I stopped dieting...

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A Low-Carb Lifestyle Should Never Be Boring!

I hear people say, "I'm bored with low-carbing." Have you ever said that? I certainly have. When I was a 15-year-old on a low-carb diet, I ate ground beef patties, salads with ranch dressing, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, tuna salad, and pork rinds until I was ready to spit! My mom was not going to buy steaks and lamb chops just for me, although I would not have argued. I got bored, so I stopped.

Now, at 58 years old, I have  low-carb cookbooks, apps, podcasts, and a recipe file all on my iPhone. My Everlovin' Low-Carb board on Pinterest expands daily. How did I manage in 1973 with only the recipes from Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution?

With all of these resources, it would seem impossible to be bored. Yet, if we are lazy or uninspired, we become repetitive and unoriginal. Our meals need to be fresh and sometimes surprising. I may not always follow a recipe, but I make sure that I have a variety of food items—in my fridge and pantry—to remain imaginative.

SWEET AND SIMPLE COFFEE

1. Make coffee (we like French Press) and pour into a 6-8 ounce coffee cup.
2. Add a pat of butter (optional) and 2-3 tablespoons of whole cream.
3. Include 4-5 drops of Dark Chocolate Better Stevia Liquid Sweetener.
4. Stir or use an immersion stick. Blend together and sprinkle with cocoa powder!

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Bacon Onion Rings with Simple Sriracha Dip

French fries may be high in carbs, but I do not regard them as taboo. I save them for special treats — especially sweet potatoes fried in duck fat.

Onion rings require more caution. Traditional recipes contain wheat and gluten. Low-carb versions use coconut flour, almond flour, or crushed pork rinds in place of bread crumbs.

Enter Bacon Onion Rings with Simple Sriracha Sauce! Raw bacon is wrapped like a wreath around onion hoops. Thick-cut bacon yields rings that are more like a meal. Standard bacon (1/16 of an inch) creates rings that are light and crispy. Partnered with the dip, this appetizer is a novelty!

NOTE: Trader Joe's Sriracha Sauce contains 1 gram of sugar per teaspoon. The carbs will mount quickly, so I mix it with avocado oil mayonnaise for a healthy low-carb dip!

BACON ONION RINGS WITH SRIRACHA DIP

INGREDIENTS

THE RINGS

• Several large onions. (You will only be using the outer rings, so estimate how many bacon onion rings you would like to make.) 
• Thick or thinly sliced bacon without nitrites/nitrates—preferably sugar-free. (Thin slices will require about 1½ slices per ring; thick slices about 2½.)

THE DIP

• Trader Joe's Sriracha Sauce
• Avocado oil mayonnaise
• Dried marjoram, parsley, or chives.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 275˚.
2. Cut the ends off of the onion(s) and then slice the onion(s) in half across the equator.
3. Slice each of those halves in half, cutting in the same direction. The rings need to be about ½ inch tall.
4. Separate the rings by 2's. I use 4-6 outside rings, depending on the onion's size, reserving the rest of the onions for something else.
5. Wrap each of the double rings with bacon. The bacon will cling to itself. Tuck the ends underneath the rings.
6. Using a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil, you can place the rings directly on the foil or use a greased rack. Both ways work for me.
7. Place rings in the oven and bake for 60-90 minutes. Thick bacon will require the full 90 minutes —  maybe less for thin bacon. 
8. For crispier rings, place them under broiler for a few minutes at the end of cooking. Stay with them to prevent burning.
9. The Sriracha Dip is a blend of avocado oil mayonnaise and sriracha sauce. The ration is 3 parts mayonnaise to 1 part sriracha sauce. Make as much as you need. Add a dried herb for more gusto.

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"Fasting is not about starving oneself."

The Complete Guide to Fasting: 

Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, 

Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting

Podcaster Jimmy Moore and I have never met. I hope we will one day. We have only shared a few tweets; yet I feel like he is a good friend.

I first heard Jimmy's podcast—The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show—over a year ago. His story is amazing! Having once weighed over 400 pounds, he successfully cut out the carbage, trimmed down, and is now able to control his diabetes.

Jimmy is a playful, insightful, and knowledgeable crusader for low-carb and ketogenic lifestyles. His message has changed countless lives and earned him international recognition. He has authored several books and is ready to publish another: The Complete Guide to Fasting. (Available through Amazon on October 18th, 2016.)

Formerly, just hearing the word "fasting" made me cringe. I equated it with deprivation. I was certain that starving and fasting meant the same thing! 

Happily, low-carb-high-fat (LCHF) meals are so satiating, I am naturally not hungry for hours. In reality, I am already experiencing a form of fasting!

I endeavor to restrict my eating to an 8-hour window. I reserve the remaining 16 hours for digestion, healing, repair, and recharging. My bathroom scale loves it and so do I!

HERE IS WHAT AMAZON SAYS ABOUT JIMMY'S NEW BOOK...

Thousands of books have been written about the latest and greatest diets that will help people lose weight and improve health. But a key element in any successful nutritional health program is a tried-and-true method that most people haven’t thought about—yet it could be revolutionary for taking health to the next level. This ancient secret is fasting. 

Fasting is not about starving oneself. When done right, it’s an incredibly effective therapeutic approach that produces amazing results regardless of diet plan. In fact, Toronto-based nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung has used a variety of fasting protocols with more than 1,000 patients, with fantastic success. In The Complete Guide to Fasting, he has teamed up with international bestselling author and veteran health podcaster Jimmy Moore to explain what fasting is really about, why it’s so important, and how to fast in a way that improves health. Together, they make fasting as a therapeutic approach both practical and easy to understand. 

The Complete Guide to Fasting explains:

• why fasting is actually good for health
• who can benefit from fasting (and who won’t)
• the history of fasting
• the various ways to fast: intermittent, alternate-day, and extended fasting
• what to expect when starting to fast
• how to track progress while fasting
• the weight loss effects of fasting
• how to ward off potential negative effects from fasting 

The book also provides tools to help readers get started and get through their fasts, including a 7-Day Kick-Start Fasting Plan and healing liquid recipes.

NOTE: I will be reserving my copy at Amazon and you can, too! Just click HERE.

I listen to all of his podcasts on Overcast, although they are available in iTunes as well. Click HERE to listen to Episode 1153: Jimmy Moore – 2016 Low-Carb Cruise Lecture. He discusses the differences between Low-Carb, Paleo, and Primal diets.

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Saveur Magazine

Saveur is my absolute favorite culinary magazine! It reminds me of Disney's It's a Small World—only in the warmth of an ethnic kitchen. The photos and personal perspective invite me into its pages, making me a mealtime guest.

Saveur's website shares the following...

This magazine truly speaks to people who are enthusiastic about creating artful cuisine. It explores the authentic cuisines of the world, tracks recipes and ingredients to their places of origin and illuminates their history, traditions and local flavors. In addition, it contains informative news about the latest in culinary trends, kitchen tips and techniques and a calendar of culinary events. If you are an adventurous eater who loves tasting all different kinds of food and exploring their heritage, you will love what Saveur has to offer.

This blurb describes me, too. I view myself as an "adventurous eater" and for the very reasons listed. Being raised on a traditional American diet left a plethora of exotic foods off of the shopping list. There are so many cultures, regions, and foods to explore; and Saveur inspiringly provides the transportation.

World cuisine recipes obviously include some grains and sugar, but most of Saveur's recipes can be easily modified with real food. It is true that using substitutes like almond or coconut flour will alter the texture of certain recipes. If done right, though, flavor will not be sacrificed.

The Saveur website is currently offering a year's subscription for $19.95—a 62% savings! However, I picked up a copy of their Summer 2016 edition at Barnes and Noble and the enclosed subscription card is a far better deal. For a 73% savings, you can subscribe for only $11.97! Plus, you will receive 2 gifts: Italian Classics Vols. 1 & 2.

♫ "It's a small world after all..."

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Waxing Poetic

Smiles,

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My Story | Removing the Carbage

Like many of you, I have battled the bulge for most of my life. It was an obstacle course. Yet, ironically, my journey dropped me off right where I started.

I was a chubby toddler. It was considered “cute” in the 50s and 60s. I lost most of the baby fat in elementary school, although I was never slim. My personal struggle with weight arrived with puberty. 

At 5 feet, 6½ inches tall, I typically felt obese, especially when comparing myself to peers. Yet, my highest teen weight remained below 145. I laugh now that I have been 90 pounds heavier.

In the summer of 1973, I was a 15-year-old preparing for high school. My wrestling match with weight had pinned me down. When my mom purchased “Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution” (published by Bantam in 1972), I felt like she had tossed me a life preserver.

Carbohydrates had been my friend longer than I knew what a carbohydrate was. Carbs were my go-to food, but my indulgence was not without guilt. I reasoned that binge-and-purge was my own invention. I developed an unhealthy relationship with food and I rarely ate 1 serving of anything.

I favored the “P” words: pastry, pasta, and potatoes. I loved buttered white bread and plates piled with pasta. I sought out bakeries featuring scones, croissants, and anything chocolate. I had a little tea with my sugar; kept a perpetual stash of watermelon hard candies in my school locker; and I knew where Mom hid the good stuff.

The Dr. Atkins’ program worked amazingly well! (I majored more on the protein aspect and not the fat.) I trimmed down in time to turn heads at the high school, although I soon surrendered to social eating. I had become bored with ground beef patties, hot dog wieners, tuna, egg salad, cheddar cheese, and iceberg lettuce. In a family of 5, steaks were not often on the grocery list.

My biggest weight gain occurred with my first pregnancy in 1987. Fish made me ill, yet I had no issues with carbs. I often craved a capacious bowl of mashed potatoes pooled with butter. My weight soared to 180, dropped while nursing my daughter, and then climbed back to my top pregnancy weight. 

I will not burden you with the names of diets, but I have spent the last 4 decades experimenting with most trending weight loss systems. Despite practicing food-combining, cutting the fat, and emulating the French and Greeks, I just kept adding pounds. I actually woke up to the exact same weight for 1 year, no matter how carefully I had eaten!

My husband frequently observed me preparing organic and natural meals that Whole Foods would have applauded. The nagging question was, “How could we go wrong with brown rice, whole grain breads, and pasta?”

In 2015, a friend told me she had gone gluten free. I knew I was not celiac, but I was experiencing considerable bloating when I ate grain products. I eliminated gluten and felt better. I lost only 10 pounds. Then, in August of that year, I discovered Jimmy Moore’s “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show” via podcast. I had an AHA moment!

Eliminating gluten had begun to clear out the usual suspects, but I needed to acknowledge that low-carbing was the only thing that had ever worked for me! So, I returned to my point of departure, only the landscape had changed dramatically. 

My first foray into low-carbing was in a world without internet. Now the resources are almost overwhelming! There is no shortage of support! I have adapted to a LCHF (Low-Carb-High-Fat) plan which includes moderate meat, healthy high fats, and low carb vegetables. I am keeping my carbs closer to a Keto diet, although I have not invested in the equipment to monitor ketone readings. And, as of this posting, I have lost 37 pounds!

I enjoy creative cooking and that includes my passion for ethnic cuisine. I have made some sacrifices—but not with flavor. Fat is now my friend! And butter is back, baby!

"CARBE" DIEM!

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Why do it if I don't have to?

[NOTE: This post first appeared on my blog, eye-dyllic, in January of 2015. It was an important step toward embracing my low-carb lifestyle.]

I am fortunate to not be celiac or gluten intolerant. Some friends—suffering from celiac disease—have legitimately questioned why I would eat gluten free when I don't have to. Well, having lost weight by cutting out gluten, I reintroduced small amounts of wheat products during Christmas of 2014. I gained weight faster than a chicken lays eggs! I immediately experienced major bloating, discomfort, and sluggishness. My body put me on alert. 

I am definitely gluten sensitive. As long as I don't replace gluten with unnecessary carbs, I enjoy greater health, energy, and sharpness. Plus, eating whole, organic, and locally sourced food is quite satisfying.

I have ridden the diet roller coaster. It had its ups and downs and when I got off, my weight mostly went up! I want to eat real food. I just need to listen to what my body is telling me.

X-glutton for gluten,

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