Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Danger in Setting Weight-Loss Goals

Football Player is Landing on His Right Hand, Holding Football with Left Hand
Setting Weight Loss Goals
 Can Cause You to Crash and Burn
From the moment we entered this world, people have been pushing their ideas and suggestions at us.

One of these suggestions is that we need to set goals.

The idea of setting weight-loss goals is driven by the belief that we will receive a certain reward for having achieved the goal. Being different than we are now is supposed to bring approval and relieve our feelings of anxiety and insecurity.

We hate where we are now, so we have a low-carb weight-loss action plan that will enable us to get the fast results we're hoping for.

Whether that happens or not, that's what we believe, so we experience this insatiable desire to achieve our goal. It's almost like an obsession, at times. The urge to get what we want, when we want it, in return for our efforts, is just that strong.

Goals can motivate you to stick to your weight-loss plan. That's what we've been told. The reward factor will give us that little boost in courage we need to keep going. However, there are several negative effects that occur when you grasp onto the iron rod of goal setting, and these effects can be dangerous to your low-carb diet.


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Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Yummy Eggplant Lasagna Recipe – Low Carb and Gluten Free

Lasagna in a Nice Crock Serving Dish
How to Make Lasagna
 With Eggplant Instead of Noodles
Turning low carb into a lifestyle won't work very well unless you can find new dishes that are just as tasty, or more so, than the ones you left behind. Chucking the breads, cereals, tortillas, and pasta dishes can also bring a lot of emotional upheaval for those who are severely attached to sandwiches, burritos, tacos, and spaghetti.

The trick to making a low-carb diet work better for you is to find healthy ways to bring back the foods you miss the most, such as lasagna.

While that process might be quick and simple if you can tolerate the wheat-protein based low-carb pastas on the market today, switching out those gummy noodles for healthy slices of eggplant can be a tastier option.

No, really.

You can make a yummy eggplant lasagna without the noodles by simply substituting ultra-thin slices of partially-baked eggplant and covering them in a traditional, spicy meat sauce and cheese. Once you get the hang of making this unforgettable eggplant lasagna with ground beef or turkey, family and guests won't be able to tell the difference between your low-carb gluten-free version and the real thing.


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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Are You Falling for One of These 3 Low-Carb Lies?

Large Rocky Hill to Climb
Weight Loss Isn't a Smooth Path
A low-carb diet offers you many potential health benefits, but it doesn't always live up to its reputation as a quick weight-loss diet. I know that can be frustrating when the pounds don't come off as quickly as you had hoped.

Although the diet regime is sound advice and has lots of scientific evidence to back it up, many people eventually find themselves sitting on a plateau. For others, the diet stops working completely.

Weight loss is never a smooth ride.

The body always strives to maintain balance. Restricting carbohydrates upsets the body's normal metabolic rhythm. It doesn't like change, and it doesn't like having to do things the hard way.

In addition, many low-carb gurus present miraculous claims to their readers, but those claims often fall short of the truth. In their excitement to share their own experiences or coax you into giving Atkins Induction or Nutritional Ketosis a fair chance, low-carb supporters often repeat things they've heard so many times that now they believe those myths are true.

It's not that those in the low-carb spotlight are deliberately trying to mislead you. Most of them believe what they're saying. However, when you're staring down at a bathroom scale that won't budge, all of a sudden, those low-carb lies begin to matter.

If you've reached a point in your low-carb journey where you appear to be stuck, take a moment and give your low-carb beliefs a thorough evaluation. Are you falling for one of these 3 low-carb lies?


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Friday, March 25, 2016

How to Make the Perfect Low-Carb Salad

Mega Salad from Whole Foods, salad with lots of vegetables added
Need an Easter Short Cut?
 Toss Vegetables into Your Salad!
(photo: Zaskoda, CC BY 2.0)
Easter is right around the corner. Do you have your low-carb menu all set up and ready to go? Done your shopping yet?

Me neither.

Our holiday plans for this year are a bit up in the air. We have a close friend that is in the midst of buying a house and was hoping it would close before Easter. If so, then we won't be cooking at home this year, so I've been dragging my feet, waiting to hear . . .

Low-carb Easter menus are not that difficult though. With ham the traditional centerpiece and lots of hard-boiled eggs around, all you need to round out your low-carb meal is a super-nice salad and vegetables with a little bit of extra perk.

If that sounds like too much work this year and you're looking for a holiday short-cut, simply skip the extras and toss those lightly steamed or leftover roasted veggies into the salad. Chill it all together and you'll have an extra-special mega-salad treat. When topped with a creamy homemade dressing, you can't help but have a memorable meal the whole family can enjoy together.

But I confess.

I have a hard time dragging out the salad fixings in the dead of winter. Winter and hot food just go hand-in-hand, but with spring knocking at the door and summer on the horizon, it's time to start thinking about how to make the perfect low-carb salad.


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Friday, March 18, 2016

Kicked Out of Ketosis? The Dirty Little Secret About Ketone Testing Strips

Book flipping open with sparkles coming out of it
Kicked Out of Ketosis?
Ketone Testing Strip Secrets
If you hang out at low-carb forums for any length of time, you're bound to hear again and again how someone recently got kicked out of the state of ketosis and is looking for a fast way to get back in. Out of all the issues that you can have with a low-carb lifestyle, understanding ketone testing strips is one of the biggies.

I got kicked out of ketosis,” is one of the most common complaints I hear.

And while that may or may not be true, depending on the situation, there are a lot of misconceptions about the role that ketones and ketone testing strips play in a low-carb diet.

If you think that you've been kicked out of ketosis, listen up. Here's the dirty little secrets about ketone testing strips that you probably won't hear in a low-carb forum.


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