[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] D[/dropcap]o you ever feel confused by nutrition? I know.
Even though I’ve studied nutrition at university as part of my Food Science degree, I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed. When I read the latest study comparing different diets it can be a bit much. Low fat, paleo, vegetarian, LCHF, plant based, low carb?!
What’s a girl to eat?
When I start to feel that overwhelm I come back to some simple principles to guide my eating:
- Eat real food (adapted from Michael Pollan)
- Eat lots of veggies (adapted from Michael Pollan)
- Watch the carbs (not adapted from Michael Pollan!)
- Experiment with what works for you.
Since being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and then Type 2, I’ve found that for me, eating Low Carb with a generous dose of healthy fat works best.
Of course that may not be what works for you! We truly are all different and it’s so important to find the approach that is best for your situation.
3 Reasons I LOVE Eating Low Carb
1. Low Carb is Delicious!
As a huge huge food lover, there is no way I could stick to a Low Carb lifestyle if it didn’t taste amazing. The pleasure of food is a non-negotiable in my world.
Luckily I’ve discovered that it’s super easy to really enjoy Low Carb food, especially when you include all the delicious, flavour-carrying fats. I never feel deprived.
2. Low Carb Keeps My Blood Sugar Stable
I still test my fasting blood sugar every morning and it’s easy to tell when I’ve let the carbs creep in (hello whole bottle of Proscecco!). But a day of Low Carb eating easily puts the old glucose back on track.
3. Low Carb Helps Manage my Weight.
Apart from the year I spent backpacking around the world and living on beer and bread, I’ve never been really overweight. But I have always struggled with a bulge around my waistline.
When I started eating Low Carb and my body shape stopped being a constant struggle. Maintaining a healthy weight became so much easier.
I really noticed this with my pregnancies. For my first I wasn’t diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and I gained 20kg (40lb). With my second I really focused on eating Low Carb and monitoring my blood sugar after every meal and guess what? I only gained 15kg (30lb) even though I was exercising less.
Enjoy!
Jules xoxo
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Avo on Toast with Smashed Olives & Tahini
We Australians love to abbreviate everything. In case you’re wondering ‘avo’ is actually avocado. While there aren’t many things I miss being Low Carb, ‘Avo on Toast’ was one of them. So happy to have found a Low Carb bread that means I can enjoy my avocado AND keep my blood sugar happy. Of course you’re welcome to use whatever bread you prefer.
You don’t really need a recipe for this idea but the contrast of the salty piquant olives with the creamy avo and tahini really takes this to the next level!
enough for: 2
takes: 10 minutes
1 slice broccoli bread
1 small avocado or 1/2 large
squeeze lime
4-5 kalamata olives, smashed
2 tablespoons tahini
1. Toast your bread.
2. Halve avocado and scoop flesh onto the toast. Smash roughly with a fork to cover the surface. Sprinkle generously with black pepper and some sea salt flakes (remembering your olives will add salt too).
3. Squeeze over lime. Smash olives with the side of your knife and remove stones. Scatter smashed olives over the avo and drizzle over tahini.
Variations
more simple – just use avocado and lime with lashings of black pepper.
no tahini – just skip it or try sprinkling with dukkah, roast pine nuts or sesame seeds instead.
carb-lovers – use your favourite bread. True carb lovers might like to spread their toppings over 2 slices!
another fave avo on toast topping – sprinkle with Shicimi Togarashi.
no avo – replace with regular hummus or my Low Carb Roast Cauliflower Hummus and skip the tahini.
For someone like me who actually has trouble keeping weight on, I’ve always been afraid to eat low-carb because I don’t actually need to lose weight! On the contrary, I need all the calories I can get, and I love carbs. Any thoughts on this? Can the low-carb way of eating be something that an underweight person can undertake?
That’s a good question Rebecca!
As long as you’re getting enough calories you won’t lose weight. The key is to make sure you’re eating enough fat which can be hard from a mindset perspective if you’re used to thinking of fat as bad.
The only way to really tell is to try it for yourself and see how you feel.
Let me know if you do give it a go
Jx
I started monitoring my carbohydrate intake some time last fall/winter and detected that it was closely connected to my migraines – as long as I stay under approx. 150 grams of carbs per day for most of the time, I remain migraine-free. Truly hit home when I visited family for a couple of day, who do the old-fashioned German “bread, potatoes, pasta” thing … on the way back home (350 kilometers alone in a car) I thought my head was killing me! Ever since I have mainly been eating dairy, eggs and vegetables (to keep my protein intake high enough for training), and I honestly do not remember the last time I had a proper migraine. According to some studies, LC also helps to manage epilepsy, although I do not have any anecdotal evidence on that. Still worth a try, maybe. :-)
Hi Diandra! Really interesting about your migraines and Low Carb.. excellent example of finding what works for you :)
Hey, Jules, This blog will help to those who are stick to their nutritious principles. I too like Low Carb so much. Thanks for sharing :)
Good to hear from a fellow Low Carb fan Andreya!
Such a delicious recipe. The tahini gave it a lovely additional richness. I didn’t have any limes but had some acidic cherry tomatoes that I cut in half and scattered on top. This is going to make a regular appearance in my breakfast roster.
Glad you enjoyed Jordan :)