low carb diet food

I first heard about low carb diet food through the news and celebrity tabloids a few years ago when diets like Atkins were all the rage; I didn't pay much attention at the time because I was in good shape.

I got more interested recently though, as I have started to put on weight since returning home from working in Japan for 3 years. I don't really believe in fad diets per se, because I know that basically all you have to do to lose weight is burn more calories than you consume.

But a low carb diet like Atkins stands out to me because it encourages a process in the body called ketosis. As I understand it, during ketosis your body burns stored fat for energy instead of blood sugar, and this supposedly helps you to burn fat faster than on a normal diet. For some reason that idea really appeals to me lol.

I know there is a lot of controversy over whether you actually do burn fat faster on Atkins, and a nurse friend of mine says that ketosis is an unhealthy state to be in, whether you lose weight faster or not. My own feelings are that this kind of diet probably works well for some, and not for others, and that as long as your body is not in ketosis for a long period of time, you should be fine.

Actually the main problem I have found with low carb diets is the restrictiveness. Both my mother and sister tried the Atkins diet but gave up a few weeks later because they got bored of eating cheese omelets all the time. I've often heard the complaint about how boring Atkins is.

I'm sure though that lack of creativity is part of the reason people can't stay on a low carb diet. There are probably lots of low carb options out there if you take the time to research properly.

I've started a blog about low carb diet food and in it I'm posting all the ideas, recipes and tips I can find that help keep a low carb diet interesting.

For example, people often complain that they get sick of eating eggs and bacon for breakfast every morning, so why not have raspberries and blueberries combined with plain yogurt or cottage cheese? If you miss cereal you can also make low carb granola by mixing various kinds of low carb seeds such as flax and sunflower, and nuts like almond, pecan and walnut. You can also make high protein smoothies by blending coconut milk, frozen berries, protein powder and water, (plus a low carb sweetner if you need it).

Snacking is another area where staying low carb can be tough. Potato chips, cookies, chocolate, and crackers are all off the menu. If you are a snacker, you need to make sure you prepare low carb snacks ahead of time so they are immediately on hand when you start to get cravings. Hard boiled eggs and toasted nuts make great snacks that are easy to prepare. Dried cranberries are great if you prefer something sweet.

If you don't have time to prepare snacks, you can try celery or carrot sticks with peanut butter. Olives, feta cheese, and dill pickles can also be eaten straight from the fridge.

There is A LOT more to low carb than the few things I've mentioned above. Basically I think that when it comes to low carb eating, we are limited only by our imagination. I'm looking forward to doing more research and experimenting with different foods.

If you want to visit my blog to see what other low carb diet food ideas i find, just click on these words here: Low Carb Diet Food