Well, the Apryl that I want to be is *not* going to punish her body by stuffing it with and overload icky refined sugars and "white" carbs. It is, after all, a temple.

So.... I'm sort of doing a semi-low carb thang... not no carb, not low carb... let's call it "reduced carb" Any ideas for ways to go about this, snacks, meals.... anything unconventional that is still yummy? Just wondering. Thanks!

Apryl- alot of times for a snack i eat sugar free jello and pudding. I used light wheat bread and i eat my fruits instead of drinking them, if you drink cola switch to diet, If you cannot cut out pasta try the whole wheat or pasta made with veggies. A hint with reading labels you can subtract the dietarty fiber from the total carbs. Your body doest absorb them. Have you set a goal of how many carbs a meal ?? I try and stay under 40 a meal and its not really that hard you just have to really look at what a portion size and how many carbs per serving. Good luck!

I watch my carbs too, although I don't count carbs. I have eliminated sugar completely from my diet (you'd be surprised how EVERYTHING has sugar in in), and I keep my carbs as low as I can without counting. I don't know anyone else who is doing the Montignac plan, with the exception of my friend at work, so he is my main source of support and info on this. The one thing I like about this plan, is that you can have veggies with carbs and after the first 2 weeks you can have pastas/breads with carbs, you just need to know which once you can and can't have and when to eat them. If you do a search on Google for Low Carb recipes, you'll find tons of hits. This site has lots and lots of recipes too, if you look under Atkins recipes and SBD recipes in the forums, or on the main 3FC page, there is a link on the left-hand side for recipes. I'm really proud of you hon!

apry.. you have a PLAN!!! congratulations!!! as for low carb ideas, check out the low carb threads on this forum. a WONDERFUL bunch of ladies [with the occasional man floating in as well!]

having said that: veggie carbs are generally ok, but watch the carrots, peas, corn, winter squash. you can have some, but not a lot. they're very carb-y.

berries are less carb-y than apples, pears, and melons. citrus is ok, but as dow said, eat your fruit, don't drink them.

some food/snack ideas: veggies dipped in hummus. deli roll ups [watch the carbs in the deli meat, try to choose the less processed ones]. one of my favorites: take a piece of cooked chicken, add a little hot sauce or peanut sauce, and roll it in a large lettuce leaf with some cucumber, a little shredded carrot, maybe some chopped tomato. yummy!!

cottage cheese with veggies. or a dip made with bleu cheese and cottage cheese. deviled eggs.

you'll come up with other stuff. good luck!!!!

Tens days to really detox off the sugar and the flour it isn't easy. I have been sugar/flour free for 16 days and if you need to scream and shout. I don't actually count carbs, calories, or much of anything these days, but I always state my meal plan if the beggining of all my journal entrie, if you need a recipe,let me know.

Miss Chris

Apryl,

Well everyone here has given you some good suggestions of where to look - just thought I'd add my 2-cents ... I'm in my second week of Atkins, and it's a bit more strict in the beginning with limiting carbs, but I've noticed that cutting out a lot of the carbs has really controlled my 'hunger'...I no longer feel hungry all the time and it's helping me lose those urges to really binge on some not-so-good food. So whether I go the whole nine yards with Atkins or not, I'm definitely thinking that a low-carb or a controlled-carb life is one that will work well for me! I think it's just important to make sure that you get most of your carbs from vegetables.

Edamane is a great low carb, high fiber snack. served warm, cold with a bit of salt, takes a few minutes to eat....yummy!!

Pistachios are a low carb snack. Of course, you can't have a bucket of them! But, they're lower than the other nuts. And they're a yummy, crunchy snack. Macademia nuts are even lower carb but are really high in fat and expensive, so it depends on what kind of plan (and budget!) you have.
Celery with a little natural peanut butter is great. (Log without the ants). Natural peanut butter is more expensive and takes a little getting used to it, but even OFF of our Atkins diet, we can't go back to that sugary, processed stuff. We love our natural peanut butter.
Dan ate a lot of beef jerky, but I couldn't have the salt.

Hope that helps!

Oh, I only eat natural peanut butter, I tried some like, "Skippy" the other day when I was babysitting and I was like "WHOA NELLY WHAT IS THIS STUFF?"

Thanks everyone. Great ideas! -Apryl