Ok, on my 5th day on plan (today), I broke one of my "rules" and had starch with dinner, then had a snack, breaking one of my other rules. I was very tired today, had a 10 1/2 month old to feed when I got home, and dh had made himself a Lebanese dish of pita bread, garbanzo beans, yogurt and butter-sauteed pine notes. So rather than cooking myself my beef and veggies as I'd planned, I ate what he'd made b/c it was convenient. Then I ate more a few hours later b/c it was good. I so hate to cook. I must come up with a strategy to handle this (crockpot cooking, here I come!). Does anyone have any suggestions, especially low-carbers? Thanks!

Well, my first suggestion is to be gentle with yourself and just move on.

Crockpots are wonderful timesavers. Check the low carb forums here for recipes. Also, if you can do it, cook a whole bunch on the weekend, and then just reheat it during the week. When I worked and had kids, I would do that because I was on a budget and didn't want to rely on convenience or fast food. You could also cut up your meat/poultry and veggies ahead of time, put 'em in a ziploc, and then all you have to do is throw them in the wok (or whatever) and cook them. George Forman grills are great, too, because you can just put a little olive oil and spices on a a hunk of protein of your choice and stick it in the grill for 5 min. and it's done.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

I'm definitely with Sheilla, dust yourself off and move on proudly! .... Sheilla's also right in planning ahead of time, ziplocs are my friend... I usually bake or BBQ my favourite chicken or meat then freeze it. I also rely heavily on frozen vegetables. I partially nuke the chicken or meat and the veggies then stir fry in a bit of good olive oil with a dab of sesame oil too ...

I like my crockpot too... when I worked full time I would actually put a whole frozen roast beef or chicken and put it on low and everything would be tender and cooked when I got home in the afternoon...

I have done the same thing as Ilene. Frozen whole chicken or whatever and some water and spices. UMMMM.

For those that are not watching carbs. I like to cut all the fat I can see on a roast and cook it in the crock pot with several cans of Fat Free cream of celery and FF cream of mushroom. Just put how ever much you think you need and in any combination. For a large one I usually just put three cans of each. Then put in 1 packet of dry lipton onion soup mix per two cans used.
This makes a great low fat (but lots of sodium) gravy when the roast is cooked. Taste great over a few cooked carrots and the meat. The key is to let the pot cool in the fridge and then skim off the fat layer that forms at the top from the rest of the fat that was in the meat.

Thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement! I'm really not too bummed about my slip up--my biggest challenge is not eating sweets, and I've been sweet-free since Jan.1, which, believe me, is miraculous! I knew I was tired last night, and now i know I need to do some planning ahead for such nights. So...I'm choosing to think of it as a lesson.

Just pick yourself up and start again.It sounds like your husband will cook for himself. If this is so ,good. Get yourself something you can microwave when your in a hurry so you don't have to be so tempted. I love those Budget Gourmet bowls,yum.Get the bad snacks out of the house. This is not just good for you but "them" to. Replace them with healthy snacks,like apples or celery with a dab of peanut butter.There are pretzels instead of chips,or better yet try Cheerios without the milk as a popcorn style snack. You have to get creative. You'll get the hang of it. Also sounds like your doing carbs. Ummm. I started on carbs which worked for the first two weeks but quit on me after that so I switched to cals. I've lost 60lbs now.

gypsy - your slip up wasn't the worst thing that you could have eaten. pita is low fat, as is just about everything else [except, of course, the pine nuts sauteed in butter!]. high in fiber and other nutrients. provided you didn't eat like 17 cups of the stuff, sounds like you didn't do too badly!!!!

and there are excellent ideas here to help you in your plan, and what's even better, you're not beating yourself up!!!!!

good luck...

Thanks for the encouragement! Yes, my husband will cook for himself, Pam. I'm really a bad cook, and I hate doing it, so it's kind of a necessity. I'm not really doing low-carb, just low-carb dinners. My plan is to eat 3 meals a day (no snacks), no sweets, and no starch at night except non-starchy veggies. Kind of a modified French diet. I'm glad you found a plan that worked for you, Pam! 60 pounds gone--that's wonderful!

Jiffypop, thanks for putting my slip-up in perspective! I have to get over this Catholic school good/bad thinking.

Ugh, I had a little slip up too ... I've recently started South Beach .. and i was dying for something sugary ...so I had a shortbread cookie ...... it's all good tho .. back on plan and raring to go!!!