My sister was in town this week and we were talking about how she is interested in trying out the slow carb diet, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and post my simple tips for keeping with it.
Tip 1: Green Tea
I brew a pitcher of green tea every few days, and store it in my fridge. I don’t add any sweeteners (some artificial sweeteners could still spike your insulin response, and I haven’t figured out which). My trick is to drink it really cold with lots of ice, and keep some on my desk all day.
Tip 2: Jerky
Right now in my cupboard I have bison/buffalo jerky from fresh market, ostrich jerky (ostrim), and regular extra lean beef jerky. Whenever I’m hungry in between meals I’ll grab a bit to snack on. These are all low-fat options for lean protein. My only concern with them is sodium, so I only eat a little bit each time (a couple grams).
Tip 3: Ziploc bags/tupperware
I break up my chicken or steak into single serving size when I marinate them in advance and store them either in the fridge or freezer. I’ll buy proteins in larger quantities then split them up so that i don’t have to thaw out an entire package for one serving.
Tip 4: Beans + tupperware
I don’t often like to eat an entire can of beans at one time, but will rinse and store half the can after i’ve warmed it up (I’ve been told rinsing the beans reduces the gassy effect of the legumes) and consume it the next morning with my high protein breakfast. I like buying the unspiced ones from whole foods that have had salt added to them (salt level is pretty low). Careful with target brand beans as they often have sugar added to them as a preservative/flavor enhancer.
Tip 5: Egg white cartons
I buy Allwhites 100% egg whites, and mix with my whole eggs when I make my scrambles in the morning. I am not a fan of egg beaters or the other non 100% egg white products (they tend to have stringy feeling to them, or strange taste). These little packages are great as they will keep for 7 days in your fridge once you open them, so for $1.50 you can get 10 eggs worth of whites to use for a week.
Tip 6: Snack before workout/eat after
So I snack on peanut butter or nuts or jerky about 2 hours before I go to cross-train. I feel like this gives me enough time to settle my stomach, and still have some bioavailability of said nutrients for the workout. I try to also eat protein or dinner within a short period of working out.
One of the hardest aspects of adhering to a diet for me is always making it a routine, once its routine and second nature, it becomes much easier to stick to. Have any dieting tips that have worked for you?
Brian have you found jerkey that doesn’t have sugar in it? That has been the challenge for me so far.
I agree, one of the hard things is making it a routine. I am finding that I have to make it as easy to comply as possible, otherwise I leave room for thought and thought tends to lead to temptation, and I have a hard time saying no to temptatino. 🙂
-j
the bison jerky and ostrim ones don’t have any sugar. bison one is tastiest, and its just salt + meat.
I think the key thing that people should take away here is any
successful “diet” is planning. If you have good food prepared, you
always have a got to meal or snack that will keep you on track. You can
Tupperware your way to success.
Also, go through your cabinets and clean them out of all processed foods
and give them away. That’s hard with family, etc, but it works.
Also, strict Paleo is the bomb.
Mike I agree with the planning issue. I often make several days worth of meals and store them in the fridge or freezer. Cleaning out the cabinets is key, as you would be surprised how much garbage we keep.
I haven’t tried strict paleo yet, but may consider it for a month to experiment. Got any paleo tips?
Yes, Google The Paleo Solution Quickstart. It is a two page PDF on exactly how to do it. No need to read volumes. It cuts right to it. If I stick to it too strictly, I lose weight too quickly.
It’s great. Once you get out of college it gets really hard to out- exercise a bad diet. And you settle in going Paleo within three days. Guarantee it works.
I lost 40 in a month, but then put some back on with the snapback effect of losing too fast. Now, I’m net -30 +- a bit.
wow 40lbs in a month! holy balls. and i was content with my 10lbs in 1 month loss.
Thanks for this, Brian… I need to try the jerky thing — I’ve seen some “healthy” jerky advertised somewhere… I use a handful of peanuts for a snack. Just 10 peanuts holds me for quite a while…
dont think of it as a diet…
I really want to lose weight and will try the slow carb diet. This article is just one of the best I read. Will try the diet this week.