Low carb 101: eat simple, live healthy

October 8, 10:13 AMLow Carb ExaminerT.J. Freeman Jr.

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Low Carb Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Fresh veggies are as simples as it gets! (credit)

The word diet carries such a harsh connotation to some people that it deters them from wanting to make a positive change in their life.  Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a diet, let's make it simple and look at it more from an angle of what you can have.  Everyone has heard the acronym K.I.S.S, right?  Keep it simple stupid!

When you start a diet or lifestyle change, there has to be a big shift in your mindset to help you stay on plan.  If you are new to low carb and are coming from a calorie or point counting diet, learning to count carbs is going to be tricky at first.  A carb reference guide can save your diet when shopping at the grocery store.  A general rule of thumb is to stay on the outer ring of the store.  You'll notice that all the fresh food is located around the outside of the store and most everything that is in the middle is going to be your processed food items that are generally higher in carbs.  This isn't to say that everything around the outside is ok for a low carb lifestyle; our Ingles has their bakery around the outside of the store.  But as a rule if you start there with all the items that are considered fresh or have some kind of expiration date on them then you have made a pretty good start.

Fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese, poultry, seafood, and dairy products all were, or come directly from something that used to be alive therefore generally have less preservatives than something like a cracker.  These items are what I would consider simple, they have very few ingredients in them and have little room for "hidden" carbs.  The fewer ingredients also means they should contain less additives, preservatives, and other chemicals that can be harmful to your body.  A simple carb counter will be all you need to know how many carbs are in each one of these items (many of these won't have a nutritional label on them).

Here are three simple meal examples for your low carb diet:

Breakfast:

• 2 pieces bacon/sausage
• 2 eggs
• 2 slices fresh tomato

Lunch:

• 1 grilled chicken breast (or 2-3 grilled fillets)
• mixed green salad with 2 ounces sugar free dressing

Dinner:

• 8 ounce hamburger steak (or grilled steak, chicken, fish)
• steamed vegetables (cauliflower, squash slices, broccoli)

Super simple menus like this are the key to a healthy, low carb lifestyle.  When you add processed food items to your diet, you add the risk of also adding carbs, chemicals, carcinogens, and other unknown additives and preservatives that can not only increase the number of carbs but also cause other health issues with your body.