A question for the carb conscious who are reading this

[geminigirl]

One of the ways that some people suggest dealing with PCOS is a low carb/low glycemic index diet. My doctor isn't one who pushes that as a prime treatment-his feeling is "do what makes you feel and function best." And that's a great thing to be told, but what feels best for me is to be mindful of carbs, though not necessarily sticking to a pure low carb diet. What I've discovered since starting the Metformin is that if I'm not attentive to that, I end up really sleepy.

I can do okay with meals...that's not much of a problem. I'm having trouble with snacks, and I know I need to plan at least one, rather substantial afternoon snack, in order to take the meds with. So, what are some of your favorite low carb/low gi snacks?

I have few limitations...primarily, it's just limiting/avoiding soy. Suggestions?

Comments

[aubkabob.livejournal.com]

i was always a big fan of mixing flax seed meal, low carb peanut butter, some splenda, and some cocoa and cinnamon together... in the right mindset, it sort of tastes like no bake cookies (though not nearly as good!) oh, and if you want it smoother or sweeter, some cream cheese and a smidge of butter.

i also became a big fan of the nut. any nut, really, though cashews have the highest carbs. i used to grab sunflower seeds at the gas station out of their shells - two for a buck. the protein always helped me.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Beef jerkey?
Yogurt? Sour cream and bananas? peanut butter on celery?

[balmofgilead.livejournal.com]

Lately my mother has been eating boiled eggs. She cuts them in half, removes the yolk & throws it out (to cut down on cholesterol/fat), and puts hummus in the middle instead.

[melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com]

That sounds delicious!

[geminigirl]

That's an interesting suggestion, to put the hummus in the middle. I like the hardboiled egg whites, but I've never much cared for the yolk (unless it's in egg salad, or in a green salad with dressing.)

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

I can't help you, but I know who can. Talk to my friend Dana. She has a mailing list on her website, answers email, and posts regularly to alt.fan.cecil-adams.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Huey totally beat me to it...Dana is Good People, and she takes what seems to be a very sensible approach to the low-carb thing -- she doesn't preach that it works for EVERYONE, instead tries to give info to help folks determine if it might work for them or not; and she emphasizes healthful cooking from scratch rather than relying on pricier brand-name ready-made stuff. She's got a bunch of cookbooks (http://lowcarbohydrate.net/taxonomy/term/1) to her credit, although I don't know which one of them would be the best one for snack suggestions...I bet if you drop her a note, though, she'd be happy to point you in the right direction.

[rawness.livejournal.com]

Cashew butter on a banana maybe?

[yix.livejournal.com]

I will also point out that you won't know for sure what the metformin will do until you've been on it for a while at the intended dosage. I went through many stages of different food reactions when I was ramping up.

[geminigirl]

Yes. That's true. Although the carb thing has been around for a while...the big difference was that I got a lot sleepier, more slowly when I overdid the carbs this week. (Instead of a rapid crash that left me sleepy, with a headache and snapping at Cayne it was slow, and gentle and left me saying to him "I'm going to take a nap, and sleep off the sugar crash.")

[wait.livejournal.com]

My faves:

Low-fat string cheese with cherry tomatoes

High fiber crackers / whole wheat pita with peanut butter (get the natural kind and drain off the oil from the top) or hummus.

Apples and PB

Broccoli with a wedge of Lite Laughing Cow cheese melted on top.

Hard boiled eggs

Low fat yogurt (just watch the sugar)

[geminigirl]

I buy the Splenda sweetened yogurt. There are a ton of different brands that are using Splenda instead of aspartame, and it tastes so much better.

[fj.livejournal.com]

Get used to tossing the splenda. Reset your taste buds to not need as much sugar.

Yoghurt + protein powder for me, since I need the protein bad. ALso, 70% chocolate covered nuts & dried cranberries. Would be high GI if not mitigated by the nuts.

[geminigirl]

Yogurt is virtually unpalatable without sweetner. It turns my stomach and reminds me of car sickness.

[iamlisabee.livejournal.com]

as the mother of kids, i can't say enough good things about string cheese.

for me, i also love cherry or grape tomatoes dipped in hummus

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

I am on a low GI diet. I do a lot of high fiber stuff like hummus and pita, veggies, fruit, whole wheat pretzels, egg beaters, lentil soup, veggie chili. I found when I eliminated some of the sugar from my diet that I craved fruit more. After all, your brain needs sugar to work, and fruit has a lot of frutose in it.

[mskathy.livejournal.com]

Okay, I was resistent to this idea until I tried it. It took a few variations to find my favourite, but here goes -- a smoothie. I generally use 8 oz milk, ice (depends on how thick you want it - I use 4-5 cubes depending on my mood), 1-2 tbsp peanut butter, a banana, ground flax seed and vanilla whey protein powder (I really love Designer Protein brand - both vanilla and chocolate are tasty, not chalky or nasty - dunno about the other flavours). Sometimes I add a splosh of honey, sometimes not. Sometimes I add a splash of vanilla.

This was my standard breakfast until we moved and now we can't find the blender. I also like to use the same general base (milk, ice, protein powder, flax) with frozen [omitting the ice], canned [in fruit juice] or fresh peaches and yogurt.

The mix generally comes out milkshake consistency and it just hits the spot for me. It is filling, satisfying and has a good deal of protein.

[mskathy.livejournal.com]

Oh, and cottage cheese - it has a good amount of protein and I really love the taste. If you're not so fond, whiz it in the blender with some vanilla and pour on top of fruit.

I've also started buying bulk nuts and making a homemade trail mix on the weekends so that we always have a quick and easy snack in case someone is starving (or if we just want to munch).

Triscuits are whole grain, love those with the laughing cow light cheese.

[geminigirl]

I can't cope with the texture of cottage cheese for some reason. But, I love ricotta. I haven't checked the nutrition label on that lately, but if it works, I should think about that with berries, or something.

[sweet-tea79.livejournal.com]

Go for the light ricotta. Whole milk is probably more calories than you want, fat-free milk ricotta is crap (fat-free milk in general is crap), but light ricotta is pretty darn tasty in my book.

[sweet-tea79.livejournal.com]

I live by snacking. Especially now that I'm back in weight-loss mode. I really like to have 4 meals a day, breakfast, lunch, one when I first come home in the evening after the gym, and then dinner a few hours later. My favorite substantial mid-afternoon meal is a salad. Spinach and leafy greens are fiber (bulky to fill up your stomach), all the veggies you want, and then a bit of pine nuts or low-fat cheese (blue and goat's milk are my faves) for some protein. For a lighter snack, kashi bars and raisins get me through the day (they fit nicely in my coat pockets), and fruit with a bit of low-fat cheese are my go-to foods. I find that if I have a bit of protein (cheese, nuts, whatever) to go along with my fiber then I tend to stay full and I don't get the post-suger crash.

As much as I love carbs (and I really, really love all things bread or pasta), I think a low-carb diet is a good plan. I try to avoid carbs at lunch b/c I find that mid-afternoon is not my time of day to begin with, and a post-carb crash only makes me more likely to fall asleep on my feet.