[Sca-cooks] Carb Control Nutritional Plans (was RE: South Beach (was Re: Rice))

[Lady Celia]

Helena wrote:
>  We are doing South Beach as well...
SNIP
>  I am having real trouble with breakfast.  I don't like to eat eggs by
>  themselves.
SNIP
>  Cereal is supposed to be out, English muffins are supposed to be out.
>  What am I supposed to have in the morning?

And Lilinah replied:
<<I don't understand why people in the US feel they must eat eggs or 
cereal or bread for breakfast. In many other cultures breakfast is 
not appreciably different from other meals.

Eat anything you like and have time to prepare that the diet allows.>>

Excellent suggestions, all, Lilinah.

About the only nutritional plan that I do well on is a carb control plan.  I
say "carb control" because both Atkins and South Beach are carb control
plans standardized with a whole set of rules that often cause people to give
up on the plan because they find them too "restrictive", when neither plan
requires that you be inflexible.  You just have to be a bit of a nutrition
geek to get along with them.  For example neither plan forbids oatmeal
forever... oatmeal, while it is "high carb", is *all* "good carbs" and full
of fiber.  You don't want to eat it when you first begin your program, nor
do you want to eat it everyday (like I used to), or full of dried fruit
(which is the real culprit)... but a bowl of steel cut oats with splenda and
just a drop of molasses if you're a real "brown sugar" fanatic occasionally
in the later stages is fine. 

As for breakfasts, I haven't been able to afford to be on plan for a while,
but I used to love beef & broccoli over cabbage (rather than noodles or
rice) & individual crustless quiches (I'm a big quiche Lorraine fan, but you
can put 'good carb' veggies in your quiche as well.  I just made the filling
for a large quiche, then put that into custard ramekins, covered it with
plastic for storage (you can actually freeze them if you need to - I
generally didn't need to), and then either bake them in the oven or the
microwave when you're ready for them.  I was bad about eating the Atkins
bars (or other meal replacement bars) on the run... some of those are
palatable. 

There's also a Live Journal blog devoted specifically to "Atkins" recipes,
http://community.livejournal.com/atkins_recipes/ (hmmm!  there's a new
recipe for "Sham"balya" I'll have to try!) and of course the Atkins site and
the South Beach site both have lots of great recipes.  There are also lots
of low carb/controlled carb communities out there where you can get an
overwhelming amount of information and recipes, and support.  That last is
tremendous, especially when you're jones-ing for something specific and need
help figuring out what you can eat instead.  Most of us would never think of
making lace cheese crisps & pepperoni crisps to replace "chips", but once
you have - oh, Wow!  Or have an atkins "Danish" (made with ricotta cheese
and egg puffed up like a puff pastry.) 

So my strongest recommendations would be to a) seek out support communities
for recipes and to ask questions (but ignore the fanatics who don't
understand the nutrition and are fundamentalist "rules Nazis"), and b) learn
*why* it works and what the sound nutritional principles behind it are so
that you can make decisions on which rules to work around.  I, for example,
tend to lean towards South Beach, but use butter and cream in moderation
rather than margarine and low fat dairy products (I accept the stipulation
that Atkins makes that fats tend to be most harmful when combined with a
high carb diet, and my blood tests bear out the fact that a little full fat
dairy doesn't negatively impact my cholesterol levels), and I use the
ricotta cheese desserts recommended by South Beach but not permitted by
Atkins (as I don't see the concern with the minute amount of lactase in the
ricotta once you're past induction), things like that.  

I also take into consideration a vegetable's (which are, after all carbs as
well) or a starch's glycemic impact when determining whether or not I can
afford the carbs, rather than just looking at the net carbs, because the
bottom line as to why carb control nutritional plans work so well for so
many is quite simply because they *stabilize blood sugar levels*.  That's
why, once you detox and get your system back in balance (after induction)
you have less and less problems fighting 'cravings' and hunger pangs.  Keep
an eye on your nutritional needs and your body doesn't "demand" things it
needs based on what you're used to eating.  

All that said I'll share my very favorite "Atkins" meal.  Surf & turf...
Steak & shrimp scampi, steamed broccoli with butter, preceded by a salad
with Italian dressing topped with romano and finished (if I'm *really*
hungry) with a chocolate ricotta dessert
http://lowcarbconfidential.com/2007/09/28/recipe-chocolate-ricotta-dessert/
 
Healthy eating!
Celia