I don’t mean to sound disloyal to Banting – I eat that way for two thirds of the day anyway – and then I have a reward meal (Carbohydrate Addicts style) that needs to be eaten within one hour so that the insulin response is less vicious than if I were to eat for two hours. At least that is how I understand it. It truly does help me not to overeat if I have drinks, a main meal and perhaps a dessert within one hour. Up to now I have not had time for a dessert. It just takes planning.

No snacking in between meals is also a good rule for me to follow because I can overeat quite absentmindedly, especially on pistachio nuts! That is a nudge to remind me to eat mindfully. In fact, learning how to do everything mindfully is a goal to which I aspire. It is amazing how disconnected one can be if we don’t watch it! I find meditation helps me to focus on living mindfully. The trick is to not forget to meditate. A big lesson for me is to work on doing things consistently and to follow through on projects I set myself.

Something that bothers me a little is the acidity level of the kinds of low carb food I am eating on this diet. I need to eat more green vegetables and perhaps add more alkaline vegetables and fruit to the reward meal instead of dessert! But I will work to add that one little Crème Brûlée in a month! Strangely enough, I found myself eating plain wasabi rice crackers in my reward meal today. It was what I wanted at that moment and that was it. Satisfied me enough not to want to go back for more. Normally I would eat the whole box in a day. Today it was just 6 little crackers. The entire day’s carbs added up to 32 grams, reward meal and all. I am watching to see if cravings come back; so far so good. Drinking water is a great help.

This is all about finding out what works best for me. No one diet fits all and I do like the way one can plan for personal tastes in the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet. I shall continue with this for a month and then check the stats.

Moving on…

If you have been following this blog, I do apologise for my absence. My husband was my patient for three weeks after a serious eye op.

I have been very well behaved on the food front and Banting away merrily. I put on 2 kilos in one day and lost them again the next. This tells me it is not a good idea to jump on the scale every day! All in all I am down 9 kilos since I started in September around the 26th. About 6 weeks. An average of 1.5 kilos per week. It has now slowed down and I am beginning to look at tweaking my intake and doing a bit of a Fat Fast. More about that in my next post.

The acidity of all the meat I have been eating has had me a little concerned which has resulted in a desire to see how one does a vegetarian low carb diet. I am now going to concentrate on getting in some alkaline veggies in green smoothies, using the lowest carb vegetables and some whey protein powder. It does not mean I am going to stop eating meat, but I am going to add more vegetarian options to my new lifestyle. This means a minimum of legumes, like a 1/4 of a cup, (which is around 10 carbs) and the vegetables highest in protein content, along with the protein powder.

Today, however, was a seriously carnivorous day: here is my intake…

Meal 1

Boerewors 200g                                  6 Carbs/26g protein

Eggs x 2 XL                                           1 Carb/15g protein

Full fat milk ¼ cup                             3 Carbs/2g protein

                                                          10 Carbs/43g protein

Snack

Macadamia nuts 30g                        4 Carbs/2g Protein

Coffee x 2                                            0

Cream 30g                                           1 Carb/1 protein

                                                          5 Carbs/3 protein

Meal 2

Swiss Chard 50g                                 2 Carbs/1 protein

Mushrooms 1/3 cup                           2 Carbs/1 protein

Broccoli ½ cup                                    2 Carbs/1 protein

Garlic 1 tsp                                            1 Carbs/0 protein

Onions fried 1 Tbs                               2 Carbs/0 protein

Lamb chop 200 g                                0 Carbs/41 protein

Coconut oil 2 Tbs                                0 Carbs/0 protein

Lard 1 Tbs                                             0 Carbs/0 protein

Feta Cheese 30g                                   1 Carbs/4 protein

                                                          10 Carbs/48 protein

TOTALS                                       25 g Carbs/94 g protein

Still Moving On with the Revolution…

I did not starve and I drank wine and had ice-cream and chocolate as well. And a couple of cookies and a real junk food meal – KFC with chips and coleslaw! Yep. I did take the skin off the chicken and used organic tomato sauce from Woolies with the chips

Really, I just had more raw vegetables and a little more fruit in between all the high carb food and I ate alkaline as far as I could. It is a great way to think. Thinking alkaline. And of course, I have been exercising in the pool for an hour a day, five times in seven days. My absolute best. So weightless and divine, but boy am I feeling stronger! Very yum with wasabi mayo.

Take a tortilla (ok that’s acid) /thin crepe/lettuce leaf, whatever, and cut up some veggies into strips. Spread wrap with some wasabi mayo/cream cheese/cottage cheese/mayo and yogurt, again whatever you fancy, and fill with your veggies, roll up tight and cut on the diagonal. And just because you have cut up a lot of veggies, you put them on the side and eat them as well. This was one of my snack-lunches.

This morning was a banana (alkaline) after one hour of Water Babes and a little while later 2 small slices of olive ciabatta toast, drizzzled with olive oil and a cup of black Italian Roast freshly ground coffee, no sugar. If I did take sugar I would have used Stevia or Xylitol. And if I was desperate and had no sugar I would have dipped a clean spoon into the coffee and put it into whatever sugar (preferably muscovado or demerara) and had a wet teaspoon of sugar in my coffee. Very rarely though.

I am heading for a green smoothie at 12. All alkaline. Watercress, rocket and some lettuce, with an apple and a some ginger, blended with some cold water. I will also put some almonds in water in the fridge to soak. 

Activity will be a little more than usual today. Normally I sit and write or sit and stand to paint, so I really am sedentary most of the time, but today I am going to start packing for the new farm house. Everything that I need with NO CLUTTER!!!  While I am decluttering my body I shall be decluttering my house, garage, carport, in fact, my life. Go to Flylady.net to see some excellent tips on how to declutter your life. Starting with a Shiny Sink (which I still don’t get right all the time). But I love to declutter when I get into it.

So, off to to have my green smoothie and then pack. 

Nothing is forbidden.

Concentrate on eating Alkaline 80% Acid 20%

http://www.acidalkalinediet.com/Alkaline-Foods-Chart.htm

Main foods:  80%

Fruit one or two a day (melons to be eaten alone)

Vegetables – at least three – especially green and raw where possible

Green Smoothies

Fermented vegetables (probiotics – kimchi, raw sauerkraut)

Seeds

Nuts and Nut Butters – especially almonds

Lentils and beans according to the alkaline/acid chart

Legumes/pulses according to the alkaline/acid chart

Grains: bread, pasta, flour, cereals, rice etc. according to the alkaline/acid chart

Quinoa

Millet

Buttermilk

Yogurt

Lassi – Yogurt and water with turmeric after a meal

Whey Protein Smoothies

Fish

Poultry

Pork

Omega 3 oils/EV Olive oil/Coconut oil/Nut & Seed oils

Apple Cider Vinegar /Balsamic/Verjuice/Lemon Juice

All herbs and spices

70% to 85% dark chocolate

Water and herb teas/ginger tea

Less:

Butter/Animal fats

Dairy – Cheeses, Milk

Tea

Coffee

Alcohol (Beer/Cider/Wine/Other)

Minimum:

Red meat

High Starch Vegetables (potatoes/pumpkin)

Chocolate

Ice cream

Cookies

Cake

Exercise: 

Aquaerobics/Swimming/Chair Exercises/Yoga/Weights

Monday’s Food Plan

7:30 – Ginger Tea

8:00 – Mango & Papaya Smoothie with ground flaxseed. Grind them fresh as they go rancid quickly.

9:00 – Exercise – Water Babes in the pool for one hour

10:30 – 50g Oats & 5 Almonds soaked overnight. This helps to digest them better.

12 noon – Butternut and cannellini bean soup with 1 slice wholegrain bread, no butter, and a salad

15:00 – Green smoothie made from rocket, lettuce, apple and ginger

19:00 – 80g Cold roast chicken (no skin) with lots of salad veggies with feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette dressing

                One Chocolate Brownie and some red wine

With this plan in place it is good night!