed Potatoes or Stuffing

Posted on November 28, 2013 by therapysoup

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It was nice to stay home in my pajamas. But, I was smart and I did an hour on the elliptial too!

Now, let’s get down to business.

My dinner was about 15g of carbs and my dessert, which will be one of my six proteins for the day, will be about two hours after dinner for another 16g of carbs.

Not bad. Remember, I want to keep my carbs between 50 and 100g a day.

Some people can do about 200g of carbs or more on Thanksgiving without blinking an eye. A piece of pie is over 50g of carbs, in of itself. The potatoes, casseroles, bread, stuffing–will kill anyone’s diet or make someone need to go on one.

My Diet Soapbox:

My belief is that Halloween starts the cycle and following guilt of over eating of sweets, and this puts people in a tailspin of weight gain. Then, Thanksgiving really does them in and then they say, “screw it”, and keep up the damage with a bad Christmas dinner, parties with a lot of bad food, alcohol and candy, cookies and cakes all month long at work.

This is why the diet industry is so big. You have to learn how to do a holiday wisely and then be ok most of the year and not mess yourself up. The cycle of putting on the weight and then losing it half the year, not only sucks, but is hard on your body.

Ok, enough said, so this was my T Day dinner:

Salad (not shown), sliced turkey breast and a touch of gravy with a dish of twice-baked cauliflower cheese was quite enough food. I was stuffed. Looking forward though to my low-carb dessert later sugar free pumpkin cheesecake flavored frozen yogurt.

The recipe that I posted for the twice-baked cauliflower needs adjustment. In my opinion, it was missing some things. So, here is my adjustment. (forget the bacon bits-yeck)

MISTAKE IN THE PICTURE: I SHOULD HAVE USED SHREDDED CHEESE, ALL OVER THE TOP. MORE CHEESY WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH TASTIER. It was good, but I love cheese!

Here is the picture of the two that I put back in the oven and put enough cheese on top and boy, can’t wait to eat those. Looks like cheese souffle!

Aylene’s Twice Baked Cauliflower Recipe

1 medium head of Cauliflower

Sour Cream, 1/4 to 1/2 a cup. Depends on how milky you want it

Chopped Chives or onion, 1 tsp

1 cup of shredded cheese (you choose the cheese. I think Cheddar is great)

If you love bacon, cook a couple of strips and break it up in it. I am skipping bacon.

Butter, salted, 1 tbsp

Garlic powder, 1/2 tsp
Salt, 1 dash
Pepper, black, 1 dash

Directions

Cook cauliflower until tender (10-15 min.).

Preheat oven to 400F.

Chop fine with pastry blender, potato masher or knife.

Add all ingredients together in a medium bowl, fold until mixed.

Use cooking spray on 4 seven ounce ramekins or other small oven safe dishes and spoon mixture into dishes.

**IMPORTANT** If you want this sucker to be totally delish, you have to put extra shredded cheese on the top of the mixture so that when it bakes, it is extra cheesy on the top. If you don’t do this, it is kind of boring.

Place all small dishes on a cookie sheet for easier handling.

Bake for 15 minutes on middle rack and then broil for a few minutes until top is golden brown.

Makes 4 servings.

Number of Servings: 4

I hope that if you did any damage, you try not to continue the damage with leftovers. Give them away. Be good to yourself and learn to make adjustments to meals that are better for you and you can wake up in the morning and fit into your clothes.

Happy Thanksgiving and Here is Your Exercise/Food Chart to Keep Skinny

Posted on November 27, 2013 by therapysoup

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Remember, it is about family and fun. It doesn’t have to be about BAD food, it can be about good food.

3 helpful blogs to help you through the holiday food issues:

1. What I recommend to eat and what I will be eating. https://skinny-rules.com/2012/11/12/delicious-substitutions-for-thanksgiving-dinner/

2. How not to pig out at Thanksgiving. https://skinny-rules.com/2012/11/15/8waystohelpyourselffrompiggingoutatthanksgiving/

3. How people sabotage at holiday dinners. https://skinny-rules.com/2012/11/14/holiday-sabotage/

BUT if you do pig out, here is a chart to help you exercise off that pie and whatever other carbliicous things you ate.

A thought… If you skipped the pie, the marshmellow/sweet potato casserole, the bread (roll and stuffing) and the cranberry sauce, you will save yourself almost half of the calories from your meal and most of the carbs. Your pancreas will thank you too for not having to work so hard and send out so much insulin to deal with all of that sugar!

If there are no vegetables that aren’t smothered in cream, then eat those (or eat those and wipe away the breaded onion) and eat the turkey and maybe just a little of the potato and gravy and you will be doing a lot better.

Worse case scenario, I will not be eating pie unless it is made with Splenda, but if you do, only have half of a slice. Bring it down to 30g of carbs vs. 60 or 70g grams with a big slice. And you could do some exericse to burn off some of those carbs!

Happy Gobble Gobble!

Holiday Low-Carb Drinks (BOOZE!) That Taste Great

Posted on November 26, 2013 by therapysoup

Holiday Drinks

Alcohol, by nature, isn’t particularly low-carb. Yet if you want to indulge at the holidays, choose from one of these lower-carb options.

Low-Carb Sangria: Enjoy this refreshing drink using the traditional ingredients, or add some mulling spices to make it more seasonal. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-stella/sangria-recipe/index.html.

Low-Carb Eggnog: For some people, it just wouldn’t be the holidays without eggnog. Luckily, there’s a great low-carb recipe to be found here. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/beverages/r/lowcarbeggnog.htm

Irish Coffee: Enjoy this rich drink without worrying about the carbs when you use this recipe. http://voices.yahoo.com/sugar-free-cocktail-recipes-78239.html?cat=51

Sugar-Free White Russian: Learn how to make a White Russian that’s South Beach-appropriate with this recipe. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/alcoholicbeveragerecipes/r/whiterussian.htm

Low-Carb Vodka Collins: This twist on a classic will help you celebrate the holidays without all the carbs. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/alcoholicbeveragerecipes/r/tomcollinsdrink.htm.

Low-Carb Cosmo: This popular and seasonally appropriate drink gets a makeover using this recipe that cuts out some of the carbs. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/beverages/r/lowcarbcosmo.htm

Rum and Diet Soda: There is no way to cut all the carbs from alcohol, but this drink is about as close as you can get.http://jerryg2.hubpages.com/hub/Low-Calorie-Alcoholic-Drinks

Bloody Mary: Try out this alternative recipe for a spicy classic this holiday season. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/alcoholicbeveragerecipes/r/bloodymarydrink.htm

Holiday Food Time and Delicious Low-Carb Substitutions

Posted on November 24, 2013 by therapysoup

So many people I know tell me that they are going to eat what they want for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and pretty much for the entire month of December because (their excuse to go food nuts) IT IS THE HOLIDAYS! When did the holidays become about pigging out and not celebrating the Pilgrims and Native Americans, the birth of Baby Jesus, the oil staying lit and the fact that there are Christmas lights up all month and we have to listen to Holiday music for over a month? Why are we doing this? I still think it is because people associate it with “comfort” of family and “comfort” food. It reminds them of home, but it is also a great excuse to be bad without having to say you are eating fattening food because you just feel like it.

So, a lot of people put on weight starting with Halloween and starting January 1–they join health clubs and weight loss centers. It reminds me of bears that eat up before the hibernation, except that we are not bears. Why do this to yourself every year? It makes no sense. It is hard on the body and the wallet.

So, the holidays are here. Here are some tips to not overeat fattening foods and still have holiday feasts. You can even use substitutes to create many traditional meals. You can even start NEW TRADITIONS with new meals. I have turkey, vegetables, salad and I make them as interesting as possible.

Many people seem to think that “Thanksgiving is all about the carbs.” But it really doesn’t have to be that way. You can decide to have a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal with any carb level you want. I have found some really good tips online. These Thanksgiving tips work well for any large holiday meal.

1) Choose traditionals that are lower in carbs.

Turkey is obviously the low-carb star of the meal. There might be vegetables, which are family favorites, that don’t have a lot of starch or added sugars. Think back through holidays past and resurrect the least carby side dishes. Stay away from yams with cream, mashed potatoes, etc.

2) Consider scaling back some of the traditional side dishes.

Did you know that plain roasted yams with salt, pepper and butter are really delicious even without a pile of marshmallows on top? Instead of a rich vegetable casserole, how about a simpler vegetable side dish, such as green beans with almonds? Have a simple sautéed mushroom and peppers dish, get some good low-fat cheeses and cut cucumbers, or a salad with a cranberry vinaigrette dressing.

3) Serve low-carb, high-flavor nibbles first.

If you decide to eat more carbohydrates than usual, consider holding off until you get to the table. Use vegetables with dip, cucumber rounds instead of crackers for spreads, and peanuts or other nuts, instead of chips.

4. For meals and desserts that are low-carb, go to this site for recipes for low carb meals, ideas and desserts–including low-carb pumpkin pie and other pies. There are low-carb alternatives to everything so you don’t have to be that bad!

http://www.mastersinhealthcare.com/blog/2010/100-delicious-holiday-recipes-for-the-low-carb-crowd/

STUFFING SUBSTITUTION!

Skinny-Rules

Tag Archives: low carb

Holiday Food and Sabotage

Society is Addicted to Crap Food and Lost Their Discipline

Time Lapse of a Woman Losing 88 Pounds in a Year on the Ketogenic Diet

Eat Well, Look Good and Live Well

Perhaps Your Choices and Portions at Thanksgiving is Why You Gained Weight