If you’re trying to change your diet and reduce carbs, it can be tempting to immediately switch out the foods you love for sugar-free/diabetes- friendly speciality foods. Pizzas with a cauliflower base, magical low-carb bread, chocolate cake without the chocolate… Of course the problem with that strategy is that it quickly gets very expensive!
Here’s how to work out a healthy meal plan without fancy speciality foods.
Answer these 3 questions:
1. Why am I doing this?
For your new eating plan to be sustainable, you need to understand why you’re doing it. If it’s a sudden urge to quickly lose weight or try out a new fad diet, it’s unlikely to last.
However, if it’s a considered decision to reduce the amount of carbs you eat because you want to reduce blood sugar fluctuations, you’re far more likely to stick with it.
2. How am I doing this?
It’s entirely possible to switch out every carb with a replacement food. Odds are that the replacement food won’t be as delicious though (zoodles made from courgettes rather than spaghetti?) and you’ll end up comparing the two tastes as you eat.
Replacement foods aren’t changing anything at the core of how you eat – they’re just adjusting the diabetes response.
Maybe that’s the route you choose, because it feels easier, or tastier, or more fun. If that’s the case, go right ahead! But if not, it’s important to change your approach to food.
3. How can I change my eating habits?
Instead of looking at a low carb eating plan as depriving yourself of something (carbs), why don’t you look at it as eating the foods your body needs for great health?
Wanting to eat lower carb could also translate to wanting to eat more vegetables. A really simple way of eating fewer carbs while still maintaining family meals is to cut out the starch component. For example, you could have curry and vegetables without rice, and bolognaise with a side of cauliflower – rather than pasta. You can take it one step further, too, and start crafting your meals from ingredients you know are vital and full of healthy energy.
Once you take away carbs as the main building block of your meals, you can come up with exciting alternatives.
What to read next?
A simple way to eat low carb (LCHF): Many people feel that low carb (LCHF) is the only way to eat, while others feel that it’s too expensive or that there hasn’t been enough research done.
Living the low carb life: Vickie de Beer tells us how her family’s life improved when they started eating low carb.
Free low carb 7 day meal plans: Download your free low carb meal plans here!
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