Thursday, March 20, 2014

Low carb diet and budgets

I am back on a "diet", though it's more of a change in general. The reason I picked a low carb diet was that it has been the only thing in 11 years to actually affect my weight positively, and it isn't as restrictive as the options. I also find it quite fun and challenging... have you ever looked at what low/no-carb options are out there outside of meat and vegetables?! It makes me laugh. Which is good! Additionally, it has forced me big time to work hard on my meals and cook better. So far it's all talk, but I've avoided carbs entirely since last week. I even had to ignore carrot cake at my PT job. CARROT CAKE! (my favorite--sob)

I am (re)starting to acknowledge that I've been eating little. Too little. One good thing about a lot of protein is that it kicks your metabolism back to life quick, so I am rightfully hungry after not eating enough. I have two options: continue to cook once a week, but cook twice as much and start building up freezable leftovers (I currently cook once/wk, enough for 4~5 days), or cook twice a week. Fast food or frozen foods are really out of the game and budget.

On the topic of budgets, I can't say if it's more expensive overall or not, for what I was buying. Sure, rice, beans, pasta, bread are cheap, but when all I am really adding is vegetables (frozen) and meats (on sale), I can't tell the difference. I think that any conscious effort to shop smarter with limited funds will result on a better bang for your buck vs unplanned. I've spent $35 from last week's pay and $38 from the current pay. I do have to shop more often than not, for eggs and breakfast items, and I think that's a win.

3 comments:

  1. Well why didn't you TELL ME Carrot Cake was your fav when you were here last year? I have a KILLER recipe and would have made you one!
    I guess that's not being helpful to your diet, huh? lolz

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  2. That's my diet! it really does work, I really just try to avoid breads and potatoes as much as possible...
    HS

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  3. I need to cut down on carbs. Like you, it is the only thing that really makes a positive difference in my weight. I cook on the weekends, enough for those dinners and lunches the following week. Then I do easy dinners throughout the week - sandwiches, bowls of noodles (something about low carb?), things like that.

    I DESPERATELY need to quit the morning biscuits and get back on my smoothie drinks with Greek yogurt, blueberries, bananas, almond milk.

    Peace <3
    Jay

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