Why is it so hard to be Keto/ low carb in the summer heat? Help
maggiegbrown
Posts: 90 Member
I live down in NC and the temps. are high along with the dew point and humidity, And I and struggling to stay under my 20 carbs. All I want to do is east fruit and salad. Watermelon calls my name every time I walk into aldis It's killing me. I never thought I would miss fruit and veggies so much. Up until now I was so good with no carbs. I was barely getting 10 a day and now that's all I want. How do you people do this through summer? I am scared to death to even go near the scale! Lol! ; )
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Weird. I've had the opposite effect. I tend to cycle into lower carbs naturally in the summer, but this year I decided to say screw it, and go all in.2
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I've got a similar issue with watermelon. It was always my go-to for summer hydration. I have a personal watermelon and a honeydew sitting in my fridge that I bought before I started (not long ago obviously). I try to compensate with cucumbers.1
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I freeze raspberry and lime fat bombs...2
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There are all sorts of recipes you can make. Use sugar-free watermelon extract to make a watermelon "ice" recipe or something...0
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I also have the opposite reaction, in that staying keto helps me tolerate the heat better. I think it's probably an emotional and not a physical reaction to the heat. You have good memories of heat and high carb treats, which are driving the desire.2
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Fit_Goat you right on the money. My Father would always but me a big water melon of my own to eat on hot summer days when I was a wee litter girl. It is such a fabulous memory eating that sweet watery melon. I so relate it to summer, and my father who has long past.1
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I just have to change my way of thinking and put my crock pot to work. before summer was full of fruits and veggies and now that I am not eating them I am at lose on what to do. like when I go to cookouts, what do I bring? I always brought a huge garden salad. now what? It was my safety net just in case I didn't trust what was being served. Lol.1
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A keto-friendly garden salad with lots of veggies is still a great option! Or if you like the various cauliflower for potato substitute side dishes, that's a great option. Broccoli salad. Low carb coleslaw. Deviled eggs. Relish tray. There are millions of choices. Lunch meat roll ups around cream cheese/shredded cheese, wrapped around pickles, put together with a toothpick. Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers - great hot or cold. Chicken nuggets wrapped in bacon. Chicken bombs (essentially chicken around a popper wrapped in bacon and sometimes glazed in sugar free bbq sauce.
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2015/05/65-best-low-carb-recipes-for-picnics-bbqs-parties.html
http://yourlighterside.com/2012/08/20-labor-day-menu-ideas-5-net-carbs-or-less/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ketorecipes/comments/1fr18f/need_bbq_side_dish_ideas/
http://fluffychixcook.com/30-droolicious-low-carb-side-dishes-perfect-for-grill-outs-or-picnics/
http://www.tasteaholics.com/recipes/best-low-carb-foods-for-bbq/
Looks like it's time to experiment to find your new go-to favorite dish! @maggiegbrown2 -
maggiegbrown wrote: »Fit_Goat you right on the money. My Father would always but me a big water melon of my own to eat on hot summer days when I was a wee litter girl. It is such a fabulous memory eating that sweet watery melon. I so relate it to summer, and my father who has long past.
That's a hard thing to resist, I can totally understand that. Sometimes the emotional attachments are harder to fight than the physical. But, if you identify what the real cause is, you might be able to find some other happy summer memory to connect to.1 -
FIT_Goat I am so trying. I am not sure how your family grew up but as a big Irish Family straight off the boat food was our life line and if you know anything about the Irish Potato's are our best friend, along with a lot of night shade veggies. But really the point I was trying to make and I think it got lost was in summer there are so many sweet, light and cool things to eat. but they are not Keto friendly. So personally it makes it very hard for me. And I was reaching to see if anyone else struggled with this and what did they do. I hate cauliflower anything!!!! I was hoping for some help to get through this hot Carolina summer without eating an entire watermelon0
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Knit don't you have thing in the summer you go to? all you mention are things I would eat everyday. Summer is special.0
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My roots are a mix of Irish and Cuban, although neither are too recent. But, all meals were served with rice or potatoes. Some meals included both. Lol
I do get it. I could eat a watermelon by myself. It was one of my favorite fruits. I don't have good replacement foods. I drink a lot of coffee over ice (just plain black without sweetener). There are sugar free pops and other stuff like that. Frozen berries with whipped heavy cream (sugar free) might work for you.
I don't know that any of these will work for you. Sometimes nothing can replace what you're really craving.3 -
@maggiegbrown - I'm not sure what summer thing you're talking about - in the spring there's a Ren Faire thing I do, but we didn't do it this year.
I'm telling you, find you some good watermelon extract and make some fat bombs or watermelon sparkling water or watermelon ice cream or watermelon jello or watermelon popsicles or something. It can so be done!!! Reinvent it...
And heck, we're weren't even that sophisticated in my house. I'm more Polish than anything, and my mom wasn't born in the US, but she was raised in lazy American style. Hamburger and Tuna Helper, spaghetti, goulash, instant potatoes with corn, peas, and green beans at every meal, cheap white bread, beans and tons of rice with everything, mac and cheese from a box, etc. - I called my diet growing up "white trash gourmet," heavy on the sarcasm.
No one ever taught me how to cook, and my ex wouldn't ever eat anything on a bone or that didn't come from a box. It wasn't until my daughter started learning about nutrition, and I woke up one day and decided to give a crap about myself again that we started learning to cook and get healthy together. Due to outlying circumstances, she is no longer an active part in my life, but we're working on that again finally. But I realized one day that I was the only one who had control to give a crap about myself, and that's when it started...
Even if my progress has slowed to less than a crawl, and my weight has actually gone up since my low last year, I'm still here, fighting the good fight, focused on regaining health, and in the long term, never giving up. I'm too damned important, darn it!
The best part of what going low carb has taught me is in two parts. One, challenge everything you think you know!!! It's crazy how much misinformation is out there. Two, think outside the box. Breakfast doesn't only mean eggs - and making things in unconventional ways (like making a watermelon frozen ice with coconut oil or something in it sounds so fabulous right now, I'm half tempted to go buy some extracts on amazon to MAKE THIS HAPPEN IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW...lol. Get out of your rut. Nothing is off limits. Some things need to be limited, but it's all about choice. Get creative, research, try something new. Try something else. Keep going, because life is an adventure, no matter what! (hugs)3 -
knit your awesome! I went out and bought jello today. I'm excited! But I think people thought I was crazy at Aldi's talking to the huge watermelons. Lol! I will try some of what you suggested and will stop obsessing over the fruit.0
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@maggiegbrown - This is a good fat bomb recipe to make from Jello, too... Just watch the AS...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/recipe-jello-fat-bombs-7317431 -
Hah. I feel you on the watermelon. So the other day I splurged on a piece of cantaloupe. Oh it was so good, ripe, sweet, juicy.... and it literally shot right through me rather uncomfortably. So um. I will choose not to repeat that splurge.2
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I love to make a big batch of meat for taco salads on a day that's not too hot. I'll make about one or two pounds' worth of it (beef, turkey, or chicken) and portion it out into small ziploc bags with 1/3 to 1/2 cup in each bag, then chop up the rest of the veggies I love to have in my salad (bell peppers, small amount of onion, tomato, jalapenos, olives, cilantro, etc.) and then also grate up some cheddar or pepper jack, etc. and have all those items in containers in the fridge waiting for me to scoop out with tablespoons/small measuring cups right into a big bowl and have lunch ready in about 10 minutes tops (I chop the lettuce just before, otherwise it gets brown--every week I have heads split into leaves, washed, dried and ready in between paper towels in the crisper)
Another thing I love on warm days is just nibbling on a cheese & meat plate with some crudite for lunch, which especially is helpful since I usually will be working at home and just eat it at my desk. Some salami, cheese slices or cubes, olives, radish slices, pickles, maybe a stalk of celery dipped in some cream cheese/mayo dip, or tuna salad. Pepperoni and cheeses are my LC snack weaknesses, too, maybe with some cherry tomatoes, feta, artichokes - so I make those into a light lunch when it's warm out.
One thing I made recently a couple times was marinated mozzarella. I just throw about 4-6 oz cubed fresh mozz into a small container with a big drizzle of olive oil and dried herbs like basil & thyme, some finely diced roasted red peppers, capers, maybe finely diced sun-dried tomatoes, whatever you like! Add garlic powder and a little salt to taste. Then let sit in the fridge, about 8 hours or overnight, turning it over a couple times. Lasts me about 3-5 days of snacking - I don't make too much of it since I live alone. But it's a great toothpick-treat for entertaining a crowd, so you can make a bunch if you have more hungry people around)2 -
I love the sugar-free water enhancers like Stur, which use stevia instead of artificial stuff - raspberry, lime, lemon, etc. I'm not a big sweets person, but I get missing fruit! I totally do. I make Jell-O but I have to limit my intake bc of the artificial sweeteners, which seem to either give me bathroom drama or stall my weight loss.
Wyler's makes a decent SF popsicle, I have the lemon and raspberry in my freezer - they were a dollar in a box of six at Dollar Tree! Definitely quenched my very rare craving for something cold and sweet.1 -
@maggiebrown wrote:I just have to change my way of thinking and put my crock pot to work
My crock-pot is my bff in summer! Won't heat the whole house up, etc. I love to throw a 3 lb pork shoulder blade roast in there (aka pork butt or Boston butt) with the fat-side up and just let it sit in there all day (9-12 hours, depending on how big or tough it is). Sometimes I will shred it up and put either LC homemade bbq sauce on it, or squeeze lime and lemon juice on it, add hot peppers and use it for taco wraps, either low carb tortilla wraps or in cabbage leaves with all the fixings! Cheap, healthy, and feeds a crowd (or feeds me forever)
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Wow Some great idea's thanks!
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