If you are low carb and your family isn't

[DawnM]

how do you deal?

 

That is my biggest issue.    I get started and do well, but prepping carbs for the family gets me!    Everything smells so good when I can't have it!  Rice, potatoes, bread!

[Abeille]

I wish I had an answer for you, but I have the same problem here. I have my oldest ds prepare anything he knows how to do (pasta, baked potatoes, etc.) so I don't have to be around it as much. Those things are usually only a problem for the first week, as I'm acclimatizing to eating low-carb again. What does me in is the breadmaker. We use ours regularly, and the smell of fresh-baked bread is a very difficult thing for me to resist. Hopefully someone else will have some good suggestions for you, but I wanted to let you know that you're not the only person struggling with this issue.

[DawnM]

We have a rice maker and I stick potatoes in the oven, so not much help having the boys do it.  I don't care for pasta, thankfully, so that isn't really an issue.

 

I wish I could say that after the first week it doesn't  bother me, but it DOES still bother me!

 

Dh keeps saying to get rid of sugar items, but when I do, he starts looking for recipes to make something for dessert!   :glare:   He does not have a weight problem and NEVER has.  In high school and college he was too skinny.  Now he is just about right (170 and 6').  

 

I get no sympathy, although that isn't entirely true.  But he doesn't believe in altering your diet, he just says, "Exercise more."  For someone who struggled to keep weight ON, he really just needs to remain quiet!  :laugh:

[Lynnae]

I just don't make carby food for dinner. My family gets their carbs at other meals and for snacks. So far they haven't complained.

[Joshin]

I eat paleo, my family doesn't. Fortunately, I don't have a much of a sweet tooth. I replaced my carb cravings with almond flat bread. Smear some homemade pesto on that and it beats any carb! I use it for making pizza, as the base under huevos rancheros, to dip in soup. It's simple to make, as well. 7 tablespoons almond meal, 1/4 cup broth, 1 egg. Cook it in a skillet like a pancake.

 

I also rarely make a carb-based meal, carbs are the side item. If they have tacos, I have lettuce wraps. If I'm making stirfry, they may have it over rice, I have it over stirfried bean sprouts.

[AHASRADA]

I am low-carb on Mon., Tues., Thurs. and Fri. I allow myself beans, starchy vegs and a small amount of whole grains on Wed. and the weekend. This keeps me from feeling deprived of healthy carbs, since I know I can have a moderate amount on another day (called Carbcycling).

 

I avoid bread, pasta and sweets altogether because I find them addictive and do better if I don't even taste them at all.

 

So, I cook carb-heavy meals on the weekend (stew with meat, potatoes and carrots or a brown rice-based dish) and fish or chicken on low-carb days. If I cook pasta for the family, I do it on a low-carb day since I don't eat the stuff anyway.

[bolt.]

I make big meals: meat, 3 different veggies, and a 'fruit course' towards the end, plus milk for milk drinkers.

 

If the meal really 'calls for' a carb component or very complementary side dish, I make it, but serve very little to myself. If I don't think it's truly needed, I don't make a carb at all. I stock instant mashed potatoes for anything DH wants to add a some to his own / kids meals.

[trinchick]

My only suggestion is for pasta night; we usually have pasta with sauce that includes either ground beef or Italian sausage. When I make everyone else pasta, I use a veggie peeler to cut a zucchini into ribbons, which I sautee in butter or olive oil with garlic. I then put the meat sauce over the zucchini ribbons. I've actually grown to like this better than the pasta (which I thought I would NEVER say).

[DawnM]

Thanks guys.  I need to find a way to make this work.  

 

I also need to find a way to LIKE low carb, but that is a whole 'nother issue.  It works and I should be more of the "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" type but I am not, which is why I am not thin.

[wapiti]

Halloween candy, anyone?  :huh:   That's the biggest risk for me at the moment, along with the usual Costco bag of chocolate chips.

 

I don't have a problem making carbs for the family though I subconsciously don't make as many as I used to (e.g., I make tacos, which I eat one of too, but I forget to make rice/beans on the side for everyone else - oops).  I avoid cooking pasta though dh was never that into it anyway.  Tonight I am marinating flat iron steak.

 

Baking can be hard for me - I like to eat the dough.  The more I bake, the less I cheat, however.  Eating lots of fat helps too  :tongue_smilie:

[Outdoorsy Type]

I'm not extremely strict, but I eat lower carb/no sugar. I keep low carb flat bread/tortillas around for pizza, sandwiches, etc. and I use cauliflower for potatoes. I find boards on pinterest for good dinner ideas. Search Paleo, low carb, trim healthy mama, etc. and lots will come up.