- Have a consistent plan. I start my curfew after dinner. The time varies, depending on when we eat, but I usually start my no/low carb time anywhere from 5:00 - 6:30 pm.
- Plan for indulgence. If there's a food item with carbs in it that you were looking forward to (i.e. homemade cookies, hot chocolate, etc.), make sure you schedule it in before your curfew starts. I had a Rolo ice cream bar, for 130 calories toward my daily caloric allotment, by setting a timer for 3:00 pm. Later on, after my carb curfew started, I didn't feel deprived.
- Have no (or very low) carb food in the house that you can eat, in case you're really hungry in the evening. Last night I had 1/2 a pepperoni stick (100 cals) and a cheese string (60 cals), both somewhere between 7:00 - 9:00 pm.
- Make a point of eating healthy carbs earlier in the day, so that when the evening comes, you have some proper nourishment behind you. In the mornings I usually eat a banana, some yogurt, an apple, some carrots, etc. All containing carbs, and all important for good health.
- Don't stop eating when your carb curfew starts. (They keep telling us that fasting slows down our metabolism, so to not eat anything from 6:00 pm until breakfast the next day probably won't help!)
- Keep lots of sugar free gum handy to help conquer any evening sweet cravings that might make you want to cave and carb out ;)
Carb free food
Carb counter
Another carb counter
Carb counter chart
Good luck and have fun!
TenGone Home
I have had 1-2 cups of popcorn with olive oil, I know ideally air-popped would be great. It helps with that hand-to-mouth habit too!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips!
Terri
Mmmm... popcorn!!! I've never tried it with olive oil - what a good idea. A friend of mine introduced me to olive oil and oregano on toast, so I bet that combination would work on popcorn too. Aw, I want some now!! lol
ReplyDeleteI found that when I cut out "bad" carbs like white sugar and white flour from my diet, my cravings for sweets vanished in about a week's time.
ReplyDeleteKaren - so true!! The more carbs you eat, the more you crave. I really think that carb addiction is real, which is why yo yo dieting is so common. People break the carb cycle, lose some weight, then are exposed again (parties, holidays, etc.) and eat their way into cravings again. It can be such a tough cycle to break.
ReplyDeleteWonderful tips. Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteKathyj333 - you're welcome (and thanks :)
ReplyDelete