How to Make Low Carb Dieting Simple and Easy - Part2 Planning Your Meals

1 Pack your breakfast with protein. If a good old-fashioned bacon and eggs breakfast sounds good to you (minus any toast, home fries, or pancakes), you’re in luck.

§  A poached or fried egg, with bacon or sausage on the side if desired, can become your standard daily breakfast.

§  For more variety, make omelets with a variety of vegetables (spinach, bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, etc.), meats, and a little cheese.

§  You can even try your hand at low-carb blueberry or zucchini muffins.

§  Drink water, plus some coffee or tea (minus sugar, plus sugar substitute if necessary) if you need a caffeine boost.

2 Switch out your sandwich for lunch. Take the good stuff sandwiched inside a sandwich, skip the bread, and you’re on your way to a low-carb lunch.

§  Roll some deli meat up in a lettuce leaf. Add mustard, a bit of cheese, a pickle spear, or other flavor additions. Pair with fresh veggies -- carrots, celery, pepper slices, etc.

§  Mix up some chicken or shrimp salad and skip putting it in bread. Just use your fork and add some veggies on the side.

§  Low-carb pizza could be dinner one night and lunch the next day.

§  Drink -- you guessed it -- water. Will an occasional iced tea or diet soda ruin your diet? No. But get used to making water your standard mealtime (and other times) beverage.

3 Have meat-and-no-potatoes dinners. Steak, meatballs, pork chops, grilled chicken or fish (no frying, no breading) -- these will likely become dinnertime staples. Roasted or grilled vegetables and a side salad can become a standard accompaniment.

§  Rely on spices and other seasonings -- capers or olives, for instance -- to change the flavor profile of your meals.

§  A roasted pork tenderloin, perhaps with roasted asparagus and a salad, will make even a family of carb-lovers happy at dinnertime.

§  Let’s all say it together -- Drink water!

4 Slip in low-carb snacks. Starving yourself between meals will only make it easier for you to “cheat” on high-carb guilty pleasures, so prepare yourself by pre-packaging your own low-carb snacks to see you through the end of the workday (or any other time you need it).

§  Something as simple as a handful of almonds or blueberries (both of which are generally seen as all right in moderation in low-carb diets) can provide a quick boost.

§  Standard options include cut veggies with low-carb dressing; mozzarella cheese strings; or unsweetened yogurt, to name a few. Fruit intake will need to be a bit more limited, but having an apple, orange, raisins or grapes, dried apricots, or an unsweetened applesauce / peach / mixed fruit cup is far better than a bag of chips or a snack cake.

Have we mentioned drinking water?