Fussy Eaters have rights too, don't they?

[Jello]

O.K, so I just started on the Protien Power Plan again. Done it before about three years ago with great success (down 60 pounds) , only to gain everything back. So I get it...this is not a diet...it's a way of life.

Here's my problem - on top of being a carb addict, I am also a fussy eater. I just don't like a lot of stuff. That makes it kind of hard when you are in phase one and told to follow the plan rigidly for 30 days.

I don't like 3/4 of the things that are included in the meal plans, so I try to adjust the plans a bit . But then, I really don't know if i am screwing up the formula - I watch the carbs, but I can only eat salad so many times when I just want to throw it at someone.

I don't know if anyone has suggestions or even a link to more meal plans, but I would love some help.

I am on the protien 34 g a day plan - max 10 carbs per meal - allowed a snack, but really don't know how many carbs that is, I think less than 10 for a 40 day total (correct me if I am wrong).

I work an hour away from my home and I stay away from home about three to four nights per week. As such, I have difficulty cooking for myself and end up eating at friends or at restaurants.

Yesterday, I had a meal with the parents - roast beef with 1/4 cup of potato and carrots each - I checked and think that is less than 10 carbs, but it really isn't on the 30 day plan - so did I screw up?

Any help would be appreciated.

Lisa

[razzle]

if you have the carbs right, no, you didn't screw up, in my opinion. For many people, sugar, grains, potatoes, fruits or all of them create horrible cravings, so 100% abstenance is recommended.

But it's better--MUCH better--to get all your carbs from leafy green and LC dense veggies and berries. These foods have nutrients that non-veggies don't have, and you want to aim toward health, not just weight loss. Keeping the focus on health (rather than the scale) is how most people convert to a WOL mindset-- not to mention how we stay sane on our 2 or 4 or 6-month stalls!

congrats for restarting.

Have you tried raw turnips, daikon radishes, chard, collard greens, or kale yet? how about radish sprouts? Every kind of mushroom your store has to offer? Make sure you try different things--you never know when you're going to find a new favorite LC food.

[Jello]

Thanks, razzle, I guess it's time for me to bite the brocolli, so to speak and get creative.

Another question - why is it that some veggies have higher or lower carbs depending on whether they are raw or cooked (I don't mean deep fried, more like boiled or baked)?

[razzle]

I'm not sure--this would be a great question for Karen, our master chef. I'm going to guess that it's that fiber is broken down in cooking--so if you subtract fiber when raw, you can't when the same veggie is cooked. Also, you can get more cooked cauliflower into a cup measure than you can raw, so that might change the numbers a bit. But there might be chemical changes, too--I know some starches convert to sugars, but that shouldn't affect the carb count, I wouldn't think, as chemically starches are sugars.

Good question, and I'm semi-stumped by it!

BTW, someone on the Atkins forum asked a picky eater question and got some very good answers: here (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36553)

[alto]

Hi, Jello. I'm a birthright picky eater and I sympathize. But this is fixable.

Try making lists of the low carb foods you DO like. That's a first step. Nobody says you have to eat salad.

I like vegetables, but only with butter. Well, now I can have that! So you may be avoiding some things that you can have, if you put butter, or cheese, or some other low carb allowable topping on it.

About a month into Protein Power, I had a week where I couldn't face any of the food. I gagged at eating leftovers. Two recipes I made didn't turn out right. I did two things then that made a difference.

First, I realized I had to have foods on hand for an emergency. If I couldn't face a fourth day of leftover meat loaf, or if the recipe turned out terribly, I had to have stuff I could grab: hamburger patties and chicken breasts in the freezer; freeze the third and fourth portions of a four-portion meal; cans of tuna, mayo and celery for salad. I had to make sure I had no excuses.

The second thing I did was take an evening and go through some low carb cookbooks, getting ideas, and writing down the name and page number of every recipe I liked. I don't think I've made more than 2 of them, but it opened my eyes to what I could have.

If you think of this as a limitation, you're lost. Think of it as an avenue of new possibilities :)

[Jello]

Thanks, here's to heading for the cook book store.

Lisa

[disneybebe]

Hi Jello,
I myself hate salad too, I just don't like "rabbit's food". I sometimes stir-fry the veg with the meat & I find that the veg tastes much better that way. Razzle mentioned daikon radishes, they're lovely. I can stir-fry them with beef, put them in soup..... I love them & they're low in carbs too. BTW, welcome aboard & good luck.
Bebe