The Decadent Diet

Dedicated low-carbers like to describe their way of eating as nutritious, filling, healthy and traditional. But what about people who want to eat decadently, not Puritanically? Who are sick of busybody goody-goodies and diet police? Low carb is good for them, too. On what other diet can you eat dip for dinner and dessert for breakfast?

Guacamole, pork rinds, crispy fried pork (fried in lard, seasoned with salt).

This isn't a cheat meal--you can have this every night and eat until you're full since there are hardly any carbs there. (Note that you can't substitute corn chips--they're too carby. And don't get guacamole that's full of carbs.) If the dinner looks a little skimpy, it's because I saved room for dessert.

Low carb, non dairy chocolate ice cream. It does have carbs in it, so go easy. Recipe here.

I'm not sure if this is what some people call "rewarding food," but I'm full. Granted, I was never obese, but I'm from a family full of wonky blood sugar and I know how it feels to be hungry enough to eat the wallpaper a couple of hours after a low-fat, starchy meal. Before I started low carb, I could put away a bag of cookies in a sitting. People knew not to get between me and a pan of brownies or pizza. In all other areas of life, I'm self-controlled: I've never bounced a check, never missed a deadline at work, and never tried drugs because I knew I'd be addicted to anything I really liked.

For most people, a low carb diet quells their appetite. Various clinical studies have found that people on low-carb diets spontaneously reduce their calorie intake.

You can be decadent on LC, but not out of control: starchy and sugary foods are out (or limited to very small amounts). Without the blood sugar swings those foods can bring on, though, it's easier to stay in control.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Great post, Lori. That pork looks wonderful! And guacamole - mmm mmm!
I think 'rewarding food' is a problem when it gives no physical satisfaction. As the food eaten in LCHF is so satisfying, it doesn't matter if it IS gorgeous and rewarding - the physical satisfaction signals will override the 'rewarding' signals.
Oh my God - I'll have to put that on my blog!

June 13, 2013

Lori Miller said…

Some food (like wheat) has druglike effects; it's hard for me to stop eating it once I start. And Tom Naughton recently mentioned in the comments on his blog that some studies show that unnourishing food doesn't quell appetite as well as nutritious food. Meat, eggs and veg are highly nutritious--more so than grains.

June 13, 2013

Lowcarb team member said…

Hi Lori, enjoyed this post. Those who already eat LCHF know that it is satisfying and to those who haven't tried it yet I'd certainly recommend it.

All the best Jan

June 13, 2013

Lori Miller said…

Nothing wrong with giving it a two-week trial (since that's how long it takes to adapt to it). If you don't like it, you can go back to whatever you were doing before.

June 13, 2013

Cigna is Making Progress

Yesterday as I put my lunch in the refrigerator at work, I noticed a bunch of unfamiliar people in the break room. One of them, Pepe, started in: they were there for the health fair, they would check your cholesterol, the sugar in your blood, your height, your weight, and it would just take six minutes. A coworker asked him if he'd ever considered a career in sales. Just for blog fodder, I participated. They really were fast, and one even found me at my desk (in an office nearly half the size of a city block) after the tests were finished. My HDL cholesterol was 65--up from 42 from a year and a half ago, and up from 57, where it was last year when I'd been three months a low-carb diet . A level over 60 is considered good. I haven't taken any medication to make this happen. I went on a low-carb diet and eliminated wheat. I also take vitamin and mineral supplements in addition to a high-nutrient diet. What impressed me more, though, was that the nurse (and Cigna) said that bl...

Thanksgiving recipes for Pumpkin Pie & Cranberries--printable!

If you'd rather read a printed recipe than watch a video, here are my recent recipes for Better than Grandma's Pumpkin Pie and Probiotic Cranberry-Apple Relish. Hat tip to Dana Carpender, whose pumpkin pie recipe inspired this one. The cranberry-apple ferment is entirely my own creation. Pumpkin Pie--no grains, sugar or emulsifiers Crust 2 cups shelled raw pecans 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon monk fruit powder* (or 3 tablespoons sugar substitute) 4 tablespoons butter, melted 2 tablespoons water Pumpkin Pie Filling 1 pie pumpkin 1-1/2 cups half and half (with no thickeners) 3 eggs 3-4 teaspoons monk fruit powder* (or 3/4 cup sugar substitute) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice Preheat the oven to 350F. Stab the top of the pumpkin all the way through the flesh in a few places at the top. Place the pumpkin on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour. Let cool. While the pumpkin is baking, put the pecans in a food processor with the S blade and run until they are finely...

Fly with Reuteri

If you're planning to travel by plane and you want to keep enjoying the benefits of l. reuteri yogurt, you might have gotten sticker shock from the price of l. reuteri probiotics. MyReuteri * costs $46 to $83 for 30 capsules, depending on the CFUs (colony-forming units, or the number of viable microorganisms). If you're thinking about economizing by putting some yogurt in a sturdy container and taking it with you, you can do that. I'll break down the pros and cons and look at some alternatives. Photo from Unsplash . Cost Yogurt might be less expensive than probiotics, but it isn't free. A half-cup serving costs about 70¢ to make if you start with a previous batch. It contains about 90 billion CFUs if fermented for 36 hours. This is a lot less than $5.56 for two capsules of 50 billion CFU MyReuteri, but for a one-week vacation, you'd only save $34 by eating yogurt instead. (You can freeze any unused capsules for later.) Furthermore, the yogurt would have to go in ...

30-second Fix for a Cracked Stick Blender

Use Mighty Fixit (if you still have some from 2012) or Rescue Tape (which looks like a similar product) to fix a cracked stick blender. After I fixed the attachment, I washed it in the sink and the tape held up. I also wrapped a knife handle several years ago, and it's been through thousands of washings.

No Dairy BiotiQuest Ferment in Apples + Cranberries + Celery

Can you have too much l. reuteri or SIBO yogurt? Yes--more than 1/2 cup of yogurt a day can raise your insulin or, in some people, cause sinus congestion or an upset stomach. Luckily, there are other foods you can ferment. One of my favorites is apples, cranberries and celery fermented with BiotiQuest Ideal Immunity probiotics. This recipe is slightly different from the one I posted before--I've left out the brown sugar and maple syrup since the apples provide plenty of sugar. Here's my four-minute video showing how to make it: You can buy the seedling mat here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IDQD32Y/ref=dp_iou_view_item?ie=UTF8&th=1

Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Search This Blog