7 low carb breakfasts

Many people have a hard time dealing with breakfast on a low carb diet. I eat low carb to improve my insulin resistance and PCOS symptoms. Sandra Ahten has suggested, in her podcast, using 7 different breakfasts in a week. For some unknown reason, this seems to help kick start the body into fat loss mode. I think that the body needs a variety of nutrients and when it gets a variety of nutrients through different foods it has the opportunity to relax and lower its out put of stress hormones. Thats just a guess on my part, I do not have any research to back up my idea. Most people associate breakfast with certain foods, there is nothing wrong with having atypical food for breakfast.

Here are 7 good, low carb, and clean breakfasts to try while on a low carb diet. These are not induction recipes:

1. Roasted turkey with eggplant: In other words, use the left overs! Just heat and eat.

2. Nitrate/nitrite free bacon with eggs. This is quick if you cook the bacon in the microwave on low for 3.5 minutes. I have a handy little device that cooks eggs in the microwave in 2 minutes. I love it.

3. Beefsteak tomatoes sliced in half, salted, drizzle with olive oil and roasted in the oven. You can add cheese if you eat dairy.

4. Mushroom Omelet with a variety of mushrooms, I like criminis, shitake, and button. Cheese is not required. Fluff the egg, you can add cream or coconut cream to make it rich.

5. Saute spinach with cream cheese and almonds. Serve it with parmesan crackers (bake parmesan in a hot oven just a couple of minutes and watch closely, you don't want them to burn.

6. Mexican style stir fry: Stir fry beef strips or tofu ( I don't do the soy but some do.) with bok choy and some pre-shredded cole slaw mix, add in a small amount of either pico de gallo or salsa. I also add hot sauce to taste. For extra protein you can add a scrambled egg at the end of the cooking.

Regards salsa: Choose one without MSG, it is thought to induce insulin resistance and thus make you hungrier and also retain fat in your body.

7. Coconut milk and protein powder, I prefer the whey powder from the Sacramento Co-op. Its really clean. But, this won't help you lose weight so watch out for that.

Half way through October

I have been tested for Celiacs and I was not found to have sprue's disease. However, I have read online that women with PCOS often have gluten intolerance, not true Celiac's disease. Apparently, 85% of us are gluten intolerant. So, I have decided to stick to a gluten free diet. Its not terribly hard for me because I already focus my caloric load on healthy fats, protein, and vegetables. I also eat some fruits. As a low-carber, I also try to avoid sweets anyway. This diet helps support my insulin receptors. I do allow myself one day per week to eat anything I want as a strategy to avoid multiple diet infractions during the week. I have purchased some of the low carb foods but I am not focusing on those products because I believe I can make my own eats that do not focus on grains anyway. Those by default are gluten free. I have given up my oat meal. I won't be eating any of the cookies I make for the holidays and for other people's birthdays. I used to test them. But, I won't be doing that anymore. The pain I had with this IBS was so severe that I am not willing to chance that kind of pain again. Some of the gluten free products I have purchased are tings (too tasty induced sugar cravings), brown rice tortillas from Trader Joe's, Pamela's chocolate chocolate chip cookies (perfect on my Cheat day), some baking mixes (again only on cheat day), and wheat free soy sauce. I also bought some puffed millet. I can still have a little dark chocolate but I noticed that I don't care for the semi-sweet chips anymore, they seem too sweet. I wonder if I will ever get to the point of unsweetened chocolate.

The newly re-tooled EDH Diet

Low carb(30-60g/day)

Calorie cycled

Gluten free diet

Diet break down:

Low Calorie Days:

Pre-WO Attune bar (90 calories, 8 g. carb)

Post WO: 1/2 c. millet, 1/4 c. coconut milk, 2 tbsp. cream,

Second breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled in 1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 cup sauteed mushrooms/spinach (7.4 g carb)

Lunch: 2 cups greens (4 g. carb)

4 oz. protein (0 g. carb),

2 tbsp. olive oil

Dinner: Chicken broth

2 tbsp. butter

High Calorie Days:

Pre-WO Attune bar

Post WO: carb, fats, 1 cup steamed/sauteed vegetable

Lunch: 2 cups greens, protein, fats

Snack: Chicken broth with some fats

Dinner: 1 cup steamed/sauteed vegetable, protein, fats