The morning of my husband's doctors appointment marked a new birthday of sorts for our family. He went in the morning, so we began our life change immediately. I got rid of all the bad foods in our house. Sodas were a huge hurdle for him, and we both were addicted to carbs. We weighed ourselves that morning. I was at 312 and he was at 316. Honestly, I wasn't as focused on weight loss as much as eating healthier and as we should for our health issues. Weightloss would be an added benefit.
I went to the grocery store, and loaded up on lean proteins and vegetables that were low in starch. The key to eating in the way that we are is to stay along the outside perimeter of the grocery store. The middle aisles are full of processed foods, full of carbohydrates and additives, which are a big problem! And, all vegetables are NOT created equal. Let me help you out with how to find the best options :)
When you are categorizing vegetables between starch and non-starchy versions, you may find yourself surprised at the veggies that fall in each category. For instance, potatoes and yams are not the only vegetables considered starchy. Additional vegetables high in starch include beans, corn, peas and lentils. However, since many beans and lentils contain a lot of protein and fiber, people that wish to limit their starch intake begin by eliminating the unhealthier white potatoes. To help you get rid of some of the starch veggies in your diet, you should know the non-starch vegetables you can enjoy instead. Your selections include onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms and turnips. If your taste buds aren't satisfied by these alternatives, use spices or toppings to improve the taste of the non-starch vegetables. When you want to limit starch vegetables in your diet, you should use the "Rule of One" to guide you through the process. This guideline requires you to cut down your starchy vegetable servings to one serving per day. Measure out this serving size and make sure it does not surpass one cup. If you're trying to limit your starches, you should only have one baked potato, sweet potato or piece of corn on the cob each day. If you find that you crave starches more than just once a day, try to split the serving size in half and eat the starch vegetable at two separate meals. Replace the starchy vegetables with healthier alternatives, like green leafy vegetables. If you're following a low-carb diet, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the starchy vegetables in order to avoid consuming them. If a vegetable has a lot of starch, then it's high in carbs as well. Luckily, you'll find that only a small number of vegetables contain a lot of starch. Start by first limiting the number of potatoes, any variety, you eat a day. Then move onto winter squashes, like pumpkin and butternut. Finally, you'll want to limit or eliminate any green beans, peas, corn and parsnips from your diet. You can safely eat many other vegetables considered low carb. Rely on healthy green veggies, cauliflower, avocado, eggplant, carrots, artichokes and more to get your daily vegetable requirement.
Fruits are another food choice where all are NOT created equal! Let me help you find the best options with fruits also! :)
There’s no doubt that fruit is sugary. The type of sugar in fruits is called fructose. On a diet like ours, fruits are surprisingly NOT off limits. There are low-sugar i.e. low-carb fruits. You just have to make wise decisions regarding which fruits to eat while low carbing. As a rule, berries are good – strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and so on. Strawberries are only 6 net grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams. That means that if you take a 50 gram serving and slice those strawberries up into some cream, you’ll only be consuming 3 grams of carbohydrate! (Net carbs means total carbohydrate minus fiber as fiber cannot be digested by the body. Net carbs are the only carbs you need to count).
Here’s a list of great low carb fruits: (all under 10 grams of carbs per 100 )
So be wise and consume the right type of fruits for your lifestyle. As a side note, DO NOT consume dried fruits as they are much higher in carbohydrate (sugar) content.
That sums up the fruits and veggies that you should choose and the ones you should stay away from. I am going to break down "the rules" of how we eat into parts, so it is easier to find later if you are looking for something specific food wise.
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