Five Ways to Cut Carbs without Losing your Mind

Carbohydrates are the hardest part of a healthy lifestyle. All the foods we love have them: bread, pasta, sauces, muffins, and etcetera. The list goes on. Too many carbohydrates lead to increased fat stores. Nobody wants that. Trying new ideas and food items can cut carbs, add flavor, and keep our sanity intact.

1. Wraps to the rescue

The idea of using lettuce to wrap my chicken salad is not appealing at all. Just about every grocery store now offer wraps—whole grain or flour tortillas and flatbreads that satisfy the carbohydrate craving without the extra carbohydrates. Wraps come in different flavors such as Italian herb and sun-dried tomato. These new tastes will give your sandwiches a zing. Yes, they do have carbs, but a lot less than a big slice of bread.

2. Specialty breads

Diet companies like Weight Watchers® have come out with their own line of low-carb bread products for those who can’t bear to part with it. They offer sandwich bread, bagels, and English muffins that provide taste and satisfaction. That bagel and cream cheese in the morning is still possible.

3. Cut down on white potatoes

White potatoes should be eaten in moderation. For a flavorful change, add a baked sweet potato to your meal. Sweet potatoes are lower in calories than white potatoes and they provide a source of beta carotene and vitamin A. Sprinkle them with a teaspoon of cinnamon and sugar substitute to add flavor. Sweet potatoes can be sliced into fries or flat chips that can be seasoned, baked, and served up as healthy snacks or a side for a turkey burger.

4. Healthy pasta

I always thought I had to give up pasta to lose weight. No matter what pasta I chose, the carbohydrate count was always the same. Then I discovered Dreamfields® pasta. This particular pasta uses durum wheat semolina in their own special recipe to produce pasta that has only five grams of digestible carbohydrates per serving. Out of the thirty or forty grams of carbs, only five grams gets used by the body. The rest are indigestible and are flushed from our system. Now we can enjoy our pasta without the guilt.

5. An apple or a piece of celery?

A favorite snack treat is peanut butter on crackers. Crackers are like potato chips—they are small enough to be easily overeaten without realizing it. If you want the peanut butter, try an apple or a stick of celery as the base. The combination of a tart apple with the sweetness of the peanut butter makes a mouth tingle. Celery never tasted so good.

Carbs don’t have to be scary. After a few weeks of cutting back, your body won’t crave them like it used to. This will lessen the anxiety over them and you will have discovered new food choices in the process.

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