Low Carb Compatible

This recipe feeds at least two. You can multiply the recipe to feed more people.

I make this recipe in two stages. You can do prep on the next stage's ingredients while the current stage is simmering.

Ingredients

Stage 1:

• Two chicken breasts.
• 2 15 oz cans chicken broth (we like Swanson) or vegetable broth. You can use homemade stock if you have any on hand.
• Bay leaf
• Small handful dry or fresh parsley finely chopped (to taste)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped.
• (Optional) several whole black peppercorns (sparingly, to taste)

This could be a bit of bad news if you do the low carb diet thing and eat unlimited quantities of meat, bacon, hot dogs, etc. It appears that heavy intake of meats and animal fats may increase your risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a recent study:

Researchers followed 500,000 people who had completed a food diary for an average of six years.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute paper found those who had the most animal fats in their diet had a higher risk of developing the cancer.

UK experts said cutting down on the fats was a way of reducing risk.

There has previously been confusion over whether there was a link between animal fats and pancreatic cancer, with different studies reaching opposite conclusions.

This is one of our family's favorite recipes these days. It's a quick and easy meal, low in carbohydrates, and tastes great alone or, if your diet allows, over a bed of rice.

If your diet allows additional carbohydrates, you can thicken the sauce by adding a thickener such as cornstarch, or, if you are avoiding all carbohydrates, you can thicken by increasing the heavy cream and simmering the sauce longer before adding the other ingredients.

Depending on how you prepare it, this recipe can be used in Atkins or Carbohydrate Addicts' Diets. In a CAD-style diet, it can be part of a Complementary Meal (CM) or a Reward Meal (RM).

Eve Van Cauter, a researcher at the University of Chicago, finds that sleep loss coincides with an increase in the odds of weight gain and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2009) — Laboratory and epidemiological studies continue to show that sleep curtailment and/or decreased sleep quality can disturb neuroendocrine control of appetite, leading to overeating, and can decrease insulin and/or increase insulin resistance, both steps on the road to Type 2 diabetes.

[snip]

Tuesday, 3.24.09

Menu
CM: 2 cups of black coffee

CM: None since I ate my RM for lunch and it held me over all day

RM: Salad of romaine w/avocado, bacon, cucumber, shrimp, & ranch, and a Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream bar

Water
Minimum of 80 oz.

Exercise
Leslie Sansone, Walk at Home, Walk Slim, Fast & Firm! 4 Really Big Miles w/toning band.
Mile 1: Get Started with a 15 minute mile
Mile 2: Faster pace - a 12 minute mile
Mile 3: BOOSTED walking - a 10 minute mile
Mile 4: Add the firm Band for a big muscle BOOST - 15 minute mile
I completed all 4 miles with the firm band!

If you are ready for something a little different, this may be for you. It contains crushed coriander and cumin seed, and the two flavors go well with the cod. I think the spice mix might also work well with catfish, halibut, and other types of mild fish. I'll try it and post an update here.

I found the basic recipe on a package of frozen cod fillets. No nutrition information is given, but from looking at the carbohydrate content of the ingredients, I'd say it's very low in carbohydrates. And it tasted really good, too!

People are irrational.

I've observed over the years that many people assume that the term LOW FAT means NON-FATTENING or HEALTHY. That they can eat as much of that stuff as they want, and it will only make them healthier. I blame the simplistic "fat bad, carbs good" education campaign for much of this bizarre behavior.

The overwhelming evidence shows that the best way to improved health and longevity is through overall caloric reduction (note that I'm not advocating a simplistic low-fat or low-carb lifestyle, only that reducing overall caloric intake seems to be the key component of improving fitness.)

I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say "It's fat free! and proceed to eat an economy-sized helping. Reading the ingredients label usually shows sugar or high fructose corn syrup as the second or third ingredient.

I'm not the only one who has concluded that people are just plain nuts when it comes to food packaging and labeling. Check out the following stories:

Here's another reason why that glass of red wine may be good for you: scientists have identified a possible mechanism of action. Apparently, an ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, activates sirtuin, a protein that restores chromosomes to proper functioning. According to a recent story in the New York Times:

A new insight into the reason for aging has been gained by scientists trying to understand how resveratrol, a minor ingredient of red wine, improves the health and lifespan of laboratory mice. They believe that the integrity of chromosomes is compromised as people age, and that resveratrol works by activating a protein known as sirtuin that restores the chromosomes to health.

The finding, published online Wednesday in the journal Cell, is from a group led by David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School. It is part of a growing effort by biologists to understand the sirtuins and other powerful agents that control the settings on the living cell’s metabolism, like its handling of fats and response to insulin.
Link

I've always had this nagging suspicion that daylight savings time might be responsible for a variety of deleterious health effects -- including things like increases in traffic accidents and other operator-related incidents -- so it came as no surprise when I read the following news blurb:

When researchers in Sweden examined the impact of daylight saving time on heart attack rates in that country, they discovered that people had slightly fewer heart attacks on the Monday after they set their clocks back in the fall and slightly more heart attacks in the days after they set their clocks ahead in the spring.

They presented their findings in a letter published in the Oct. 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

[snip]

Here's an interesting article in the New York Times, describing widespread use of placebos in treating patients, as a way to treat the patient's mental state rather than the actual problem.

The problem is that the placebos used are not inert -- rather, they prescribe drugs intended for other uses, such as headache pills, sedatives, or other relatively harmless drugs.

I have kept a daily record of my food and exercise choices since I began the Carbohydrate Addict's Lifespan Program (CALP) on March 3, 2008.

This book will contain my menu as well as any exercises that I am doing on that particular day.

I will make daily entries into my journal and when time permits, include my meal choices from the beginning.

October 3rd was weigh in and measurement day but I postponed it until October 4th. I really enjoy getting my results once a month but had to be somewhere at a certain time and did not have enough time to get it done.

I am very pleased with my results and absolutely love CALP for allowing me to regain complete control over when and how I eat. The other day my Dad actually commented on my weight loss and that had me feeling pretty good about myself.

Every time my husband hugs me, which is constantly, he tells me how much I am shrinking and how beautiful I am. He has always been loving and affectionate and continues to do a wonderful job of building my confidence.

I mentioned that I am on a few support groups and have read recently how easy it is for some people to eat as much as they can for the entire hour. It is impossible for me to do that since the most important part of my RM is balance. When it is time for my RM, I begin with my salad and then eat my veggies, protein, and carbs. I do not overeat, but definitely eat until I am satisfied. It is not unusual for me to be done eating within a half an hour and I have no desire to eat anymore.

My mentality has never been to eat as much as I can. Before beginning CALP this time, I would begin my day with my trigger foods without realizing they were the reason I would lose control over my choices, frequency, or amounts in which I would want to eat.

Researchers have discovered -- surprise! -- that obese women are self conscious (and/or fear injury) and those emotions prevent successful exercise:

Obese women may have a 'phobia' of exercise which stops them being active because they feel self-conscious and are afraid of injury, researchers argue.

Far from being excuses to be lazy, these 'mental barriers' are real problems which must be overcome to encourage overweight women to exercise more, a conference was told.

[snip]

[Participants] were asked what factors stopped them from exercising at the start of the programme, three months into it and at the end.

I completed my Sixth month of CALP on September 2, 2008. I weighed and measured myself on September 3rd, since I have chosen the third of every month as the day to record my results. I continue to remain on plan, eating the CALP way, and have not felt deprived since I began.

It wasn't that long ago when I would begin my day with carbohydrates such as cinnamon toast or even a bowl of cereal and be ready to eat again a couple of hours later. I would wake up in the morning wanting something sweet and that would lead me to my uncontrollable desire for more food. If I ate a sandwich and chips for lunch, I would become hungry for sweets or other snacks soon thereafter.

Wired has an interesting story about "exercise in a pill". The article outlines ongoing research into drugs that can mimic the effects of exercise, including, in one study, improving stamina 44 percent in "couch potato" lab mice.

Today, researchers are reporting that an experimental drug can mimic the results of an exercise regimen -- with no exercise required. After four weeks of taking the pill, mice who hadn't worked out displayed a 44 percent increase in their running endurance.

"It’s tricking the muscle into ‘believing’ it’s been exercised daily," said the study's lead researcher, Ronald Evans of the Salk Institute, in a release. "It’s basically the couch potato experiment, and it proves you can have a pharmacologic equivalent to exercise."

I just completed my fifth month on the Carbohydrate Addict's Lifespan Program (CALP) and still find it the perfect plan for me. I thoroughly enjoy the food that I eat and when I am in the mood for anything in particular, I make sure I include it in my Reward Meal. I know that there is nothing I can not have, and that helps me to stay in the right frame of mind.

I have continued to be faithful to my exercise routine including Walk Away the Pounds 3 Mile Power Walk on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays alternating with Bowflex strength training on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I have skipped Bowflex on Saturdays a few times, but always make sure I get it done the following day when that happens.

Low fat diets are not the best way to lose weight according to a new study.

The research which looked at more than 300 obese people found those who stuck to a Mediterranean or low carbohydrate diet lost more weight over two years.

Low fat diets are the most commonly recommended diets in the UK to help people lose weight, and also to reduce the risks of heart disease and cancer.

However, researchers led by a team at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel, found those on a Mediterranean diet lost on average 60 per cent more weight.

Link (telegraph.co.uk)

I have listed examples of the Reward Meals (RM) I have been eating since beginning this program on March 3, 2008. None of my meals are weighed or measured and I let my eyes do the work for me.

I love the fact that I can eat anything I want during my RM as long as it is balanced. Once my plate is empty I am allowed to have more food, but I must keep it balanced by taking the same amount of vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates. By following the rules, I find that it is impossible for me to overindulge in carbohydrates. I have not gone back for a second plate, but it is nice to know that it is possible, if I want to.

The other day I decided to share my thoughts with one of my support groups. One of the members of this group suggested I share it with another group, as well as put it in my blog, so here it is!

I am looking forward to sharing this journey with those of you willing to keep us all informed.

I wish those of you that are struggling with this way of eating the best of luck in getting back on plan.

I understand it takes a certain frame of mind to give up foods that make us feel good, but feeling your body getting smaller is much more satisfying.

Every day that I am successful in eating the CALP way, is another day that is getting me closer to my goal. I have a long way to go, but I know that the choices I am making are getting me closer every day.