Low Carb Substitutes for High Carb Foods

We hear a lot about what we CAN’T eat in the low carb lifestyle, but we do not hear that much about what we CAN eat.  In order to lose weight by living a low carb lifestyle and to avoid re-gaining weight, one has to eliminate wheat, grains, potatoes, pasta, rice, crackers, and breads from their diet. Does that mean that we have to live without them forever?  The answer to that is NO.  

We just have to learn how to make these foods differently.  

The sense of taste is a very important sense. We have numerous taste buds on our tongue dedicated to detecting salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umame (savory) flavors from the foods that we eat. We are “wired” to seek these various flavors so it is most naive to think that we can live the rest of our lives without wanting them.  

Just what can we do about it? Since sugar, chips, breads, and starches are not low carb, how can we still have them and maintain our weight?   We simply will need to use substitute ingredients to satisfy this very important sense.

Substitutions for common high carb foods:

Shirataki noodles instead of pasta.

Spaghetti squash instead of pasta.

Spiral sliced zucchini instead of pasta.

Stir fried sliced cabbage instead of pasta.

Riced cauliflower instead of rice.

Make your own low carb breads instead of conventional bread.

Coconut flour, almond meal/flour, hazelnut flour, peanut flour instead of wheat flour (or other grain or rice flours).

Stevia, xylitol, erythritol instead of sugar/honey/agave/date sugar/coconut sugar.

Peanut flour, whey protein powders instead of flour or cornstarch for thickening sauces.

Walden Farms sauces, salad dressings, and syrups instead of high carb items (all zero calories, zero carbs, zero fat).

Soynuts, roasted edamame, roasted seaweed, kale chips instead of pretzels, chips, crackers.

Flaxseed meal crackers instead of conventional crackers.

Pureed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes.

The mind is everything. What you think  you become.  –Buddha