Re-starting Induction; need "comfort food" ideas

[pinkelsie]

Hi all,

Ignore my stats..they are wrong. I began over a month ago at around 149 lbs and I completed a 2-week induction, albeit, not a very clean one. Too many processed meats/Atkins bars. I have been stalled out at 144-145 and bouncing around that number for WEEKS!

My solution is to go back to Induction and see what happens. The only problem, is that lately I have been craving carby, comfort foods more than ever. Maybe it is the higher carb levels in OWL? dunno

I am having Turkey Stroganoff for dinner tonight. What are some of your yummiest Induction recipes??

Also, any tips for me to get this weight loss going again? My ultimate goal is 130, but I would be very happy just to get to 140, which is about 10 lbs more than I weighed in college.

[capmikee]

My theory about "comfort" foods is that they satisfy some kind of addiction. Most of them have a lot of gluten, and I tend to think the "comfort" comes from that, and not actually from their familiarity or carb content.

If that's true, then it's bad news when you're craving them, because a gluten-free or low-carb substitute isn't going to satisfy you. But the good news is that the cravings will probably pass in a couple of days.

Until then, don't dare go hungry, and eat all the bacon you want.

[crease]

what's your definition comfort food? mine was always mashed potatoes or pasta. now i eat shirataki noodles for that shape/texture fix, or mashed turnips or rutabaga chock full of bacon, butter and some sour cream.

i think you may be able to get your "comfort" food with a suitable substitution, but first you need to identify what makes it a comfort food.

my stats aren't right either, matter of fact i'm about 10 pounds higher than what i left it at. i just can't bear to change it. i decided to do a meat and egg week, and damned if i didn't drop 3 pounds. but once i added back in regular foods, up up up i went. if you can figure it out, share the secret will ya?

[msmum1977]

I like roasted chicken & vegetable soup with either spaghetti squash for the noodles or egg strips (basically just an omelette cut into thin strips and thrown in the soup).

I tend to agree with Capmikee - be careful! Especially with gluten products. They're a slippery slope and some people don't realize their potential for harm..especially when trying to eat clean. For me this + dairy/casein: if I eat either of these I'm in pain (like cannot bend my knees the next few days after eating). Then, I have super duper cravings for weeks after wards.

Crease is right, though too...to each his/her own comforts...ya just gotta do what's right for you. But watching and/or elimating either of the above could benefit where cravings are concerned :)

[hysteria]

pinkelsie
when I came back to LC'ing in March the first place I went to was the recipe section and went through the AWESOME list that has been compiled under each section (main course, breakfast, snacks, etc...) of Atkins induction friendly dishes.
I went through and found the ones that appealed to me the most - and you figure I did this during the peak of carb-withdrawl, so I was picking things I believed would satiate my appetite & curb the cravings. Some examples:
Creamy Chicken Bake - basically, baked chicken / mayo
creamy tuna melt
stovetop chicken

there were others...you see the trend of 'creamy' - but I would modify the recipe to suit my personal tastes. I put them in my journal so I had everything I needed to make the dish right at my fingertips. One thing I am being constantly reminded of is that if I fail to plan, I should plan to fail...having LC foods around is just imperitive to this WOE (IMHO).

Good luck!

[PinguChick]

Hi all,

Ignore my stats..they are wrong. I began over a month ago at around 149 lbs and I completed a 2-week induction, albeit, not a very clean one. Too many processed meats/Atkins bars. I have been stalled out at 144-145 and bouncing around that number for WEEKS!

My solution is to go back to Induction and see what happens. The only problem, is that lately I have been craving carby, comfort foods more than ever. Maybe it is the higher carb levels in OWL? dunno

I am having Turkey Stroganoff for dinner tonight. What are some of your yummiest Induction recipes??

Also, any tips for me to get this weight loss going again? My ultimate goal is 130, but I would be very happy just to get to 140, which is about 10 lbs more than I weighed in college.

It sounds like something is giving you those cravings. My guess would be either processed meats, Atkins bars or another food you added in on OWL. Nuts maybe? Instead of trying to find a comfort food to satisfy that craving, how about trying to kill the craving. If you restart induction and eat only fresh meats, veggies, healthy fats, eggs - whole foods - and drink lots of water, it should get rid of those cravings. Then once you have the hunger/cravings under control you may need to keep you calories under a certain amount - when you get near your goal calories do start to matter.

[pinkelsie]

Thanks for the input so far...right now I'm trying the strategy of "killing" the cravings, I guess. I ate 2 oz of cheese for breakfast and now I am eating turkey "stroganoff" which is basically turkey in a sour cream based sauce that I invented...no gluten. I am going to make salmon and cauliflower with butter for dinner. I am hoping that a few days of just meat, eggs, veggies, and small amounts of cheese will get rid of the cravings! its driving me crazy, but the alternative is a binge that will probably last all summer, and we don't want that, do we?

oh yeah, and I am having bacon for snacks! :)

[capmikee]

Good luck!

Watch out for lean meats, though - turkey and salmon are not the most satisfying for me. Do you have a problem with beef or pork? In terms of cravings, those are much safer sources of fat than dairy.

[msmum1977]

again, Capmikee, I concur. LOL I could eat 10 lbs of turkey and not feel as full as when I eat a one pound steak.

Fish always makes me hungry an hour later too..even when smothered with butter or cooked in coconut oil or even wrapped in bacon. A bit like the old 'chinese food effect' I used to get...when I ate chinese food :lol:

Pinkelsie, also take a second to read the ingredients in yer sour cream...some even have corn starch in them...you will want to make sure it's full fat and has no additives.

[HappyLC]

My theory about "comfort" foods is that they satisfy some kind of addiction. Most of them have a lot of gluten, and I tend to think the "comfort" comes from that, and not actually from their familiarity or carb content.

If that's true, then it's bad news when you're craving them, because a gluten-free or low-carb substitute isn't going to satisfy you. But the good news is that the cravings will probably pass in a couple of days.

Until then, don't dare go hungry, and eat all the bacon you want.

I agree completely. A couple of years ago I was thrilled to find a low carb, gluten free bakery in my neighborhood. I bought some absolutely delicious chocolate chip muffins and when they were gone I never bought another. They just didn't give me whatever it was I used to get from real cake. That's when I realized it was an addiction thing, not a taste thing.

[bkloots]

My favorite "comfort food" also happens to be a pretty good low-carb staple. That would be the famous One Minute Muffin. I eat one every morning with a shmear of whipped cream cheese. Full for hours. Kind of addicted, but okay.

Best wishes.

P. S. For many recipes, Google One Minute Muffin.

[madeyna]

My comfort food has become meat and eggs. I was having horrible cravings before my tom and that seems to be the only thing that really gets rid of them. I eat meat and eggs for about three days then up the carbs to 10 to 20 then back to the meat . The flax seed muffins are a real treat as well but I only do about one or two a week.

[zajack]

This may sound silly...but I like to treat myself with a ribeye and loaded baked potato (minus the potato part). Surprisingly enough, if you throw a dollop of sour cream on your plate and sprinkle it with bacon bits and chives...and drizzle a bit of melted butter over your steak...and put a small bit of sour cream on every bite of steak...you'd never know the potato was missing from your plate! :yum:

[GlendaRC]

One of my favourite "go to" meals is corned-beef hash, made with mashed cauliflower of course. I have to confess to some laziness - I usually just use the canned corned-beef. DH likes ketchup on that, I like mustard. Salad on the side.

[pinkelsie]

zajack, I love that idea! i am totally going to try it. I'm pretty obsessed with sour cream! yummy...

GlendaRC, I also think you idea sounds delish! I love using cauliflower in place of potatoes. I actually prefer it now! (well, except maybe for french fries, which I dont eat anymore)

Does anyone have an idea of a good online carb tracker that isnt MyPlan? I think myplan is too hard to use. I used to use Sparkpeople before I found LC, but it is really pro-low fat. Any ideas? I think the time has come to start keeping track of calories (ugh)

[bkloots]

Check out fitday.com. I'm not sure how it compares to My Plan. Any tracker takes some getting used to.

Best wishes.

[zajack]

Does anyone have an idea of a good online carb tracker that isnt MyPlan? I think myplan is too hard to use. I used to use Sparkpeople before I found LC, but it is really pro-low fat. Any ideas? I think the time has come to start keeping track of calories (ugh)
I use fitday online and love it...but it was, admittedly, a huge pain in the butt to get all my custom foods entered at first (including stuff like my info per serving from recipe items like low carb cheesecake, bowl muffins, etc.) Now that virtually everything I might eat is already in my custom foods list, it's sooooo easy to use....and adding in an occassional new item is not a big deal. Funny...but I hadnt used it for almost 2 years and logged back in a month ago and 'presto'...just like I'd never left. Nice....

[PinguChick]

Does anyone have an idea of a good online carb tracker that isnt MyPlan? I think myplan is too hard to use. I used to use Sparkpeople before I found LC, but it is really pro-low fat. Any ideas? I think the time has come to start keeping track of calories (ugh)

I use Fitday.com, I like it.

[Cleveland]

for the most part fit day is great.I do not care for the myplan at all. as far as Fitday, oddly some very popular type foods are sometimes hard to find but then they have things like whale blubber in there. go figure.
regardless it is very user friendly. I like to track calories over time and it makes it easy.

[QueenBee2]

I was watching tv the other day...and Blaire's lc kitchen came on. He made a ham/zucchini hash that looked really good. Basically, he diced up some ham and browned that. Then added Zucchini that he had peeled and sliced into halves.~added about 1/2 c. diced onions, and browned it all up. It Looked VERY good~almost comfort food.~AND he listed the net carbs at 3.

It's those types of meals that I can handle. Easy to make..pleasing to everyone.~

[PurpleBass]

Is there any chance you could just stick it out? Last time I checked, induction wasn't supposed to be comfortable. :)

Good luck!

[_mommyof4]

Not sure if anyone suggested these yet but these are my fav.. 1. pork rinds with splenda and melted butter
2. strawberries, sour cream w/splenda
3. raspberries on top of heavy whipping cream(whipped of course)
4. A good ole cheese stick
5. nuts
6. regular pork rinds

[krystalr]

Not sure if anyone suggested these yet but these are my fav.. 1. pork rinds with splenda and melted butter
2. strawberries, sour cream w/splenda
3. raspberries on top of heavy whipping cream(whipped of course)
4. A good ole cheese stick
5. nuts
6. regular pork rinds

The bold items are not induction friendly, so I wouldn't suggest these for this particular case.

[_mommyof4]

oops my bad, I didn't realize these were for inductions only..

[capmikee]

I don't think Splenda is allowed on Induction either - is it?

[Elizellen]

Yes - it was one of Dr Atkins' preferred sweeteners.

[cheeto]

My comfort food is fajitas (chicken and beef) with sour cream and guacamole (no tortillas of course). YUM!