I lost 14
lbs. for the wedding and after 2.5 months, I have gained 7 lbs. back.
Ben has gained a lot of weight too, so we both decided to go back to low carb
for 1 month. Ben has decided to do Atkins induction type diet for 2 weeks
(limiting carbs to 20g per day), while I decided I will just do induction for a
week, then increase my carb limit to 30g to 50g per day. I intend to
stay on low carb for a month.
We then
upped the challenge by adding at least a 30-minute workout on weekdays.
There is a $1 fine for not working out per day, but you can collect a
dollar back if you workout during the weekend.
We
started Saturday, Aug. 16 and after 6 days, I have lost 5 lbs while Ben has
lost over 8 lbs. We both attribute much of it to water weight. It
remains to be seen how much we can lose after one week.
The
hardest day for me was day 5. I was expecting to feel weak over the
first 2 days of the diet, but I only felt it after 5 days. For me, the
hardest part of low carb is the breakfast. One can only eat so much eggs.
All too soon, I was tired of eggs on day 5. Thank goodness I found
a low carb pancake recipe from IBIH which tasted more like french toast
than pancakes. But that is good enough for me. At least it's not
scrambled eggs.
The best
part about these low carb pancakes are they are so easy to make and they have less than 3g of carbs per serving. Here's how my take on the cream cheese pancakes. Sorry for the bad plating.
Our
carbquik order arrived today so I am thinking of making eggs benedict with low
carb biscuits this weekend. Not sure though if I can pull this one off.
I have never ever made hollandaise sauce nor poached an egg in my life.
But ever since my cousin Patty told me she made Eggs Benedict for my Tita Lulu
on her birthday, I have been craving it. Guess I'll find out if I can
make my chef cousin proud.
Another
thing I find so difficult in low carb dieting is the lack of desserts.
Supposedly, the cravings for sweets and starch should be curbed. I
guess somehow my cravings have lessened, but they definitely have not
disappeared. During my last low carb run before the wedding, I survived
because of almond butter, sugar free jello, Atkins chocolate bar,
and low card fudge ice cream (Breyers). This time, I want to make my dessert
list longer. Ben is going to mill almonds to make almond flour this
weekend so I am excited to whip up some low carb treats.
I am
thinking of making low carb apple crumble. I will use chayote (sayote) as
a substitute for apple. I tried sautéing chayote in butter,
cinnamon and lemon extract, and it almost tasted like apple pie filling.
I did this about 2 weeks ago when I was making a batch of lumpiang
shanghai. I had leftover spring roll wrappers so I thought of putting the
chayote filling and making turon out of it. I was too lazy to fry it so I
just baked it in the oven toaster. Now that I
am on low carb, instead of rolling it in wrapper, I will make a topping to
cover it so it becomes like an apple crisp or apple crumble.
Here's my
chayote turon a few weeks ago: They don't look good because I have no
skills in assembling and plating food, but they came out good.
It is
also difficult to dine out when you're on a low carb diet. I guess that should be a positive since it spares me the expense of dining out which can add a lot.
Oddly enough, I do not miss rice that much. I miss bread and
pastries more.
The good
thing about low carb is I can eat a lot of fats, dairy and meat, so the food I eat is
almost never bland. I can eat as much bacon and butter as I want. I even use
bacon grease a lot in cooking other things, and it renders so much flavour.
I am also forced to eat more vegetables. I hated cauliflower,
but not I appreciate how versatile it is. Ben and I have been using
cauliflower as a substitute for potatoes. We have made mock potato
salad, mock mashed potato and mock latkes using cauliflower and they were
excellent.
Low carb
is certainly hard, but not insurmountable. I can get through this.
I am cheering myself on.
