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Friday, July 29, 2011

L Is for Low Carb Menu PLanning

I’ve been away for a while, in part because I completely fell off my plan and I really didn’t want to come here and admit it again. We’ve been hit by scorching heat for weeks. Because my home is more than 100 years old and we cannot afford to install central air conditioning, we only have window air units in a couple of rooms. The room I can use to exercise is not one of them. With temps in the 90s for weeks and the heat index well above 100, I gave up exercising. Coupled with the 4th of July holiday weekend spent out town followed by oldest son’s 18th birthday and high school graduation party 2 weeks later, I’ve managed to gain back 10 lbs. Disappointed in myself does not even begin to cover how I feel.
My husband called me from work earlier this week to say his company was starting another round of their version of “The Biggest Loser” and he decided to go for it. Since it is always helpful when your spouse is on board with weight loss plans, this got me a bit fired up again.
I spent the better part of the day researching low carb meals I could actually live with. In the past, I’ve had trouble with this because in order to make recipes taste decently, low carb meals often call for expensive, exotic or specialty items. These can be hard to find or way out of my budget. I’ve tried using Atkins Baking Mix and few other products, low carb bread. These things just don’t taste good – to me. Plus, they ARE expensive.  So I needed a menu plan I could live with and I think I’ve put one together.
It is my hope to try out these recipes and then report back here the next day on how they turned out and include any tips I discover for making them easier or tastier.
I am also starting to exercise again though moderately in the heat. Wednesday I did 32 minutes of the Wii “Walk It Out” and remembered how much I enjoyed that.
I am starting out at 255 again, as of this past Wednesday and the 2 days of low-carb & exercise has me down to 251 today (Friday). I am encouraged.

Yesterdays’ Lunch: Cucumber Tuna Boat
3 cucumbers
1 6 oz can tuna
2 hardboiled eggs, diced
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons dill relish
1 Tablespoon chopped onion
1 Teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Cut cucumbers lengthwise and de-seed. Cut a small slice off the bottom to make cucumbers lay flat. Combine remaining ingredients in mixing bowl to make tuna salad and spoon into cucumbers. Serve immediately.
Yields 6 servings
Total Net carbs: 5 grams per serving
This was delicious! I omitted the relish because I have never been a fan of it. I don’t generally make things where I worry about presentation for just myself but I have to say, sitting down to eat this, I felt like I had indulged. I suppose you could simply slice the seeded cucumber and mix it in with the tuna too but there’s was something fun about feeling like I had catered to myself a bit. I will be having this again today and I’m trying it out on the hubby. I don’t have 6 people to feed in my house at one sitting and I can’t afford to waste the leftovers. Whenever I make this, it will last for 2 or 3 days, depending on how many of the kids are home for lunch that day.
Today I am trying sausage and egg muffins for breakfast though there is no “muffin” involved and bacon cheeseburger with a side of broccoli for dinner. I’ll let you know how those turn out.

1 comments:

pbquig said...

Theresa, I know what you're going through. I've been doing
online WW for a little over a month and it has worked and is easy to follow. I also have the AC problem you do . I joined the gym for 2 months because of a bad knee my doctor said walking would be painful. I now use the arc trainer and recumbent bike, good for knee. I started at 217 and am now at 209. Last week I gained a pound which was depressing. The WW plan as it now is allows all fruits for 0 points and of course same for veggies. My husband has been doing no carbs which I hate because I don't really like much meat. I wish you good luck.

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