My co-worker John keeps bringing donuts into work and placing one on my desk as a joke. He seems to think that the internal struggle and desire for carbs that I have is quite funny and inciting those reactions with a sugary dough ball is his way of a good time. I guess he likes to see me sweat. I usually end up throwing said donut across the room where is falls to the floor collecting hair and dust, and becoming inedible. After all, if I cant have it, nobody can. 

All though a grown man struggling over a donut does have a certain humor filled aspect to it, I can't help but feel as though sometimes John wants nothing more than to see me fall of the wagon into a sugar filled nightmare. Not because he wants me to fail at my life changes, but because he wants me to break these strict Atkins rules that don't apply to him. Since those rules are not relevant to him, its easy for him to miss out on their importance for me. 


So the question is how do we make others understand the importance of our low carb lifestyle without seeming like weirdos?

Do you have friends and family that tempt you? How do you handle it?

The fact is that there just isn't a lot of low carb Asian meals out there in restaurants. Trust me I have looked. So much of the food is deep fried, contains noodles, or is covered in some sugary sauce. Usually when I go somewhere of the Asian variety now it is because my wife wants the food. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff, Panda Express was a staple of my old diet and cream cheese wontons are my kryptonite. but those things are too much of a temptation these days.

So what happens if you end up there and you got to get something, Well it happened to me this past weekend when the family wanted Pei Wei. I hoped on-line as quick as possible and check out the nutritional info. Not a ton of choices. I decided that I would give the Thai Dynamite Beef a go. I imagine the Beef and Broccoli would have been a good choice too.

The Thai Dynamite Beef was pretty good. It had a nice light crunch to it and there was a nice tangy flavor. Its not too sweet, but has just enough to give it that light Asian taste you want. I only wish I had some more veggies with the meal. Perhaps my next visit I will try to sub out the rice for some fresh veggies and see what happens.

Carbs - 15
Dietary Fiber - 2
Net Carbs - 13

Just got back from a wedding in Nashville. I was out of reach from doing any posts so hopefully I can get some new ones up this week.

So, after the discussion of sausage and brats in the last post I got inspired to get a little crazy. Why not, it's an American tradition to load up your dog and Its pretty easy to do. Why go pay a bunch for one of those fancy gormet dogs out of a food truck when you can make one at home that low carb and just ast tasty?

Low Carb Santa Fe Double Wrapped Brats
What you need:
Brats
Bacon
Sliced Bell Peppers
Sliced Onions
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheese (pepper jack is great)
Low Carb Tortillas

1. Get yourself some brats, You can pick the flavor depending on your taste buds, but I went with the traditional stadium brats. Now wrap those suckers up with some bacon. Do it at an angle and you can use 1 strip per brat. Use a toothpick to make sure the bacon does not fall off while being cooked.

2. Start cooking those brats, Make sure your watching them though cause the grease from the bacon can cause them to cook fast at a certain point.

3. Add some sliced bell peppers and Onions to your pan. The bacon grease will cook these and help caramelize them with lots of flavor.

4. When the brats are looking brown and the bacon is crispy they are done. Remember, you are technically only cooking the bacon on one side, so if its not cooked long enough, your going be eating very undercooked bacon. Its better to cook longer than shorter. But be careful not to burn them too, Keep turning them.

5. When they are done, set them in your low carb tortilla. Drop your caramelized peppers and onions in there and top with some shredded cheese and sour cream. Roll it up and enjoy.

Per Wrap
Carbs - 9
Dietary Fiber - 1
Net Carbs - 8

Tired of the same old hot dog? Why not mix it up with some Stadium brats or Beer brats. A little different flavor to mix things up. Maybe add some sauerkraut and Grilled onions for flavor? Roll them in a low carb tortilla. Why not. Live a little, you've earned it.

Usually they have a little bit more carbs to them, but are a bit heartier and will change up the taste for you.

What are you favorite kind of sausages or brats?

Italian sausage? Hot links?

I find myself stuck in a bit of a rut lately. Despite all of the different options of things I know I can eat, I return to the same things over and over again because they are quick, easy, and I am a bit of a lazy cook. I guess that happens to anyone on a limited diet. You end up going through a cycle of food every week and it begins to feel like all you ever eat is cobb salads, low carb tortillas, and lettuce wrapped hamburgers. Don't get me wrong, I love all those things, they have been the some of the reasons I have been lucky enough to lose the weight I have. But being stuck in a rut leads me down troubled paths at times. I find myself constantly wanting to snack, to have that sugary temptation, or eat that late night treat just like I used to. 

A life change like Atkins can be hard. Especially since food is such a social thing. My wife an I love to try new places with friends and share in the experiences with others. You hate to miss out on those special food moments and specialty items so it gets easy to allow yourself to slip and make bad choices. I would be lying if I said I didn't have that Brownie Finale from Claim Jumper the other night. Hangs head in shame.

I refuse to allow myself to go back to the way things were. Eating anything I want, anytime I want, and using food as a band-aid for a bad day; that just can't happen. Easier said than done. Eating is something that is apart of my life that I can't just quit completely. Balance is something we need to learn otherwise we can get filled with guilt and shame after we break our routine and carb count.  Balance is key. To enjoy what we eat and not feel shackled to certain foods, but to enjoy the healthy alternatives. We need to understand that food can be just as dangerous as any drug or acholhol if abused and know our personal limits. I am still learning all of this. it frustrating that is not as easy as flipping a switch in my brain.

I'm in a funk. I'm tired and I want to cheat.  
It will change tomorrow.

Besides being a bit of a low carb foodie, some might consider me a bit of a creative person with a love for the arts. I love film. I went to school for theatre. That said, I've been working on a project for a while with a friend of mine that I thought I would share with my PMA fans. Check out the link below to see what I'm up to...

Brownie Finale at Claim Jumper.   
This will kill you.

There are several chain salad bar restaurants located across the country. They seemed to become popular for a whole, Usually these restaurants specialize in allowing you to make a salad your own way with an abundance of ingredient to choose from. One of these restaurants I recently visited is Souplantation. How was my experience? "Leafy".

Obviously building your own salad is a great feature for the low carb diet, but what you need to be careful of is the prepared salads. often times these can contain sugary dressings. Obviously potato salads and noodle salads are out, your gonna want to avoid the baked good area (which is no easy task), and choose wisely on your soup choices.

I got a couple of salads to munch on but the two things I wanted to highlight from my visit were my soup and dessert.

Sweet Tomato Onion Soup -- or As i call it Tomonion
If French Onion and Creamy Tomato had a sexy one night stand and a baby was brought forth to the world, this would be it. Delicious and full of flavor.It also contains a good amount of onions and tomato chuncks to enjoy. I would gather that the tomatos would be a nice source of fiber for your diet too.

1 cup 
Carbs 13
Dietary Fiber 2
Net Carbs 11

Sugar Free Chocolate Mouse
It's just that, an airy chocolate whip that is tasty and light. Great way to wrap up your meal without all the guilt of the brownies and icecream. I added peanuts! Thats right peanuts!

Carbs 3
Dietary Fiber <1
Net Carbs 3