Thursday, April 19, 2012

Shrimp and Cheese Grits Get A Texan's Blood Pumpin'

Day 4 - 2 Week Atkins Induction


Low Carb Shrimp N Cheese Grits makes everybody someone!
Who says ya can’t have cheese grits in a controlled carb world?

I beg to differ!

Them’s fightin’ words for “shore”. I had a big ol’ bowl of shrimp and cheese grits last night and slurped and moaned over every bite.

They were silky. They were unctuous. They stuck to my ribs like white on rice. Oh boy! Opey, tell Miss Bea they were shore nuff tasty!

The trick to eating cheese grits is the grit. As Vinny in My Cousin Vinny once asked, “What is a grit?” Well for most of the world,
Low Carb Cauli-Grits have the hot, creamy texture
a Texan looks for in cheese grits.
a grit is bits of ground corn, cooked in salted water or milk and seasoned either as a savory dish or a sweet dish. In the South, grits ruled over cream of wheat. They still do, too! Understand though, grits are fairly high carb.

But I make my grits out of cauliflower. I took a high carb, high glycemic grain and exchanged it for a cruciferous veggie like cauliflower. See, I think a grit can be made out of just about any firm veggie. I kinda like to keep ‘em on the white side so they resemble the corn grits of my dreams and youth.

The next trick is knowin’ how to cook ‘em. I cook my grits (corn and cauliflower, alike) in a small mixture of cream, water and butter. If you feel the absolute need to limit your fat, feel free to use almond milk, or regular milk or chicken broth and add a little butter at the end – they won’t taste as yummy, but they will be good eatin’ for certain.

Now tell me that isn't a supper any Texan, no any Southerner
wouldn't love to sit down and enjoy!
I just figure once in a while a hunk of cheese, cream, and butter is something I need to survive. LOL. I do know I sure enjoyed my hot bowl of shrimp ‘n’ gloopy cheese grits last night. I can feel a little swelling in my ankles, feet and fingers today – so no doubt I’m paying for it a little bit. I don’t handle cheese very well these days and tend to limit it.

I highly recommend Cauli Grits and Cauli Cheese Grits even more! Now throw some blackened shrimp on top and call me Bubba Gump! Let’s eat and pass the cheese!

SusieT’s Notes –

Day 4 Poopy Report
Weight – 233.8lbs (That’s ok, the earth moved and it’s just fluid retention from the cheese)
FBG - 99
Pain – 5
Mood – 8 (Little concerned about the ammonia)
Walking - Yes


It pays to know your body. Why? We are all individuals and have individual or unique needs and circumstances. For instance, I’m not a “normal” Inductioneer. Most people just eat straight induction foods and limit the carbs to under 20g Net Carbs per day and are good to go. I can’t do that though. Because of my broken, spazzoid body, I have limitations. I must track things more closely.

Why? Well I am still recovering from breast cancer treatment during this past year, have several metabolic issues, have asthma and I know from a past liver injury, that I don’t break proteins down as easily as other people.

If I eat too much protein in a day (which is only about the WHO – World Health Organization recommended daily protein requirement at the MOST), about 60-80g of protein for a woman my height and weight, I start smelling ammonia in my nose, urine, body excretions and start feeling puny.

It’s one of the reasons I stopped doing straight Atkins and morphed it into a slightly higher carb, South Beach Phase II-ish type of eating. I did that and added in an alternate day intermittent fasting program and that helped further control my protein intake. I did just fine, losing weight all over the place and feeling great and ammonia had left the building. Yay team!

But. And there is a big buttttttt here! Every other day was considered an Up Day, and I was playing a little too fast and loose with the carb counts and calories. Not much. Just enough to keep me stalled. Which is why I thought becoming an Inductioneer over the next two weeks would set me straight again.

And it has, too. Day 4, no cravings. Little hunger (which is new, I never reaped the appetite suppression reward before with Atkins Induction). Great blood sugar control. But, I’ve increased my daily protein consumption to my protein limit (which is still on the low side for most of you) – I’m getting on average, about 30g more protein per day. And yesterday, I started smellin’ o’ the ammonia.

Ring. Ring.

“Hello doctor? Yeah, it’s me Susie. I smell like ammonia and I’m hardly eating much protein.”

“Come see me.”

Click.

So, I have to make an appointment to be evaluated and in the meantime, I will be eating much more of a vegetarian – style of Atkins than the good doctor probably ever intended. But I’m still continuing my 2 Weeks as an Inductioneer!

It’s a long story. Sure. But I wanted to be up-front with you and kinda illustrate that low carb eating or controlled carb nutrition as I prefer to put it has NOTHING to do with eating wads of protein. Or over eating protein and packing it full of sausage and cheeses and pork, pork, pork. But even if you decided to do that, you would still be safe doing that!!!

Cuz fat is NOT THE ENEMY!

I will repeat. Fat is NOT the enemy.

The uncontrolled, high glycemic carb that induces fast blood sugar responses or spikes is the enemy and is the basis of insulin surges and inflammation. Insulin surges and inflammation are what make you diabetic over time, they set up an environment ripe for cancer growth, they aid and abet heart disease and high blood pressure and obesity. They are the culprits keeping ya hungry and giving you the munchies at 3pm and midnight!

Know your body. If you need more veggies and less protein, make sure to get enough protein for your body’s needs and eat a lot of veggies! It doesn’t have to be meat protein. Atkins Induction and indeed, controlled and low carb living are equal opportunity enablers. They enable health in carnivores, omnivores (such as most people) and vegetarians/vegans. (There are other types of protein, you know, even excluding the dangerous GMO soy bean!)

Day 4 Menus and Totals

Sauteed Asian-spiced Cabbage and Eggs = Egg Foo Young!
Breakfast
3 c. Decaff Coffee, black, unsweetened
3 Egg Foo Young Patties, sauceless
1 tsp Sambal Oelek


(Note: Who says you can’t have Egg Foo Young for breakfast? It’s egg. It’s veggies. It’s quick. It’s what’s for breakfast. Just think of them as an Asian-spiced Chinese Pancake and go from there.

You won't even miss the maple syrup or mountains of carb laden, high glycemic all-purpose flour!)


Fried red and green cabbage with red bell pepper, onion,
garlic, ginger, sesame oil, coconut aminos.
Egg Foo Young starts with sautéed cabbage or fried cabbage as we like to say in Texas! I could eat a big old bowl of fried cabbage all by itself. It tastes so great and reminds me of my youth.

Don't be afraid of cabbage in the mornings! It makes for an anti-oxidant packed morning and fills your tummy up with a nutrient power house on just pennies a day!

In less than 15 minutes, I chopped and cooked the entire plate of Egg Foo Young!



Egg Foo Young with Sambal Oelek. Yum! It's what's for brekky!
Now take that cabbage and add beaten egg, a pinch of ginger, some coconut aminos to replace soy sauce, garlic and a bit of sesame oil and suddenly in 15 minutes you have a breakfast that’s cheap, dead simple, and so good – you will start the day with a smile and a great attitude. Yay you!)







Lunch
Big Chicken & Portabello Salad "My Way" at Cheeburger Cheeburger
3/4 Big Chicken & Portabella Mushroom Salad from Cheeburger Cheeburger
(Romaine, Cucumber, Roasted Red Pepper, Black Olives)
2 Tbsp House Vinaigrette (Homemade)
2 Tbsp Guacamole

(Note: Had lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger with Linda Sue of Linda Sue's Low Carb Menus & Recipes. (more on lunch in the next post...)




Dinner
Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chop & Chicken, Feta, Spinach Sausage
served with Grilled Squash, Peppers and Onions
2oz Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chop
1oz Grilled Chicken, Feta, Spinach Sausage, Applegate Farms Organic
1/2 med Zucchini, grilled
1/2 med Yellow Squash, grilled
1/8c Onion, grilled
1/8 small Red Bell Pepper, grilled
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Parsley






Grilled Lamb & Chicken Sausage Platter - feeds 4 for
under $10!

(Note: The key to having this much food for under $10 is in knowing what kind of meat to buy. I buy lamb shoulder chops when they look nice. The chops with the round bones grill better and the ones with the long bones do better with a wet and slow cooking method. At $6.14/3 large chops and $1.54 for the sausage, we had more than enough for 2 meals each. Bargain! Score!)






Daily Totals
Click image to enlarge.
(Note: So I WANT to feel bad about going over on my carb limit for the day. That isn't in the rules of Atkins Induction. But the truth is, I've learned after 20 years that days like this happen. No sweat. Move on.

There will be days when you are imperfect. Perfection is unattainable. *sigh* A war I generally fight quite stringently. But stressing over miscalculating or making a poor choice simply compounds the problem. Once you add stress hormones into the mix, it's done. Call me, the fat lady, and I will sing you an aria.

I'm also too low on calories. My protein is too low as well. I didn't do any of this intentionally, nor did I try to keep calories artificially low. Those just happen to be the nutrients I took in due to food choices. (Remember, I was trying to keep my protein low yesterday cuz of my little ammonia smell. I do feel a bit better this morning and the not so pleasant acid burning and ammonia smell is reduced. Yay! So when you eat on Atkins Induction, you will have maybe 40-50 or so more grams of protein for the day, your calories will be higher and you won't need to eat over 20g of carbs for the day from veggies.)



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