Retraining my brain- meat/starch/veggie

My laziness made me kick some of the starch. I just don't feel like preparing three things, so I skip the starch. xD I still eat a lot of carbs, but not nearly as much as I used to, proportionally.

I've really been limiting grains. I'll use either cous cous or wild rice rice but limit it to no more than 1/2 cup serving (about 85 calories and 18 carb grams) once per day. It still pushes my carbs pretty high so I'm holding back on it until I'm at a maintenance stage. I'm getting a lot of carbs from in season fresh fruit so that doesnt help either. You'll have to experiment with serving size to see how it will affect you.

Growing up in a Chinese household, rice or noodles are a staple with every meal...actually i'd say growing up 70% of my calories were probably from processed or enriched carbs. In my later highschool and early college years, along with the beer that is implied in college, it really took a toll...whereas before it really didnt. At first I really jumped hard on the bandwagon about starches or any carb being the reason or root cause. Until I realized that there was a distinct difference in my activity levels.

As a kid that was involved in many sports and always outdoors, I processed carbs pretty well. As a young adult, gaming, drinking beer, and studying for most of the day, I didn't really process them at all. It's really easy to say..."carbs or fat is the reason I'm getting fat". But perhaps it would be worthwhile to ask yourself what else about you has changed?

Now, some 10 years later, I make it a point to eat starches or sugars with every meal. Sometimes I even cram them down for fear I didn't get enough. I've adopted the kind of lifestyle that not only requires starches regularly, but would probably be unsustainable without them.

I eat smaller portions of starch than I used to, but I still eat them.

Usually I go for potatoes (potassium yay) but since I'm visiting family I've been having a lot of my mother's bread.

Try quinoa instead of rice. It's not bad, and the texture is similar to rice. Maybe have a sweet potato instead of a white potato....

Is Quinoa not a starch? What is it? Hmmm

Good point about portions.

Quinoa is a non-cereal grain, similar to wild rice. It has a higher protein content than most cereal grains.

ETA: quinoa doesn't taste like wild rice, I just meant that it's similar in that they are both seeds from non-cereal grains.

LIke some of these Post-ers, I add another fruit or veggie. Typical meal is meat, salad, 1/2 avocado (or cantelope, or corn on the cob...). I do love bread though, so occasionally I pick up some good bread from a local bakery.

I think you've just got to do it long enough that it feels normal to not have it. I've cut out grains and starchy vegetables (potatoes/corn/etc.) completely and it seems weird at first, but now I don't even notice it. I just double up the veggies. And it's easy to do even when you eat out - order fish or whatever, and ask to sub the rice or potato for an extra serving of steamed veggies.

At the time that I started, I really craved bread and starchy things, but after 2 months or so I have virtually no interest in either. My husband says the same thing you're saying when I cook "where's the rest of it", but if I have a huge plate of green beans and a steak, I'm full and that's all I need. And he's never tried cutting back on starches/grains/etc. so he can't imagine it. I don't know what else to say about it though other than I promise if you stick with it long enough it will become your new normal.

First and foremost, I replaced my big-ticket starch items with whole-grain, lower-cal versions. Sandwich bread became whole-wheat sandwich thins or bagel thins; giant tortillas became wholemeal wraps with flax; dense bagels became low-cal whole-grain English muffins.

Next, I've been replacing my "starch calories" with moderate amounts of healthy, satiating fats -- instead of that 200-calorie white roll I'll have an avocado half somewhere in my meal; instead of a big bowl of rice (300 cal, easy) I'll have a giant salad with yogurt dressing or olive oil; instead of a sandwich on thick bread I'll have smoked salmon on crackers; instead of a cup of mashed potatoes I'll have a handful of olives; instead of a big pasta bowl I'll have a cup of steamed green beans dressed with pesto and a little Parmesan. You don't get the same volume by any means, but you feel so satisfied and happy that it doesn't really matter.

I also tend to use dark (usually) leafy greens to round out pretty much any meal. Again, where I'd have a heap of rice I'll have a cup of greens; where I'd have a buttermilk biscuit I'll have a mess of wilted spinach/mushrooms; where I'd have a slice of bread I'll have rolls or zucchini slices . Whatever works.

(Edited to fix "English muggins." Bless my soul.)