Living Low Carb (71 page)

Bring Your Own (Food, That Is)

One problem for a lot of my clients is that they don’t know how to stay on their eating plan once they’re out and about, running around, or stuck at the office. That’s probably because the whole world is set up for quick-andeasy junk food, and chicken breasts don’t fit in a vending machine. Don’t be a victim of circumstance. Take control of your own life. Start thinking about packing your own lunches, or at the very least your own snacks. Bodybuilders have been doing it for decades. You can too.

Use Green Drinks

Green drinks
is the general category name for juices from barley, wheatgrass, or any combination of whole green foods. Green drinks pack an incredible nutritional wallop and usually have amazing phytonutrient and vitamin profiles. They are very alkalizing (and are thus a terrific balance to a highermeat diet), they’re usually made from organic sources, they’re very low in calories, and most have no more than 3 to 4 grams of (low-glycemic) carbohydrate, an insignificant amount unless you are on the strictest of inductionstage diets (and even then, you can work them in). You can find them in most health-food and whole-food supermarkets, and you should definitely consider making them part of your program. My personal favorite hands down is Barlean’s Greens (available on my website,
http://www.jonnybowden.com
, or at health food stores everywhere).

Consider Eggs Rocky-Style

That’s right. Raw eggs. I put two in a glass just about every day and drink ’em down. When I tell my clients this “tip,” most look at me like I just stepped off a spaceship, but here’s the deal:
there is no more perfect food on earth, and there is no more healthful way to eat it
. Dr. Joe Mercola says, “Raw whole eggs are a phenomenally inexpensive and incredible source of high-quality nutrients that many of us are deficient in, especially highquality protein and fat.” He also believes that the reason eggs are often allergenic is that they are cooked: heating the egg protein changes its chemical shape, which can lead to allergies. When consumed raw, the incidence of egg allergy virtually disappears. One great way to consume them—if you don’t want to drink them straight—is in a protein shake. It’ll add a creamy, delicious texture to the drink and beef up the protein and nutrient count.

What about salmonella
? Well, first of all, understand this: the risk of getting an egg contaminated with salmonella is 1 in 30,000.
⁷
Second, nearly all of those contaminated eggs come from sick hens; if you get organic, freerange (and preferably omega-3-enriched) eggs, the risk virtually disappears. Third, even if you get it—and you probably won’t—salmonella is a relatively benign, self-limiting illness in healthy people.
⁸
Ninety-four percent of those who get it don’t even see a doctor.
⁹
And before you dismiss the idea of a raw egg or two as just too weird, remember how an egg cream was made at virtually every soda fountain in the world back in the “old days”: chocolate syrup, seltzer, milk, and a raw egg!

Use Cabbage Leaves for “Bread”

You could use lettuce leaves, but red cabbage is stronger. You can make a “sandwich” (or a grain-free “wrap”) of virtually any meat you like—deli turkey, real turkey, chicken, even a hamburger—by wrapping it in a big, hard leaf of cabbage or an outer leaf of lettuce. Try chicken with a few avocado slices or beef with tomato. Consider using this tip in conjunction with “Bring Your Own”!

Get a Coffee Grinder and Use It for Flaxseeds

This is just an all-around great health tip in general, but it can be especially useful to low-carbers for the following reason: flaxseeds (as opposed to flaxseed oil) are a significant source of fiber, which is not only protective against diseases like colon cancer but is also demonstrably related to weight loss. Fiber blunts blood-sugar response and adds to a feeling of fullness. At least a dozen clinical studies demonstrate the effect of fiber on weight loss (see
chapter 9
). In addition, flaxseeds are one of the best sources of the omega-3 fat ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), which has documented heartprotective effects as well as being anti-inflammatory. Inflammatory chemicals (cytokines) are produced, among other places, in the fat cells, so if you’re very heavy, you’re also likely to have a problem with inflammation. All in all, freshly ground flaxseeds are a terrific addition to your program. I use Barlean’s FortiFlax on everything, from oatmeal to veggies, and even throw a spoonful or two in my protein drinks.

Sardines: The Health Food in a Can

You simply cannot beat sardines as a quick, easy, inexpensive source of first-class protein and omega-3 fats. I learned the usefulness of sardines as a fast and easy pick-me-up when I was traveling in Florida with the famous New York nutritionist Oz Garcia and giving seminars. We had a brutal schedule and almost no time between events to grab anything to eat. Whenever Oz felt his blood sugar dropping or his energy flagging, he would stop and run into the nearest convenience store or bodega and grab…
a can of sardines
! I learned firsthand how energizing and satisfying this food can be, right out of the can! If your particular low-carb program permits it, eat sardines with some low-carb, low-sugar crackers like Wasa bread. If you’re in somewhat more relaxed circumstances than we were, sardines over any kind of green salad makes the perfect low-carb meal. The best kind (if you can find them) are packed in sardine oil. Do not buy the kind in soybean or cottonseed oils, as these are way too high in omega-6’s.

When Eating Out, Send Back the Bread

Don’t even let the waiter put it down. If it sits there, two things can happen to it—you can eat it, or you can
not
eat it. If you send it back, you eliminate the first possibility.

Eat Almonds—but Portion Them Out

Nuts are a great addition to the low-carb lifestyle—but they can also slow weight loss because they are so easy to overeat and are so high in calories. If you’re going to eat them during the weight-loss phase of your program, divide them into appropriate portions. Fifteen almonds is a portion. If you buy those big convenience bags, don’t take the whole bag with you to “snack” on—portion out your serving, put it in a little bag, and put the rest away.

Craving Sugar? Try Sautéed Almonds

Here’s a neat treat that’ll satisfy a craving for dessert: sauté some raw almonds in butter, or bake them and melt a little butter on top. Use a bit of sea salt if you like. Remember to watch the portion size (see previous tip).

Try This Super Craving-Buster

Mix together 1 tablespoon each of sesame tahini and organic soy miso, and use the mixture as a spread on celery, lettuce, or even low-carb crackers like Wasa. It’ll satisfy cravings and help reduce mineral deficiencies.

Crave-Bust with This Amino Acid

A tablespoon of powdered glutamine (an amino acid) sweetened with xylitol and dissolved in a tablespoon or two of heavy cream or half-and-half will disarm even the most demanding sugar craving.

Do Damage Control with Pasta

You don’t have to give up pasta forever, especially once you’re at your goal weight. But lower the glycemic load significantly by cooking it al dente. The less time you boil it, the more the long chains of starch molecules in the pasta remain closely packed, making it difficult for enzymes to break them down and thus lowering the impact the pasta has on your blood sugar. Better yet, get one of the new lower-carb, higher-fiber pastas and cook
that
al dente.

Here’s a Way to Become a Vegetable Lover Instantly

Even the most ardent anti-vegetable person is won over by a plate of roasted vegetables. Take a bunch of veggies (all kinds of peppers and root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, beets, and onions respond well to this method), cut them up, and arrange them in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and put ’em in the oven for thirty or forty minutes. The roasting brings out sweetness and flavor you never knew existed.

Read Labels and Be a Sugar Detective

Manufacturers are required to list ingredients in order of amount; the first ingredient makes up the largest proportion of the product, and the last ingredient is present in the lowest proportion. Most manufacturers don’t like saying that sugar is the main ingredient, even though it’s true. So they label their products with small amounts of a ton of different forms of sugar—sucrose, glucose, corn syrup, corn sweetener, dextrose, fructose, lactose, maltodextrin, invert sugar, concentrated fruit juice, sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, barley malt, malt extract, and the absolute worst of all, highfructose corn syrup. By putting in small amounts of a mix of these, they can legally disguise the fact that the main ingredient in the packaged food you are holding is … sugar! If you want to know how many teaspoons of added sugar are in a food you are eating, just divide the number of grams of sugar on the label by 4. You’ll be amazed to find that some cereals have 7 teaspoons of sugar per serving, and those serving sizes are tiny!

Giving up sugar was almost as hard as quitting smoking, but after about three months I found I didn’t crave it any more, and I felt 100% better.

—Patricia M.

Watch Those “Legal” Desserts

Just because something is low-carb does not mean it is no-calorie and definitely does not mean you can eat unlimited amounts of it. Don’t make the same mistake the low-fat dieters did when they consumed massive amounts of junk food, thinking it was perfectly okay because it was low-fat. There are plenty of delicious low-carb desserts, and it’s nice to be able to have them once in a while, but if they trigger eating binges, then step away from the dessert! It’s also not a good thing if they start to replace real food on a regular basis (same problem with low-carb bars).

If You Need Dessert, Ask for Cheese and Berries or Berries and Cream

Dr. Jack Goldberg of the GO-Diet recommends this one, and adds that you can sweeten with the no-calorie sweetener on the table if you like. If it fits into your carb allowance and you’re doing the berries and cream at home and you must have sweetener, try xylitol (see Resources).

Motivation

Keep a Journal

Virtually all of the successful low-carbers I interviewed for this book routinely kept food diaries, and journaling is one of four key behaviors consistently cited as a winning strategy by people who were successful in losing weight (at least 30 pounds, kept off for at least a year) in the National Weight Control Registry. It’s also probably the one technique that every specialist, no matter where they stand on the “dieting” spectrum, recommends.

In my own “Diet Boot Camp” program, (available on my Web site,
http://www.jonnybowden.com
), the journal is essential. Here’s why. You can’t change something unless you know what it is you’re changing—keeping records of what you’re eating allows you to see what’s working and what’s not; it allows you to track changes in your eating behavior against changes in your weight (and energy, mood, and sleep); and it causes you to be aware of what you’re eating, which keeps you rigorously honest.

In addition, for those who are so inclined, the journal can also be a terrific tool for self-discovery, and has been for many great artists throughout time. You can add recollections of the day’s events as well as notations about your feelings, your moods, your resentments, your anxieties, and your joys. But don’t feel that you
have
to—all you really need to do to make this work from a weight-loss perspective is to keep a record of what you eat and drink—every single day. You don’t have to do it forever, but the more you do it, the more successful you are likely to be.

Visit a Support Community Online

One of the best things about the Internet—besides instant messaging—is the way it has allowed people with similar interests to form long-distance communities of support and information sharing. I’ve spent literally hundreds of hours on the Internet exploring the various online communities for low-carbing, and I’ve distilled the best (and steered you from the worst) in the Resources. Take a look. You’ll find bulletin boards with posts from people just like you (no matter what level you’re at, your particular interest or concern, how much weight you have to lose, your age, or how sophisticated or unsophisticated you are about this stuff). If you don’t like the first one you go to, just pick another; eventually, you’ll find one where you feel at home. Many of the low-carb sites also have links to the diet journals, called diet blogs, of people just like you who have been successful at losing weight. And many of the sites listed in the Resources are personal sites and journals of individuals whose lives have been transformed by low-carb living. If one day you happen to feel unmotivated, look at some of their pictures!

Expect Stalls and Plateaus

There is no one on the planet who has lost weight who hasn’t experienced these. They’re a natural part of weight loss. Think of them as your body’s way of “catching up” with the changes you’re introducing to your lifestyle, kind of like a “reset” of the thermostat. They can occur for a million different reasons (see “Plateaus,” page 338), but the important point is that they
do
and
will
occur, and you will be better off if you’re prepared so that you don’t get thrown when they happen.

Find a Diet Buddy

This works for both exercise and dieting. It may even be the secret behind the success of personal training. If you have a commitment that involves another person, you are far more likely to actually
do
it. A diet buddy is like your committed listener. By stating your goals—saying out loud to another person what you’re going to eat, do, or accomplish today (or this week, or whenever)—you are giving your word a much greater reality than it might have if all you did was make a vague promise to yourself. And with the omnipresence of the Internet, there is no longer any reason not to take advantage of this secret dieting weapon. You can find a diet buddy anywhere, and you can set up the ground rules to include “check-ins” as frequently as you both need. As a frequent contributor to the iVillage.com online community, I’ve seen this tip work time and time again.