Recently I met with Bucknell’s nutritionist and my appointment was awesome! We came up with a plan that met my needs: I eat a low carb diet for about two weeks and see how I feel. It’s been about a week and, contrary to popular predictions, I didn’t die.
Now I know what you’re thinking when I say low carb…
Yeah carbs are great, and I wasn’t looking forward to saying goodbye to my regular bowl of pasta, but I gave it a try.
Now in case you’re wondering what counts as a carb anyway? Well, a carb can be any sort of grain (including gluten, rice, etc.), sugar, or starchy vegetable or fruit. I didn’t cut out carbs entirely, I just made sure that my meals were not entirely based around carbs. Instead, I could eat an english muffin with eggs for breakfast, a cup of pasta at dinner, and maybe some M&Ms in my trail mix. I also stuck to small meals with snacking in between in order to reduce cravings.
Here’s what I learned from my week:
Don’t starve!
Since you are cutting something out, you have to substitute other things so you don’t starve. This means you should make sure you are eating plenty of vegetables and protein.
Carrots and peanut butter are your friends!
Protein, veggies, and creamy nutty goodness. The snack that has everything to get you by! Try mixing this snack in between meals to keep you going throughout the day.
Color is everything!
The more colorful your plate, the healthier it is. This helps with cutting carbs a lot! On any given plate you want to see a lot of green, yellow, red, etc! And it’s not as hard as you think!
More energy for everyday things!
I found after a few days I felt lighter and stronger. Not drastically, but I realised how much slower my body operated when it was constantly trying to digest all those pieces of pizza and plates of pasta.
Bloating? I don’t know her.
The above being said, I’m less bloated and my digestive track actually seems like it likes me again!!! We’re getting along!
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
The best way to help your body adjust to a new way of eating is to make sure you’re constantly hydrated. You should do this anyway but nonetheless it’ll be super helpful when you’re body is going through these changes.
And the most important thing
Listen to your body! You can’t completely change routines in a week, so be kind to your body and mind during this transition. Take care of yourself and know that there is no “cheating” when it comes to doing what’s right for your body. So always do what you need for your sanity!
If you’re looking to change things up in your diet, then I’d recommend trying low carb. It’s not as hard as I thought it’d be, and–hey–it’s healthy! Happy eating!