Guilty Pleasures No More!

Eating low carb is AWESOME!  This diet has allowed me to eat things that I would normally save for special occasions.  For example, pesto.  I’ve always felt guilty eating it because of all the olive oil, cheese and nuts.  This week, my boyfriend grilled some chicken thighs and coated them in pesto with some steamed broccoli, haricot vert and cherry tomatoes. YUM!  I was in total bliss- because it was so decadent AND low carb!

You know on the first day of school, you usually go around introducing yourself with your name and something interesting about yourself?  Well, I used to say,

“Hi, I’m Teena, and cheese is my favorite food group.” 

Yes, I know cheese is not a food group- I was just trying to be funny!  Anyways, as I got older, I began to realize that cheese was a “no, no” and began scaling back drastically.  No more cheese and cracker time or cheese on my turkey burger.  But now on this low carb diet, I can freely eat it!  I’ve been having pepper jack almost every morning with my eggs and feta in my salad at lunch.

Eating all of these off-limit foods is so satisfying!

 

*BTW my boyfriend substituted walnuts for pine nuts in the pesto because walnuts are a better deal!

Holiday Weekend Struggle

I’m not going to lie- low carbing is not easy, especially when your visiting family and all that’s available for breakfast is homemade banana muffins and super-sweet strawberries from Modesto.  I caved and had 6 strawberries.  Believe me, they were worth every single carb!  My loving bf made me the only egg in the house and a chicken apple sausage scramble.

It’s also tough when it’s Memorial Day weekend and it’s BBQs galore.  If you’re Asian, you know that there’s enough food for everyone to take home lunch for the rest of the week!  In this case, only half Asian, but there was still an enormous amount of food!  I did ok- I had a grilled pork chop, roasted asparagas, a few mussels and a little caesar salad minus the croutons.  I managed to bypass the sushi and galic mashed potatoes but I couldn’t pass up the cookies and cream ice cream cake.  It was actually more of an ice cream pie, about 25 carbs and I had been so good all day- I went for it!  Well, just a small piece. =)

Have you been to BJ’s?  I don’t usually eat at chain restaurants, but my bf’s family suggested it…  It has a pretty huge menu and portion sizes like The Cheesecake Factory.  With a few modifications, I was able to get a really declicious, low carb salad.

Pictured left, I had a Garden Medley Salad with artichoke hearts, fire-roasted red peppers, tomatoes, red onions, feta cheese with substitutions of baby greens instead of romaine lettuce, creamy garlic dressing instead of balsamic and an addition of cajun shrimp.  I should have asked for the dressing on the side because my lettuce was drowning in it but it ended up being alright.  Overall, this was so yummy that I’m still thinking about it!  Looks like I know what I’m having for lunch next week- or tomorrow…

My carb intake was still well under the 100 or less carbs for accelerated fat burning.  During the week, it’s easy for me to stay under the 50 or less carbs for ketosis, but this holiday weekend proved to be a struggle with all of the temptations.  I’ll make up for it starting now!

Day One- Success!

My first day of low carbin’ was a total success!

For breakfast, I started the day with two hardboiled eggs and 5 slices of salame, carbs=1.  This was just ok and I realize that I need to get more creative with breakfast, so I don’t’ get bored or tempted to eat more carbs!  I also had a mozzarella cheese snack, carbs=1.

For lunch, I had a salad with 2.5 cups organic spring mix, .5 cup rotisserie chicken, .25 cup sliced crimini mushrooms,  two tbsp of Trader Joe’s Greek Style Feta dressing and a mozzarella cheese stick, carbs=8.  This was delicious and I would definitely eat this again.  I also had a Detour Peanut Butter Cream bar for a snack/dessert, net carbs=1.

For dinner (pictured), my boyfriend wanted to make kabobs- we used turkey and fired up the grill!  We also grilled a yellow bell pepper.  Traditionally, kabobs are served with rice or bread, so to stay low carb I decided to put my kabobs on a bed of organic lettuces.  I can’t believe how beautiful and delicious this turned out!  My scrumptious turkey kabob salad included 2 turkey kabobs, 3 cups organic spring mix, .5 yellow bell pepper, .5 cup english cucumber, 5 cherry tomatoes and 2 tbsp Trader Joe’s Raita mixed with 2 tsp Sriracha, carbs=16.  Yum!  This was so satisfying.  For dessert, I had a Detour Caramel Peanut bar, net carbs=3.

My total carb count for the day was 30.  Not bad for my first day!

Hello, World!

Hi there!

My name is Teena, and this is my first day on a new low carb diet.  I actually tried this diet my freshman year of college, amongst other wacky things.  I failed wildly- mostly because my perception of “healthy” was very, very wrong.  Two Jamba Juices a day?  Wrong.  A donut treat for eating “good” or “working out”?  Wrong.  I was all screwed up.  Limiting fast food to twice a week was not exactly healthy but definitely a step in the right direction.

Although my eating habits have changed dramatically for the better, 4 years out of college and I’m still struggling with my weight.   My last birthday in September, I felt a little chubby but fairly happy at 126 lbs (I’m only 5’1″).  To my surprise, after my European vacation in Barcelona, Paris and Rome, I weighed in at 124 lbs!  I actually lost weight on vacation!  Strange because I ate with absolutely no limitations.

Well, 6 months later after moving in with my wonderful boyfriend, I am 10 lbs heavier.  This is so disappointing because my New Year’s resolution to be more active and  regularly exercise has not paid off.  On January 2, 2011, I signed up for the gym and have spent at least 4-5 days a week at the gym, working out for at least 1.5 hours doing cardio for 30-40 minutes and then an hour long class like bodypump, bodycombat or bodyjam.  What’s more disheartening is that I feel like I have never eaten more healthy in my whole life!  What’s wrong?

A few months ago, my coworker mentioned that her husband lost 15 lbs in one month just by low carbing it, no exercise at all.  I continued working out at the gym and eating healthy, even tracking my calories, but the scale only budged a little.  I’m ready for something new- a new low carb lifestyle- at least until Cancun in July or my birthday in September.