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  #181   ^
Old Tue, Jul-21-15, 07:50
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Quote:
I was thinking about this topic yesterday. Upon realizing I'm sensitive to dairy (which this WOE helped me to notice) I felt like a huge portion of food that add in flavor to what I am eating just went out the window and what I was left with was a lot of meat (which I can only do for so long before not wanting to touch it) and berries, eggs, nuts and certain veggies.

There's a whole lot in the Paleo section here that might interest you. You might be interested in making flax crackers, do some paleo baking with nut meals/lupin flour, etc.

I too feel kind of "sick of meat" when I'm eating too high protein, or am too deep in ketosis. There's a sort of anorexia that sets in if I consume too much protein that makes me feel not all that great about eating meat.

So... what are some possible ways of battling it? I don't see any veggies listed, but avocados are a great way to get fat and they're quite low carb. How about a plate of spaghetti with homemade sauce made with zucchini noodles?

How about doing strict IF -- no snacking? I think that helps because you've got a chance to actually get hungry and it is hard to over consume protein on one meal a day.

I eat a lot of salads and sometimes decorate them only lightly with strips of sliced deli turkey, or 1/2 a can of tuna, olives, green onions and pecan pieces.

Other times I make Thai curry with coconut milk, curry paste, whatever meat (usually ground turkey because it is easy and cheap) and loads of veggies.

The trade off is, I'm not in super deep ketosis, which is fine with me right now.
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  #182   ^
Old Wed, Jul-22-15, 07:40
dtydd dtydd is offline
New Member
Posts: 18
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 262/244/150 Female 5'6"
BF:yes, yes it is
Progress: 16%
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Default Garlic butter

I have been having chicken broth with a stirred egg in it for breakfast most days (it's like egg-drop soup!), but getting bored with it. The other day I found a stick of garlic-flavoured butter in the grocery store. It's very tasty, and adds fat to my diet as well. I add about a teaspoon to the mix.

Watching many Youtube videos, I have gleaned that my diet (thus far not very successful after nearly 5 months) was lacking in fat. It was too high in protein, less than 20 grams of carb a day, but not enough fat. I didn't really see a reason to add butter to my meal, or not pat off the bacon grease. That's extra calories, right? But one video spelled it out very plainly: "To lose fat, you've got to eat fat". Since doing this, I've managed to lose 3 more pounds and, with hope, feel that I might finally be back on track.

It's counterintuitive to add fat to the diet, as it is against everything we've been told about dieting. A girlfriend (who reads fitness magazines) once said to me: "Carbs are for energy, protein builds muscle, and fat just stays fat. You have to eliminate fat from your diet to lose weight". That's the conventional wisdom. But how many people really lose weight that way? And don't we need fat to make lovely hormones?

I've also been drinking much more water, trying to get at least 2 liters (about 2 quarts) a day. I used to drink more diet pop, but find that when you drink a lot of water it's what you crave when you're thirsty.

One last thing I would add here is a tasty chicken meal I've "unvented". I put about 1/4 chicken in a bowl (broken up into small bits), add 1/2 cup or so of chicken broth, 1 tbsp. of my garlic butter and 1 tbsp. of BBQ ranch or teriyaki dressing. I nuke it for a couple of minutes, then mix it up and have it for lunch. The butter makes even dry white meat very moist and tasty. Very filling. I wish I could find a lower carb dressing, because 1 tbsp. adds 4 carbs -- but it's only about 5 carbs overall and makes quite a filling meal. I sometimes add a bit of very nippy old cheddar cheese as well.
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  #183   ^
Old Fri, Jul-24-15, 06:47
tbagram's Avatar
tbagram tbagram is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 876
 
Plan: LC/HF/MP
Stats: 248/220/180 Female 67in
BF:
Progress: 41%
Location: Upstate New York
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I too have been uping the fat in my diet and it seems to be working. I input my food into Fat Secret and it gives me the percentage ratios. By the end of the day I can see where I am and eat accoringly, such as adding more fat and decreasing my protein, if need be. Higher fat helps to keep the hungries away (:
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  #184   ^
Old Sat, Jul-25-15, 09:24
Feinman Feinman is offline
 
Plan: My own
Stats: 208/180/165 Male 70 inches
BF:
Progress:
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I don't generally believe in imitation carbs. So, I think pureed cauliflower is a staple and allows of variations as mashed potatoes does, I don't think of them as faux mashed. One exception is low-carb pancakes from recipe I saw online someplace: 2 tbsp cream cheese, two eggs, small amount baking soda => blend and use as pancake batter. Same look and feel as pancakes but better taste, that is, real taste.
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  #185   ^
Old Mon, Jul-27-15, 15:36
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
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I do imitation carbs in small amounts. Partly so I can make something that the whole family will eat, and I will, too.

Yesterday, I adapted a paleo muffin recipe by replacing the honey with Splenda and a tablespoon of water. They were a hit at Sunday breakfast, and the butter I slathered on them just made the nicer. Along with the eggs scrambled with heavy cream.

Yes, induction makes this stuff more challenging. But induction isn't meant to last forever.
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  #186   ^
Old Sun, Apr-24-16, 14:47
katmeyster's Avatar
katmeyster katmeyster is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 918
 
Plan: Keto (LCHFMP) + IF
Stats: 265/188/150 Female 61 inches
BF:Highest weight 290
Progress: 67%
Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Default

I'm adding to this thread as I found reading through it very helpful, and newbies may want to view it.

My husband and I are talking about this boredom problem right now: not because we are currently bored with LC food, but because we want to stay on this WOE for the rest of our lives -- it seems a little daunting to contemplate. But I'm losing weight and his BG is amazingly normal (T2D with insulin) and he could well be off insulin for good. At the moment we're OK, it's the long-term stuff we're a little bit worried about.

I like the IF because it actually take the worry about what to eat at each meal away, and makes me more motivated to cook something interesting for dinner, if that's the only meal of the day.

But he thinks he "needs" bread products so we are going to spend some time on the almond, flax, coconut, etc. recipes to see what we can find that meets that need.

And, as Nancy said, right now I'm sort of in an "anorexic" state where food is not terribly interesting -- it seems weird that I mourn the love of food because what drew me to LC in the first place was that I could continue eating great food.

But, long-term, if what we are experiencing is just the cravings for the idea of what we used to eat, then maybe that should go away -- maybe our idea of what is "normal" will morph into the LC foods?

That would be preferable to constantly having to come up with something new and exciting to counteract the idea of boredom.
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  #187   ^
Old Sun, Apr-24-16, 19:26
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
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Kat, you DO lose, to a great extent, the desire for what seems to be normal foods.

For your husband, with his diabetes, it may be better for him to live a bit longer without the breadlike products--even if made with almond flour, etc.

The reason is that our brains seem to crave what we're used to. And, if we STOP eating something long enough, the cravings lessen.

Eat something like what we craved, they stick around.

Ken has mentioned how he always used to start eating cheat foods around 2 months into this WOE, because he was getting bored. And figured out THIS time, that the boredom was just another way for his carb addiction to try to get him eating carbs again.

For me, I liken it to the description of alcohol in the AA Big Book (I used to be married to an alcoholic). Alcohol is "cunning, baffling and powerful." So is any addiction, including to carbs in their many forms.

Eat low carb long enough, and the boredom goes away, as does the desire for the carby things.

It CAN come back, especially when we're sad or stressed or otherwise not paying attention--think of the number of people who come back to this forum, after succumbing to carbs when they had a stressful period in their lives! But if we prepare ourselves for that likelihood, we can fight back, much better.
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  #188   ^
Old Sat, Apr-30-16, 07:01
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
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Kat- congrats to and to your hubs! I'm a type I, so I get so excited when i hear about type IIs getting control using diet and exercise
Personally making flax muffins or coconut biscuits once in a while, but i wouldn't do it too often- they mess with my stomach.

Over the past 11 or so years i have been low carb, i eventually found presentation makes a tremendous difference in how people perceive a dish. let me give an example or two from recent dinners:

1. We are having chicken with green beans tonight.
We are having a bed of roast lemon garlic green beans, with balsamic chicken on top, sprinkled with crushed red pepper and parsley. Throw a slice of lemon on top for extra dazzle power (You can let it roast with green beans).

2. We are having shrimp and broccoli tonight.
We are having a bed of roasted broccoli slaw topped with garlic lemon shrimp and crushed red pepper, parmesan and parsley. You could also top the slaw with marinara and then the shrimp and parm.

etc....basically, i have noticed making the veggies a "bed" with the protein on top makes people eat more veggies, because it doesn't look like a huge pile next to the meat. and it looks "fancy."

also, switching up prep techniques can make a huge difference. for example, once we discovered grilling romaine at a restaurant, i found we could easily get through 2.5 hearts for 2 adults at dinner, as it shrinks. and it feels special....
similarly, roasting brussels made them a favorite for the fella, who thought he hated them, mashing cauli won him over, etc.....

experimenting is key, and can be frustrating....what do you MEAN you don't like zoodles???? but over time we are finding what works for us- he dislikes zoodles, so fine we use broccoli slaw as our go to "pasta sub."

keep up the hard work- i would do anything to be off insulin
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  #189   ^
Old Tue, Sep-06-16, 10:53
Feinman Feinman is offline
 
Plan: My own
Stats: 208/180/165 Male 70 inches
BF:
Progress:
Default "book of 300 recipes" and people are bored.

You have a book of 300 recipes and people are bored. Ha. What a world. Classic. You've probably had conversations with people who say they are tired of eggs now that they are on low-carb. (Never mind that the Larousse Gastronomique probably has more than 300 egg recipes). When you press them for what they ate before it is usually oatmeal which...you guessed it, they eat every day. Anyway, thanks for your support and good luck on bored with low carb. By the way, you should check out Judy Barnes Bakers books or contact her directly since she has similar restricted diet. Regards, Richard Feinman.
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  #190   ^
Old Tue, Sep-06-16, 11:08
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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It isn't boredom, I've come to realize. It is preference. When people think about eating eggs and they're in the throws of ketogenic anorexia, it sounds not so appealing. But, oh boy, that flavorless oatmeal they had every morning for 10 years sounds wonderful.

That's 10 years of Pavlovian conditioning against a few weeks of low carbing with ketogenic lack-of-appetite that makes eggs sounds not so good.
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  #191   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 12:55
ImOnMyWay's Avatar
ImOnMyWay ImOnMyWay is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,831
 
Plan: OWL
Stats: 177/168/135 Female 5'1"
BF:50.5/38/25
Progress: 21%
Location: Los Angeles
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Not boredom so much for me, I do mix it up quite a bit. I do find that if I eat too much fat I get nauseous. If my body wants protein and I give it too much fat, or if I eat close to zero carbs this can happen. Like one time I was having my first meal of the day after 2PM (which happens often). I went to a sushi bar and was eating things like salmon collar, salmon sashimi, started feeling nauseous. I asked the chef for a bowl of peeled and sliced cucumber, and had a couple tablespoons of rice (in the form of nigiri). This helped a great deal.

Upping my carbs just a bit when this happens handles the problem for me. I take it one meal at a time, and rarely eat higher carb more than one meal in row.

I tried a fat fast once because I was in a diet bet and had only a few days left to reach my goal. I didn't last an entire day on the fat fast. When it came time to eat my half a deviled egg I felt like I had gold in my hands. Precious, my Precious. LOL

This thread has been very helpful. Good to know that the anorexia thing is common.
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  #192   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 14:35
Charms09's Avatar
Charms09 Charms09 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 786
 
Plan: ZC (started w/Atkins)
Stats: 164/132.8/124 Female 5x2"
BF:27%
Progress: 78%
Location: Virginia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MickiSue

For me, I liken it to the description of alcohol in the AA Big Book (I used to be married to an alcoholic). Alcohol is "cunning, baffling and powerful." So is any addiction, including to carbs in their many forms.


This is how I view this WOE!

OK so I have not been on this Atkins/Paleo diet very long but I stopped eating bread & desserts a year ago (& fast foods several years ago)...I did however when I was having a particularly bad day (which was more often than I liked to admit) have a slice of cheese & a few crackers or a bowl of rice krispies with almond milk thinking that this stuff can not be so bad for me...but I was not loosing weight (not gaining either) but I never felt good or satisfied. I stayed depressed about my life & had a headache all the time & I was moody.

When I decided I had to be doing something wrong I started researching & after reading a mind mumbling amount if info I decided to give low carb eating a try...after a week I was feeling better so I did some more research into low carb eating & stumbled articles & blogs on how this way of life could actually make a difference in my weight loss & my health...so here I am sure that I have finally made the right choice! I love eating this way & I have stopped geting those emotional carb cravings!

Now I am know that I will be tempted sooner or later but I am stubborn if nothing else & I plan on looking that donut or begal or cake in the eye & saying "ok you carb infested bugger I know you want me to eat you but I kicked you out of my life & I don't walk down old paths a second time!"

Am I being niev...maybe...but I think mind set is the key & doubt is the downfall!
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  #193   ^
Old Thu, Oct-27-16, 18:20
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
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Nope. Not naive. Smart and wise. Because that's the trick, in a sentence. It's not willpower, it's having made a decision and sticking to it.

But it's also having a plan for when that bagel looks at you.

JustJo, one of my favorite people around here, has a whole list of ways to avoid going off plan. The one I like the best, when things get really touchy is this: she tells herself, Fine. I can have that tomorrow.

Of course, by the time tomorrow comes, the crisis has been averted.
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  #194   ^
Old Wed, Nov-30-16, 04:55
jaywood jaywood is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 513
 
Plan: the FightDoctors plan
Stats: 215/171/165 Male 177 cm
BF:
Progress: 88%
Location: Scotland
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Nancy I like that comment about its not boredom but preference. I ate nearly the same food every day or at least every week before starting LC, with little variety. I would even always get the same take out's. But I never thought about it being boring, it was just carby goodness.

Now I think about what I eat, I think about the variety of what I eat. Now it can seem boring. But I think you are right, I am labeling the feeling incorrectly. I will try and focus on preference rather than an instant negative reaction.

Thank you.
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  #195   ^
Old Wed, Nov-30-16, 08:57
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Way to go, Jaywood! I run into that too. I have to remind myself I'm not bored, I'm just not eating the food I really, really desire at the moment.
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