zorba1331

There is a bit of a greater cost to the grass fed meats, but you can usually get a decent price at a local farmers market. In the end, your health is where you ought to be putting some investment into. Short term investment might add up to less expense later on potential Dr. bills or prescriptions. However, one of the sayings is that you 'just do the best you can with what you have'. I like to buy grass fed beef/meat but it isn't always available so I just do the best with what I have.

I find that sometimes I want to eat 'breakfast food' for breakfast and sometimes not. I will often eat last nights leftover chicken breast or hamburger patty for breakfast. Get yourself some good quality eggs (the ones that are free range with DHA omega 3's) or just find a farmer and by them straight from him (also farmers market). Whip yourself up a nice meaty omlette instead of the oatmeal and toast.

I go with full fat greek yogurt (plain) and my favorite brand is Fage.

FAGE Total Authentic Greek Yogurt

It tastes almost identical to sour cream which, at first was right gross to me. Now I use just about a teaspoon of it on top of blueberries and it is delicious. Regardless of brand, I always look for the one with the highest fat content. Anything like that that is 0% fat or low fat is loaded with sugar. Steer clear of anything fat free. 'No sugar added' typically means that there is enough damn sugar in it as it is and we don't need to add any more!

We are so conditioned to have a flavored yogurt that is basically desert--typically they are fat free (which means there is a boatload of sugar added in order to just make it edible-which then means lots of carbs) and have some sort of artificial flavor/look to it. Fage is thick and creamy and if you need to add a bit of honey (yes, sugar and carbs basically, but better than your oatmeal!) and some cinnamon for a different flavor.

I am not sure about price, but it is worth it.

That is the thing that is so annoying. The good quality foods are priced so that it makes it difficult for the average consumer to buy the right things, and the garbage is all highly affordable.

My grocery bill has gone up for sure and I don't know where you are at in that regard, but you will find that filling up on protein and the good fats will have you eating less food in general. One of the biggest things I noticed, however, after going Primal was how often I used to be putting food into my mouth. I eat way less now and hours go by before I even think about food. So, it is more money up front, but less down the road if that makes sense.

A chicken salad is pretty cheap to make and if you load it with farmers market fresh veggies (typically very cheap) you will find it very filling and satisfying.

Tonight dinner was bbq'ed chicken breast, spanish cauliflower rice (farmers market) and zucchini boats (farmers market). The meat was high quality chicken, but zucchini was $1 each and the cauliflower was not much more than that. It was tasty and filling and full on healthy.

It takes effort and a bit of creativity to cut out those carbs, but if you are loading up on vegetables and meat, you won't need to buy bread or oatmeal! Also, you cut out those carbs and your bit of sugar that you like in your coffee becomes a non-issue, although as my sister has found, she has slowly weaned herself off of that sugar as well and drinks it straight black.

collegefbfan8898

Going back to the topic of the oats and stuff. Just looking at a few things on some nutrition labels. I was thinking of reducing my oats in the morning to 1/4 of a cup and have that with a 1 cup of 1% milk along with some fruit, etc.

Just noticed that the 1/4 oats has the same amount of carbs as 1 cup of milk. Around 13. So, I am getting just as many carbs from milk as I am oats.

What gives? I can't give up milk and oats. I mean, damn I might as well eat fish 3 meals a day and snacks.

ChunkyDunk78

I personally would never live off 50 grams of carbs a day... That barely allows for 2 servings of fruit, never mind any other higher carb veggie, yogurt, or bread/cereal/rice of any kind....

xo_liana

Thank you. I feel the need to mention, though, that I am doing very intense interval cardio and I lift heavy weights before that (on non-consecutive days), so the exercise issue isn't real a big deal. I just feel like there are so many conflicting sources out there regarding whether to eat high carb before and/or after a workout, and I'm never certain which side I should believe.

For example, this morning I ate 1 cup of cereal and a small bit of skim milk about an hour and a half before my all-cardio workout. It gave me enough energy to get through the workout, but if I'm to believe what I hear certain people say, I shouldn't be eating at all before a workout if I want to lose the last of my fat. It can be kind of a confusing thing when everyone seems to say something different, you know? :P

Plus, I guess I'm just concerned that my body already seems more than capable of losing weight really quickly and easily without touching my diet, and I'm already at a low weight (115, and several people have already commented that I look 'too skinny', 'very slight', etc.), that if I cut calories anymore, I'm afraid of what could happen. I'm already eating well below my RDI for total calories as well as total carbs. Basically, if I cut out grains, I'd be on a low carb diet, am I right? That's not a very healthy territory, as far as I'm concerned. That's not a balanced diet.