Some of you may already know that I am diabetic (type 1, not gestational), as I've mentioned it on a few other threads, but I'm not a frequent poster so it may have slipped through the cracks. Anyway, the point is is that I eat a really low-carb diet all the time. Other times I've been pregnant I have found it harder to stick to, but this time it hasn't been as hard - I haven't had the carb cravings.
I do find "snacking" harder on low-carb - I mean, there's only so many almonds and cheese that a person wants to eat. That said, when I eat a good low-carb meal, I don't usually get hungry enough to ever want a snack. But pregnancy is another animal of course ... Now, if I feel too yucky to finish a meal, I'll eat half and then save the other half to snack on later. So I end up eating at least six "meals" a day when I'm pregnant, but they are all within that low-carb paradigm. I basically eat veggies, eggs, meat, fish, fats (butter, coconut oil, olive oil etc), cheese, sometimes a full-fat yogurt, and nuts. Sometimes I make flax seed or almond flour bread, but not that often. I do also sometimes go the sweetener route since I absolutely cannot have any sugar or natural sweeteners without spiking my sugar, and I have a sweet tooth. I definitely limit it more during pregnancy though.
Anyway ... after 2 years of eating like this, I've found that it's something that you just DO when you put your mind to it. It is really really really hard at the beginning and then you get into a groove. I find that when I do let more carbs into my diet, I want more. If I don't have very many at all, I don't miss them. If you really don't want to eat it, get it out of the house (if the rest of the family is willing to let you of course ...).
One thing that I do like is toasted nori - since I can't have chips or anything, at least I get the crunch and saltiness, and hey, the iodine is good for babe, too! Hard-boiled eggs are a great take-with-you snack, and frozen veggies are your friend: throw them in a pan with some olive oil or butter, add a little salt and some shredded chicken or ground beef or whatever protein you like, and cook until done - fast, easy dinner or lunch (or breakfast :) ). Try switching out ice cream for full fat yogurt, (i know, I know, yeah right LOL) or making your own popsicles - I mix full fat greek yogurt with heavy cream to thin it out, grate in a little ginger and add the teensiest bit of liquid sweetener (you could use honey or sugar or whatever if you don't have to worry about your sugar levels), and then freeze the mix in the popsicle molds - they really soothe my nausea at the same time as giving me the benefits of the dairy products that I can't really take when I am feeling pukey.
I think one of the keys of low-carb living is definitely losing the fear of fat - it's hard to be on a lower-carb diet if you are worried about fat as well, since you don't want to excessively up your protein, you've got to replace the carbs with something! And fat will fill you up, plus at least butter provides a bunch of vitamin a and d.
Okay, I think you were looking more for suggestions on just how to break out of the knee-jerk eat-carbs phase, and I wasn't that helpful there ... but those are my thoughts for what they're worth! Keep us posted on how things go.
Good luck!!!
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