A Lower Carb Meal Plan for 5/30-6/5/11

In the past, I've tried a multitude of diets with little to no success. Oh, I've lost weight, got fit, and stuck with them for the required amount of time, but I just haven't been able to maintain that pace or dedication.

Here are a few and their outcomes...

*The Low Fat/No Fat Diet~Lost a few pounds, but that may have been the total weight of my gall bladder which had to be removed. When the body is deprived of cholesterol (from animal fats), the gall bladder puts itself in crisis mode and starts pumping out extra cholesterol to make up for it. Since hormones require cholesterol to function, this also explains the hysterectomy that followed. Total weight loss= 1 gall bladder and 1 uterus & ovary.

*The Absolutely No Carb Diet~Lost a few pounds, but felt so stupid while on that diet that I don't remember much about it except how stupid I was. This diet requires that you own stock in the Tic-Tac company as you will have extreme bad breath due to purposely throwing yourself into keto acidosis, a reaction that diabetics work hard to prevent.

*The No Sugar Diet~Not to be confused with low-carb, this diet consists of Diet Cokes, Yoplait yogurts, and little pink & blue packets in the purse. It also consists of lots of ibuprofen to hold back the headaches that come from consuming artificial sweeteners.

*The Eat Less, Move More Diet~This is the standard diet that every doctor in America tries to sell. Fact: You can NOT keep up a vigorous exercise routine without feeding your body the energy that it needs to burn stored fat. It's kind of like owning a car and depriving it of gasoline. You can still make the car move, but pushing the car several inches is not the same as driving the car several miles.

With 35 pounds to lose, I've embarked on another plan. This time I'm using a more common sense approach. The majority of my diet is made up of carbohydrates, and without them I'm just sure I would collapse into a sobbing mess of Diva-sized proportions. And the Daytime Emmy goes to...well, we'll just see.

I've hinted around to the fact that I'm giving up bad carbs, but in doing so I felt that I needed to count calories, fat grams, etc...I'm busy enough that adding math to my daily routine is just setting myself up to fail. Recently, I stumbled onto a new book by Jorge Cruise called, "The Belly Fat Cure". In it, I have found my answer. It may not be the answer for everyone else, but for me this makes sense. I am allowed up to 6 carb servings and 15 grams of sugar a day. The 6 servings equals up to 120 grams of carbohydrates! This means that toast is my friend again.

I've missed toast.

The best part? I've lost more than 4 pounds already, which means that I'm a little over 30 lbs. from my goal! Because this isn't so much a diet as it is a lifestyle change, my family will be eating the same foods as me, with a few extras. Nothing has really changed except the amount of carbohydrates/sugar that I consume. I'm still using coconut oil/milk, butter, beef tallow for fats. I'm still using whole grains, fruits, vegetables, grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish/seafood, and plenty of raw cream. What I am not eating is anything white or made with soy. (Lucky for me that raw cream is not white!) Pretty easy, right?

Here's what's cookin' this week...

~Monday~

B: French Toast, butter, fruit spread w/no added sugar (Ezekiel bread for mom, sourdough bread for family)

L: Crispy Bacon Pizza on whole wheat pita bread (mom)

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza Pockets (family)

D: Pork Stir-fry, brown rice (family)

My birthday cake/ice cream: Dark Chocolate GF Cake (small sliver) & Mocha Coconut Milk Ice Cream

~Tuesday~

B: Coconut Flour Pancakes (mom)

Speltcakes (family)

L: Swiss Mushroom Burgers (Ezekiel buns for mom, whole wheat buns for family)

D: Carne Asada Tacos with elk steak, guacamole, 12 organic corn tortilla chips

Snacks: Hard-boiled egg, frozen blueberries & raw cream

~Wednesday~

B: Ham & Cheese Omelette's

L: BLT on Ezekiel bread, raw veggies w/ Ranch Dip

D: Steak Fajitas w/ deer steak, guacamole, 12 organic corn tortilla chips

Snacks: Soaked, crispy almonds, frozen blueberries & raw cream

~Thursday~

B: Quiche Lorraine, roasted red potatoes (family)

L: Meaty Pizza on whole wheat pita bread, raw veggies w/ Ranch Dip

D: Chicken Curry (over bean sprouts for mom, brown rice for family)

Snacks: String cheese, frozen blackberries & raw cream

~Friday~

B: Sausage, egg, and cheese "McMuffins" (Ezekiel English muffins for mom, whole wheat for family)

L: Roast beef & Cheddar Sandwich w/ tomatoes and lettuce (Ezekiel, mom; sourdough, family)

D: Barbecued Bacon Burger (Ezekiel buns, mom; whole wheat, family)

Snacks: Cottage cheese, soaked almonds

~Saturday~

B: Scrambled eggs & sausage, frozen blackberries & raw cream

L: Tuna salad in 1/2 pita bread, raw veggies w/ Ranch dip

D: Extraordinary Macaroni & Cheese, Farmer's Market salad w/ Bleu Cheese dressing

Snacks: celery w/ cream cheese, coconut oil popped popcorn with butter

~Sunday~

B: Coconut Milk Smoothies w/ blueberries (sweetened with liquid stevia)

L: Turkey, cream cheese, and pickle roll-ups

D: Lime-crusted Mahi-Mahi, Farmer's Market salad w/ Bleu Cheese dressing

Snacks: Frozen berries & raw cream

The book, "Belly Fat Cure" has pre-made menu plans in it to help get into the swing of things. This week is all about the "Meat Lover's" in our family...next week, it'll be for the love of "Carbs".

I think I've found my food-loving Shangri-la...sigh...

*I am not affiliated with this book, nor do I get anything to promote it. It's just me, sharing with you what is working for me.

This post is linked to Menu Mondays at I'm an Organizing Junkie.