a work in progress

so last week i wrote about my endeavor to eat low carb.

i purchased the book "Wheat Belly" and the "Wheat Belly Cookbook".  

quite interesting.  

i want to say that i have no medical need to try the wheat free diet.  i am not allergic to wheat, nor am i 
Celiac. 

i am diabetic however.  and i have been trying to keep my A1c below 7.  i feel very good about getting it down there, and i've been a little more conscious about what i put in my mouth.  i began to notice that whenever i eat breads, potatoes, rice, crackers and pasta's my BG's tend to rise quickly and stay up there.

i know i sound like a newby at this diabetic thing, but really, for myself it just has more to do with my age and my desire to lose a few pounds (i weigh the most i've ever weighed, even during 3 pregnancies!!) and feel better in my clothes.

i quit smoking almost 9 years ago.  i have gained a lot of weight since then.  i'm sure not all of it has to do with quitting.  being lazy and stuffing my face with not so good food choices has had quite a bit to do with it.

so now i am trying to change my habits.  habits that i have had for years and years.  bread, whether it be white, whole wheat, bagels, or english muffins, was an almost daily breakfast for me.  ocassionally i would toss in some cereal, or pancakes.  

lunch usually was a sandwich of some sort.  again on bread or buns.  kaisers are a favourite of mine.

supper was meat and potatoes.  mashed, boiled, baked, scalloped.  i love them all.  pasta was another thing 
that was eaten on a weekly basis.  spaghetti, ricatoni, lasagna.  whatever.  they are all delicious!

and then there is the bed time snack.  used to be, years ago, melba toast with peanut butter spread on it was the snack of choice.  along with a glass of milk, this was what i ate almost every night after diagnosis.  that is until i left the comfort of my parents home, and headed into the world of adulthood.

then i could make my own food choices.  i chose potato chips, popcorn, tostitos.  and for years i ate whole meals after work.  now keep in mind i worked evenings when my children were small.  i worked 7pm - midnight.  i ate dinner before going to work and then i ate when i got home at midnight.  macaroni and cheese, mr. noodles.  comfort foods.

well not any more.  for the last week i've been eating low carb and loving it!

no bread, no pasta.  lots of salads, eggs, fruits, vegetable.  i'm trying to keep my daily carb intake below 40gr.  i would normally eat about 30 for breakfast, 40 at lunch and 50-60 at supper, so this is a huge reduction!!

i've been trying out some recipes from the book and online.  yesterday i made an herbed foccacia "bread".  made with almond flour/meal, and lots of other things, it only has 7grs of carbs per serving.  it was delicious with chicken salad.  

today i tried to make some bagels.  the first batch looked awesome.

they were made from a recipe i found online called "Garlic Coconut Flour Bagels". i found them to be a little too sweet  and the combination of garlic and coconut was a little off.  i will try them again, but instead of garlic, i will add cinnamon and raisins. these ones only have 5gr of carbs.

the second batch, made from a different online recipe, turned out better.  they were made with almond flour, flax seed meal, and only a touch of coconut flour.

they taste more like everything bagels should.  the texture is not quite like bagels, but spread with some cream cheese and with a carb count of only 3.5gr per serving, i'll take them!!

i made these in a donut pan that i bought online from amazon.ca. 

there are lots of low carb recipes out there that i am sure i'll be trying in my eforts to eat low carb, but still enjoy something that resembles food made with wheat.  

i guess i'm kind of like a vegetarian who enjoys a veggie burger or a tofurkey sandwich every now and then!

my next goal will be to start walking on my treadmill every morning.  i hope that between the low carb eating and the increase in exercise, by the time summer arrives, i will feel a little more comfortable in my own body, and will embrace summer clothes, and my backyard pool!!