Crash Course

Much of what I am going to post will be from emails i have sent my friends before. The information below was sent to a friend that was going to be traveling for a week. She wanted to know what she could eat when out at a restaurant. Some of this will sound abrupt. I acknowledge that, but it was by design in this instance. I'm sure I will come back and edit some of these in the future to present a unified plan, but this is what you get in the meantime.


Don't eat or drink sugar
Don't eat bread or rice
Don't eat refined carbs/sugars
Flour is the devil
Ask to substitute any of the starchy side items (Potatoes, corn, beans) with green vegetables and/or a side salad
Don't order deep fried food that have been breaded -Stir fry is usually okay (thai, etc)
If ordering drinks, light beer is okay, as well as cocktails with diet mixers. (You probably won't lose weight if drinking, but it won't cause you to gain if drinking the above drinks.

Food encouraged to eat
Cheese (Hard cheeses are best, but Sour and Cream cheeses are okay in moderation
Stay away from Velveeta and processed cheeses like string cheese)
Kraft cheese cubes are the easiest way to portion how much cheese you are eating. 4 oz a day is okay (I am a little ashamed at how glad I am I found 1 store in the Houston area that stocks Extra Sharp Cheddar in the Kraft cubes - Rice Epicurean at Post Oak and San Felipe)

Meat (The fattier the better. I know it is counterintuitive, but trust me. If you aren't eating carbs with it, your body won't store that fat)
Dark chicken meat or breasts with the skin on
Any kind of steak. I prefer ribeye (Most fat and most flavor)
Seafood, shrimp, etc...
Try to stay away from sugary sauces and dips like cocktail sauce
Eggs (Scrambled, hard-boiled, omelettes, fritatas (open faced omelettes) Or plain ole fried
Leafy vegetables
Avocados (good omega 3 fats that help with brain chemistry and help to fight circulatory inflammation)
almonds (in moderation, about 25 is a good amount for 1 day. This will fit on a post it note) - also known for omega 3s
Cold Water Fish (Best source of omega 3s)

STAY AWAY FROM CANOLA OIL and other Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that are primarily Omega 6's
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is your best bet.
Palm oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil and other omega 3 oils are best.
stay away from margarine
Stay Away From Margarine
and did I mention
STAY AWAY FROM MARGARINE!

That is frankenfood that corrodes inside your body.Trans Fats is the fancy way of saying Partially Hydrogenated Oils. This stuff should be solid at room temp, but they mutate it into a liquid. You don't want to put that stuff into your body.

Butter is your Friend
Heavy Cream is your friend
Don't drink Milk. It is bad for us. Take a vitamin supplement that has Calcium Citrate if you are worried about it
Stay away from calcium carbonate when trying to get a calcium supplement ( the stuff in tums) your body only absorbs 10% of it.

Ignore everything you've ever heard about saturated fat being bad.

You want to eat every 3 or so hours, even if it is just a handful of almonds, or a few ounces of cheese. Eat within an hour of waking up That starts your metabolism again from its state of hibernation while sleeping. (When you stop eating at night is really irrelevant (unless you are eating sugary desserts-which you won't be)

Natural unsalted almonds are best because they won't make you as thirsty as the salted. Sometimes we interpret being thirsty as being hungry.

Green Tea is good, not carb related, but a good sustained source of caffeine that won't make you jittery, and has LOTS of antioxidants that fight free radicals (which corrode and damage vessels in your body)

Remain hydrated. You don't have to drink 10 glasses of water a day, BUT make sure you aren't thirsty.Drink more water if you drink diuretics like coffee or cokes that dehydrate your body.

FYI, each packet of splenda should be counted as 1g of carbs because of the dextrose (filler) they add to the packets so it mixes in the same quantities as sugar. Staying away from artificial sweeteners is best, but you've gotta live, so do so in moderation. It is probably okay to use when starting a low carb lifestyle simply because the other changes you make will drastically take the weight off, but you might consider eliminating it from your diet if you stall or hit a plateau.