When I first started my eating clean and slow carb journey, I read a lot of literature stating that the easiest way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is to find a few key meals and repeat them often to stay consistent. I knew this would be impossible for me to do. Of course I have a few “go-to” meals that I love to eat, but I continuously get bored and lose my appetite if I eat the same thing over and over and over again. Unless it’s pizza.
I never ate poorly, even before I began my lifestyle change. I made sure I always had a well balance, nutritious meal. My problem was I never got full, which caused me to overeat and gain weight. I did weight watchers and was successful for a certain period of time, but then became obsessed with counting calories, fat, etc. and was seeing food as point values instead of delicious meals. So that didn’t work. I tried restricting calories and made sure I ate a certain amount a day. Again, I saw immediate results, but then would have crazy binge attacks at random, and all of my progress would be erased in about a day.
I realize now that certain foods like simple carbohydrates (sugar, bread, corn syrup, etc), which I have now eliminated from my diet, caused these cravings. Now that I don’t eat them anymore, I find myself eating regular healthy portions of food and easily passing on the many birthday treats I get offered on a daily basis. Oh the joys of working in an elementary school.
In order to give up certain foods, I think it’s important to find replacements that are still satisfying. Now when I’m craving something sweet, I make or buy something sweetened with Stevia, a clean zero calorie all natural sweetener, rather than sugar. When I am craving something breaded, I’ll use flours made from various beans, seeds, or nuts. My top flours I currently use are almond flour, flaxseed meal, and garbanzo bean flour. From breaded chicken, to muffins, to wraps, these healthy flours have been amazing ingredients to use as substitutes when I still want my “regular” food.