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Old Sun, Apr-22-12, 09:47
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 14,550
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
Default Newbie Tip #6: More Substitutions

To be successful low carbers, we need to break our bad food habits and create new ones. In any habit-breaking that needs to be done, we always have two choices.

We can clench our fists and concentrate on NOT doing that thing; and constantly fight the pull from the vacuum of that vacant space.

OR

We can substitute the bad habit with a good one; and have a much better chance of success.

This "power of substitution" can be a wonderful tool. Like everything else in life, this can be done right, or, it can be the "screwdriver as a hammer" tool use that will only make matters worse.

Here are some guides to proper substituting:

Fakes. A classic mistake is to exchange bread for low carb bread and candy bars for low carb meal bars. While this can work at first, for a little while, this is not a long-term maneuver, because we are still keeping alive the "bread" and "candy bar" habits.

It also has a high likelihood of not working; those candy-bar-like meals are full of sugar alcohols. The wrapper says 2 net carbs; but what does our body say? Often, people find such substances to be major stall inducers because their body goes ahead and digests the fake sweeteners; and those 2 net carbs then goes up to 30.

A similar trap was laid for me with Dreamfield's pasta. Supposedly, it doesn't get digested like regular pasta. But in reality, it does. It created cravings and weight gain.... because they are lying to sell their pasta. Such promises are common among low carb foods; every so often there's another scandal when a bakery's low carb bread gets tested... and it ain't low carb!

It also creates a mental excuse; if we are used to having bread, it's that much easier to rationalize having it while we are out with friends; or out of our expensive indulgence at home. This is the worst kind of substitution: trying to pretend we aren't substituting at all!

Different, but similar. Another category is the low carb substitutes we make ourselves. I would put Oopsie Rolls and many other recipes in the forums in this category. Instead of some weird kind of elbow macaroni for when we'd like macaroni and cheese, we use cauliflower or tofu instead. And, it works!

I love my Cauliflower Mac 'n' Cheese even more because this is real cheese sauce, made with cream and cheese, not some cheese powder mixed with skim milk. Likewise, I find Oopsie Rolls delicious in their own right, and they contribute texture and taste to the sandwiches I make with them.

It can take some time and tolerance to reach the point where we love our substitutes. What makes them work is the real food we use as ingredients, and the adjustment our taste buds make. When I bake low carb with almond flour, I use very little sweetener, because I have become so sensitive to it.

Without the "kick" of wheat and sugar, we are eating food as food; not as an addictive substance.

Just plain different. While many substitutes are kind of close to what we are used to, the trick of substituting salad greens for sandwich bread is a much bigger shift. Yet, this has turned out to be key for this former Sandwich Queen.

Every single thing I loved about sandwiches is still available to me; I am only missing the least tasty ingredient.

I can make a "Reuben in a bowl" by heating it in the microwave or on the stove. This is big every winter when my taste for salad goes on the wane. I can chop up those Italian cold cuts and cheeses and make a great salad, with real dressing. I can put my roast beef, muenster, and mayo on raw spinach; goes great with bit of garlic or horseradish.

Greens are both full of good nutrients, and the easiest vegetable to digest. I always find it funny when people complain that they can't look at another salad. Funny, no one says that about bread... even when they eat it at every meal!

With the almost unlimited variety of stuff we can put on greens, and the full menu of salad dressings to choose from, the only thing I can think is that if you are tired of salad; you are doing it wrong!

This "different" thinking will work for us at every meal. If we are used to a muffin for breakfast, we can do Muffin in a Minute (known as MIM ) or any number of other recipes; or we can do what I did, which is switch to bacon and eggs. Or, now, no breakfast at all.

In my low fat days I would eat pasta with limited sauce, salads with no meats or cheeses and watery low fat dressing... and be starving a couple of hours later. The switch to a tasty bunless cheeseburger and some blue cheese coleslaw instead of fries seemed like a radical one at the time: but it was more delicious, and much more satisfying!

That is how we must think of our substitutions. As upgrades.

See all my Newbie Tips!

Last edited by WereBear : Mon, Apr-23-12 at 08:52.
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