Suggestions for carb alternatives?

[AccountingDrone]

Hummus itself is not exactly carb friendly.
.

When you consider hummus is pretty much a condiment, not something to be eaten by the tablespoonful, it is. A portion control cup of hummus is 3 tablespoonsful and goes with a cup or 2 half cups of raw veggies [or more if it involves celery or romaine lettuce]

As I said, portion control is your friend. If you grab the hummus tub and a bag of chips, of course it is not atkins friendly.

[KiaKat]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Quinoa yet. It's high-protein, low-carb, and can be a good substitute for rice, pasta, potatoes, or any other starch base. Cooks up the same as couscous, too.

Moderating carbs is a great idea. When you're portioning your meal, try this: take your plate and split it in half. Fill one half with veggies. Actual veggies, not a lettuce-filled salad. Split the other half of the plate in half again. Put your starch in one of the quarters, and the protein in the other. At dinner, your protein should be 3-4oz, about the size of a deck of playing cards. Starch should equal about a cup, cooked.

[NorthernZel]

Fuck Atkins.

I am not doing Atkins, just going to try to lower the carbs. And fruit and veggies are high on my list of things that rock.

I am going to agree with my friend the personal trainer when she said "you can never do too much fruits or vegetables."

That's a good thing.

Over here, nutricians say that there's a difference between "healthy carbs" and "empty carbs".

Empty carbs are found in starch-based foods such as pasta, noodles, potatoes and white rice.

Healthy carbs are found in fruits and vegetables. Especially "green veggies" such as green beans, lettuce, sugar snaps etc. are good since they provide a lot of calcium along with the carbs.

When I was pregnant with Lil'Zel, I was assigned a nutrician since I was already overweight then and it was important not to gain too much weight during my pregnancy.

My nutrician advised me to use the 50/25/25 method: On one's plate 50% of the meal should consist of veggies, 25% should consist of protein (meat, dairy product, eggs, fish (preferably fish!) and the last 25% of carbs (rice, pasta, potatoes, whatever). Also, the nutrician advised that I should eat the items in a specific order: 2 bites of veggies - 1 bite of protein or carb food - 2 bites of veggies - 1 bite of protein/carb - 2 bites of veggies etc. The theory behind this should be that the fibers in the veggies help you digest the proteins/carbs better and therefore get quickier through one's systems.

Anyway, it worked for me - during my pregnancy I only gained 3 (THREE) pounds (or 1.5 kgs) of weight. And I didn't do any excercise except from taking some long walks now and then.

[Seshat]

Use some whipping cream, a splash of vanilla and some Splenda and you have a very low carb whipped cream that tastes awesome with berries

People put sugar in whipped cream?

Whipped cream doesn't need any sweetening! It's to balance out the sweet!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Also, remember that carbohydrates are something human bodies need-- so eventually you'll have to 'go back to a normal diet'-- that is, Atkins' and any other 'lose weight' diet is only temporary.

This is why you do not do Atkins as a "diet." It was never meant as a diet. It was meant as a lifestyle.

You get plenty of carbs on Atkins, and you will not have to go back to a "normal" diet. The "normal" diet is what ruins your health and makes you fat in the first place.

If you go back to what messed you up in the first place, it will mess you up again.

My entire family and a number of my friends have been doing this for a decade.

[surreal20]

Okay, so as part of my attempt to counter my midsection's continued expanding of its horizons, I am going to take some advice proffered to me and try a bit of Atkins.

Towards that, I am going to cut out bagels for a while (I'm Jewish...that's not easy), but I need some ideas for some other parts of my diet.

Specifically, I love me some ham and swiss on rye bread. LOVE it. Are there other ways to do this, or should I just leave rye bread as one carb-heavy item in my diet that I don't eliminate?

Also, I have been eating hummus with pitas. Suggestions on what to dip in the hummus instead? Veggies perhaps?

The rest of the carb-heavy items in my diet are more easily eliminated, so suggestions on the above two would be great.

lol i have one question. If you're Jewish...why do you eat ham? lol I was under the impression that pork was not allowed in the Jewish faith because it's not kosher.

Juuust wondering

[Dave1982]

lol i have one question. If you're Jewish...why do you eat ham? lol I was under the impression that pork was not allowed in the Jewish faith because it's not kosher.

Juuust wondering

I said I am Jewish, not that I keep kosher. I don't. Hell, I have a shirt that says "Bacon makes everything better."

So being Jewish without being kosher means I get the best of both worlds, i.e., ham on rye, challah french toast, bacon, etc.

Already answered.

[surreal20]

lol thanks. I was just glancing by the thread :P I had a feeling it went over already.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

I know that people get overweight through unhealthy diets, such as myself. I apparently misunderstand some diets, because the way I have them conceptualized is that 'lose-weight diets allow you to lose weight, so eventually you need to adjust the diet so that it doesn't keep making you skinny.' A 'normal' diet, therefore, to me, is one that maintains a healthy weight, rather than allowing you to lose weight further, or gain too much weight to burn off through normal living.
My apologizes for the confusion and/or misunderstanding.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Lose weight diets are doomed to fail. Anything you can't maintain is doomed to fail.

I think the reason so many folks have such a hard time finding something that works for them is because there is so much talk of "dieting" and people think that is the answer. It's not.

You find a healthy lifestyle you can maintain, and your body will find it's healthy weight and stay there. You won't waste away to nothing on a healthy lifestyle. It will trim down (or build up!) to what it needs to be to be healthy.

It's all about finding something that works for the long haul!

[Whiskey]

I know that people get overweight through unhealthy diets, such as myself. I apparently misunderstand some diets, because the way I have them conceptualized is that 'lose-weight diets allow you to lose weight, so eventually you need to adjust the diet so that it doesn't keep making you skinny.' A 'normal' diet, therefore, to me, is one that maintains a healthy weight, rather than allowing you to lose weight further, or gain too much weight to burn off through normal living.

All a diet really should ever be is decreasing the amount of calories you take in on a daily basis, but never less than 10x your body weight. Anyone who goes from an unhealthy diet to a healthy diet will lose weight (barring medical issues). Dieting as it is now, is stupid and usually very reckless/dangerous. I know more people willing to eat nothing but cabbage soup for a month than just eating properly and exercising 3x a week.

Theres also a huge difference between "your diet" and "a diet" in the way you use them. A healthy diet (proportional to your activity level) will never require you to go on a diet.

[Jester]

If you go back to what messed you up in the first place, it will mess you up again.

In my case what "messed me up in the first place" was genetics and age. I'm not going back to those, but I can't really avoid them either!

lol i have one question. If you're Jewish...why do you eat ham? lol I was under the impression that pork was not allowed in the Jewish faith because it's not kosher.

Short answer: I am Jewish by descent, but not kosher by practice.

Long answer: I am descended from Jews, am from a Jewish family, but do not practice the faith, either in worship or dietary laws. Both of my parents were raised in kosher Jewish homes, and both basically ran screaming from the religion. I was raised on ham and rye bread, ham and eggs. I was never raised kosher, and while I have many relatives (including first cousins) who were raised that way and who do keep kosher, I couldn't give a rat's ass for that practice, and love bacon like a sibling. In my case, sometimes more than a sibling, as not all of my siblings are as wonderful or as pleasant as bacon. (Hell, my older sister isn't even as pleasant as a bad rash.)

Just as there are many Christians who don't abide by all the tenets of their faith, there are many Jews who don't either, and that includes the kosher dietary laws. That being said, I consider myself Jewish by descent only, as I don't go to Temple, I don't believe in what is preached therein, and I certainly don't follow the dietary laws set down by the Torah. I am aware of them, certainly, but I could give two rye shits about them, to be honest.

I am Jewish by birth and by name, not by practice or belief. Make sense?