Family Atkins and Miracle Noodles?

As I continue to follow the Lo-Carb way of eating, my husband seems to be figuring that maybe this isn't just a blip on my radar screen. So he has asked for some help in following a low carb plan. However, he doesn't want to read about it-- he just wants me to tell him what to do. Hmmmm.

I wrestled with the idea and then I told him I didn't think he had what it takes to do an Induction diet-- he has so many strong food habits and he eats the same things over and over again-- without thought...like having multi-grain cheerios every weekday of warm weather and switching to oatmeal once the weather cools down. This is partly because he gets up very early and needs to get out of the house by 5:30 AM, but partly--I think it's just the way he is. He doesn't like to eat many different kinds of food and if I change a single ingredient in his meals, he notices.

So, after a sleepless night of trying to figure out how to help him, I told him maybe he should do the reverse of the Atkins plan- which is to drop all but 20 grams of carbs and then add them back in, slowly, to see what your carb tolerance is (the amount you can eat without gaining weight)  I said, "Why don't you start cutting carbs here and there and see what happens? At the same time, you can start experimenting with replacement foods.

I couldn't imagine, for instance, separating him from his hamburger or hot dog buns...!!

So, for several days now, he has been trying to lessen his carb intake. One way this happens is that I now make his breakfast as well as his lunch at 5 AM!  Hmmm. All the while the dog is whining for me to feed her!

My husband loves to say that he'd rather teach someone how to fish than fish for them, or whatever that familiar phrase is...so today I went out and bought a lot of potential low carb snack items, like almonds, pumpkin seeds, whey shake powder, green peppers etc and I got out a marker and some recipe cards:

FIRST! I wrote out the recipe for a lo carb breakfast shake: 4-6 ounces of almond milk (Whoops, he didn't know that's what I was using instead of milk!)  a couple of dollops of whole milk yogurt, 1/4 cup of cream, a scoop of sweetened with stevia, vanilla whey powder plus 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries or strawberries. Mix and BLEND!  So now he can make that every other day, at least, when I'm not making him over easy eggs and bacon.

Then I made a list of 12 different snacks...like wrapping a piece of ham or cheese around a slice of green or red pepper, or peanut butter or cream cheese on celery, or cheese on a slice of Wasa crisps instead of his usual 4  pretzels...you get the idea. Wings, with blue cheese dressing. A dill pickle wrapped up in roast beef, etc. Pumpkin seeds over 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, or 10 pecans with 1/2 cup of cantaloupe. Trying to incorporate more than just the meat and cheese or eggs--and of course, the satisfying Atkins chocolate bars!

I've been doing some stocking up, but also noticing the grocery bills-- it's expensive to eat lo carb!!  SO once I see what it is we really like to eat, I'll start looking for some cheaper ways to buy them. Like where can I buy Atkins bars wholesale!!?? Today I bought a bunch of chicken legs and thighs to cook up and have for snacks or salad components...they're cheap. And good.

As for MIRACLE NOODLES?  I finally got around to trying the angel hair variety I bought via the Internet. I combine them with an Indian Chicken dish--tandoori chicken and sauce. And the only miracle I thought of is why people every buy this stuff AGAIN!  It is very rubbery and tasteless (made of shirataki mushrooms) and I've been off pasta long enough that I just don't care anymore. Anyone that eats this stuff has not broken their "addiction" to spaghetti. This does NOT taste like food. Fa gedda boud it!!

Next, I want to tackle some Atkins type cookies for Zoe- using stevia instead of splenda. I also ordered some Lo Han-- which is a Mercola approved sweetener from China. I think Mercola is a bit of a nut case, after reading his book (And sending it back) when I saw that he tends to jump from one mode of eating to the next- each time with the fervor of a religious zealot that feels no one else can possibly be "saved" any other way.  But when it comes to sugar substitutes, I'm willing to use him as a guide. Though I DO occasional drink stuff with aspartame!