6 Easy Tips to Cut Out Carbs
Article posted in: Nutrition
So you think you can’t hack it on a low-carb diet? We hear that all the time. But what if you really aren’t sure if you can cut out bread, pasta and [*gasp*] chocolate? Then you need to make some simple swaps to help you cut out the carbs without cutting out your favorite foods! Lucky for you, we’re here to share our low-carb secrets for success with you. Check out these six simple tips to cut carbs.
1. Go Against the Grain
So you’re a toast-for-breakfast kind of person? A big sandwich fan? Even you can survive without bread. Start your day with eggs and bacon or something like these Caprese Breakfast Muffins. You can also make a yogurt parfait with Grain-Free Granola.
Instead of bread on your sandwich, try crisp lettuce, baked cheese, grilled eggplant, Portobello mushrooms or even cloud bread: a pillowy, Naan-like bread that has just one gram of carbs and seven grams of protein. (You can find that one in South Beach Diet creator Dr. Arthur Agatston’s book, The New Keto Friendly South Beach Diet.)
If you have to have bread, because we all have cravings, go ahead. Just try to find a smarter alternative. Try our recipes for Almond Flour Bread recipe or Cheesy Garlic Cauliflower Breadstick. Click the link below for 10 tasty bread swaps that fit into your low-carb weight loss diet:
9 Bread Alternatives for a Low-Carb Sandwich
Read More
2. Use Your Noodle
You don’t have to change much about your favorite pasta dishes to follow a low-carb diet. Love lasagna? Use sliced eggplant or zucchini instead of the pasta—the cheese, spices and tomato sauce can stay. Love spaghetti and meatballs? Use spaghetti squash, zoodles, shirataki noodles or one of these low-carb pasta swaps.
Pesto, red sauce and even a cream-based sauce are all low-carb. Just be careful of added sugar when it comes to jarred pasta sauce. Read the label carefully before choosing. If you’re making your own sauce and it needs a little sweetness, you can always add stevia or erythritol. These are approved sweeteners on the South Beach Diet.
Try these eight recipes for a low-carb pasta night! >
3. Sweet Swaps
Speaking of stevia and erythritol (natural, sugar-free sweeteners that don’t elevate your blood sugar and are available in granulated, powdered and even chocolate-chip form), let’s talk about desserts. Just on The Palm alone, you’ll find dozens of desserts featuring stevia or erythritol that will satisfy your sweet tooth and keep you on track while you cut carbs.
Love chocolate? Try this Chocolate Freezer Fudge or these Chocolate Brownie Cookies. Love fruit? Treat yourself to our No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bliss Balls or No-Bake Key Lime and Avocado Cheesecake.
Most of your favorite desserts can also be made with these sweeteners instead of table sugar, although the substitution may not be teaspoon for teaspoon or cup for cup. Erythritol and stevia tend to taste sweeter than regular sugar so read the label and taste as you go.
4. Swear Off Soda
A 7.5-ounce can of cola contains over 20 grams of sugar. Do you drink soda the caffeine? Swap it out with some black coffee, which has more caffeine yet zero sugar and carbs. Feel free to add a small amount of sugar-free creamer and stevia if you so choose! Do you like soda for the bubbles? There are dozens of zero-calorie sparkling waters with no calories or carbs—some are even flavored with fruit juices and other natural ingredients.
Chances are, you’re drinking soda for the sugar (because you’re addicted), and we recommend iced tea or lemonade with our favorite natural sweeteners (erythritol and stevia) when water or coffee just won’t cut it.
Diet soda is not the best substitute when you want to cut carbs. Many options contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin and sucralose and they seem to be addictive, may prevent us from associating sweetness with caloric intake (which makes us crave more sweets and choose sweets over nutritious foods, and even may change the way we taste food, says Harvard Health.1
5. Forget the (Potato) Fries
Yes, potatoes are technically a vegetable. However, they are considered a starchy vegetable and should only be enjoyed in moderation. The French fry is one of the most popular forms of the potato. One small fry from a popular fast food chain contains almost 30 grams of carbs. Your best bet to cut carbs is to find a healthier alternative that helps you stay within your daily meal plan.
We’ve got some terrific potato fry alternatives here on The Palm, including Baked Avocado Fries, Yuca Fries, Parmesan Crisps and Crispy Kale Chips. If you’re out to eat, ask for apple slices, a roasted veggie, side salad or a broth or veggie-based soup.
6. Carefully Crafted Cocktails
You can still enjoy an alcoholic beverage on your low-carb diet. That’s because plain alcohol (like rum, vodka, gin, tequila and whiskey) contains zero carbs. However, the bad news is that most mixers—soda, fruit juice, margarita mix and tonic water—contain lots of sugar (and carbs). If you’re headed to a party or decide to have a drink, use a low-carb mixer like club soda or sugar-free tonic water with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime. You can also seek out a sugar-free mixer sweetened with stevia; these are becoming more popular as the low-carb movement grows.
You can also enjoy red or a dry white wine or light beer as these have less carbohydrates than sweet wine and regular beer. The most important point: Take it easy. The more you drink, the more likely you are to snack, drink something off the “diet list” or dehydrate yourself, which can set yourself up for failure the day after you drink.
Sources:
