A Somewhat Typical Low-Carb Day

I thought I would share a day of low-carb eating that is relatively typical for me. I know lots of folks picture hunks of meat and cheese eaten in a true caveman fashion but that doesn't have to be the case.

This was my eating for today, all added up I stayed below 30g of carbohydrates which is great!

Typically for breakfast I eat an Atkins bar. Today I had the Dark Chocolate Coconut Crunch bar which is my 2nd favorite. It reminds me a little of an Almond Joy that's got more crunch than coconut, a little on the chewy side. It has (as the label shows) only 3 net carbs. (Chocolate Hazelnut is my favorite for those of you wondering.)

Mid-morning I grabbed a handful of Trader Joe's White Cheddar Popcorn. A fistful is only about 1/4 of the 2 cup serving size, so when you do your low carb math (carbs-dietary fiber x serving size portion) it comes out to about 3 net carbs. This popcorn (in small portions) is a great solution to texture craving for me.

For lunch I cut up 2 pieces of low-fat string cheese (negligible in carbs) and spooned 2-3 tbsp of Trader Joe's bruschetta. It's a great little lunch or occasional late night snack and only has around 3 net carbs.

Although I have lost most of my physical sugar cravings, I do still have a sweet tooth and the Atkins Nutty Fudge Brownie is an acceptable fill. It's by no means a real brownie, but on the diet it works.

For dinner I made my family meatball subs. I took 2 sauced meatballs with minimal sauce and added 2 more meatballs without sauce and a scoop of canned diced tomatoes. I cut the meatballs up into small pieces and melted cheese on top. These were frozen meatballs and had some fillers so they had 6 carbs/ serving. If you made your own, you could reduce the carb count. All told, this dinner was about 8 carbs.

One of my favorite things to eat on this diet is Ralphs CarbMaster brand yogurt. There are several flavors I'd recommend and one of my favorite is the Carrot Cake flavor. I add some walnut pieces for texture and a dollop of whipped topping (Cool Whip or the store bought equivalent) that gives it a dessert feel.  (I also recommend the vanilla flavor with fresh blueberries.)

As far as drinks go, my primary fluid intake is brewed iced tea and water. Sometimes I'll add a sugar free Hawaiian Punch drink mix to my water. I also have a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew every other day or so. I'm not usually a soda drinker, but on this diet I tend to more but none of my carbohydrates come from fluids, though I am working towards a day that I'm going to "splurge" on a glass of non-fat milk which I miss tremendously.

On that note, I also take vitamins daily to keep my diet better balanced. In addition to a good multivitamin I take both calcium +D and potassium because those are the biggest deficiencies in the low-carb lifestyle. If you ever feel a leg cramp on this diet, you're probably not getting sufficient potassium.

So there it is, a somewhat typical low-carb day.