[displaced]

Originally Posted by Sha_

Displaced, Ive never heard of spaghetti squash before but:
it looks interesting lol. So the vegetable is already spaghetti-like inside ?

once you bake it, it becomes soft and when you scoop out the inside, it's like spaghetti.

[Sha_]

Sumi: I dont plan on cutting out fruit and veg though. Actually since I wont get to eat much of the good stuff (<3 bread), I'll have to fill up of fruit & veg.
Vari: What foods count as complex carbs? (how do I know?)

Displaced: So you bake it whole/halved first, and then it becomes spaghetti-like?

Does anyone have any ideas for tasty salads?
(Mine are usually v uncreative: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, if we're feeling adventurous, red onions, carrots and lemon juice and zest.)

Oh and any ideas for thick soups I can buy/make easily &quickly?
Thin soups I ususally have with a slice of toast so.. yeah, thick soup ideas please .

[displaced]

Originally Posted by Sha_

So you bake it whole/halved first, and then it becomes spaghetti-like?

cut it in half, bake on a cookie sheet with the cut side down at 400F until it's soft (30-45 minutes)

Does anyone have any ideas for tasty salad's?
(Mine are usually v uncreative: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, if we're feeling adventurous, red onions, carrots and lemon juice and zest.)

grilled salmon goes well in salad. I like chickpeas, spinach, cold limas beans, edamame, and chopped mushroom, too.

Oh and any ideas for thick soups I can buy/make easily &quickly?
Thin soups I ususally have with a slice of toast so.. yeah, thick soup ideas please .

boil lentils with a tomato, an onion (halved), 5-6 cloves of garlic, salt until the lentils are squishy. strain some of the liquid out and puree everything. add cumin, salt&pepper.

easy egyptian lentil soup.

[Variable]

Originally Posted by Sha_

Sumi: I dont plan on cutting out fruit and veg though. Actually since I wont get to eat much of the good stuff (<3 bread), I'll have to fill up of fruit & veg.
Vari: What foods count as complex carbs? (how do I know?)

Displaced: So you bake it whole/halved first, and then it becomes spaghetti-like?

Does anyone have any ideas for tasty salad's?
(Mine are usually v uncreative: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, if we're feeling adventurous, red onions, carrots and lemon juice and zest.)

Oh and any ideas for thick soups I can buy/make easily &quickly?
Thin soups I ususally have with a slice of toast so.. yeah, thick soup ideas please .

Complex carbs are usually whole grains. Any bleached white bread doesn't have a lot of value in it. So, multigrain bread and pasta, flax bagels, different colored rice.

Also, iceberg lettuce I think is the least nutritious kind. Stick to dark leafy greens, the darker the better. The more colors the better... try and always get some reds, oranges and purples too.

[Sha_]

Originally Posted by displaced

cut it in half, bake on a cookie sheet with the cut side down at 400F until it's soft (30-45 minutes)
grilled salmon goes well in salad. I like chickpeas, spinach, cold limas beans, edamame, and chopped mushroom, too.
boil lentils with a tomato, an onion (halved), 5-6 cloves of garlic, salt until the lentils are squishy. strain some of the liquid out and puree everything. add cumin, salt&pepper.

easy egyptian lentil soup.

Thanks . I already know how to make lentil soup desi-style, but ours has a little bit of oil in it, which is not too bad actually, but I might try it this way too.

Originally Posted by Variable

Complex carbs are usually whole grains. Any bleached white bread doesn't have a lot of value in it. So, multigrain bread and pasta, flax bagels, different colored rice.

Also, iceberg lettuce I think is the least nutritious kind. Stick to dark leafy greens, the darker the better. The more colors the better... try and always get some reds, oranges and purples too.

Hm, actually in our house we already eat only wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta, and brown rice, so Im either gonna cut it out completely or cut it down so that it's not the main part of my meal (as it usually has been). I've never had a bagel in my life .

Lol, I remember when I told my brother to get purple/red lettuce and he didn't believe it existed and came back with purple cabbage instead . Do you know the names of the other (more nutritious) lettuces? Im kind of vegetable-stupid
This thread is making me hungry!

[Sha_]

Heba, & or anyone else, what do you grill your chicken with? Please no one say 'a grill' , I mean spices or seasoning or whatever. And whats goes in your salad?

[sally]

i did low carb once and i got insanely sick. never ever ever again.

but a low simple carb diet isnt bad. actually if you do it for a few days your cravings die..cuz insulin levels become balanced.

it's pretty sweet.

[Salika]

Just go on a low glycemic load diet. You keep the carbs but eliminate the ones that trigger insulin and thus fat storage (tip from Sally! )

I found this website and found it very helpful The Glycemic Index

I've been on it for a week. Can't tell you if it's working for me yet though. I'm with you I loooove carbs and cutting out carbs pretty much makes me sick and I get this aversion from protein. Hope that helps.

[Salika]

Originally Posted by Sha_

Heba, & or anyone else, what do you grill your chicken with? Please no one say 'a grill' , I mean spices or seasoning or whatever. And whats goes in your salad?

I use mccormick's grill mates chicken seasoner. It's really good.

[bravotwozero]

Originally Posted by Sha_

Heba, & or anyone else, what do you grill your chicken with? Please no one say 'a grill' , I mean spices or seasoning or whatever. And whats goes in your salad?

kikkoman's Teriyaki sauce, Tandoori masala, nando's lemon seasoning.

[Salika]

Originally Posted by bravotwozero

kikkoman's Teriyaki sauce, Tandoori masala, nando's lemon seasoning.

Does that stuff have alcohol in it? Most of the products that I found have mirin wine.... (the teryaki sauce that is) If you know of any of those Japanese products that don't have it, I'd be a happy camper

[Sha_]

Originally Posted by sally

i did low carb once and i got insanely sick. never ever ever again.

but a low simple carb diet isnt bad. actually if you do it for a few days your cravings die..cuz insulin levels become balanced.

it's pretty sweet.

What's the diff between that, and the one you did ?

Originally Posted by Salika

Just go on a low glycemic load diet. You keep the carbs but eliminate the ones that trigger insulin and thus fat storage (tip from Sally! )

I found this website and found it very helpful The Glycemic Index

Yea I was on this site Understanding Complex Carbohydrates: Starches - What You Need To Know which was talking about different GI foods and starches and stuff, but the site you posted says that on low GI you can still eat bread and pasta etc, but I'm thinking of going more in this direction:

What Starches Should We Eat?
1. The best starchy foods are whole beans or lentils. The starch is mostly either slowly-digested starch or resistant starch.
2. When choosing grains, eat ones which are whole and intact when cooked, such as brown rice, barley, amaranth, or quinoa.
3. Avoid most baked goods or anything made with flour. Best choices are specially-made low carb breads which have less starch and more fiber.
4. Avoid processed cereals with little fiber. Best choices are cold cereals, such as All-Bran with Extra Fiber, are which are mostly fiber.

We'll see how long that lasts . I've never tried such low carb so I dont know, I have at least one peice of toast, and a plate of rice everyday .

Originally Posted by Salika

I use mccormick's grill mates chicken seasoner. It's really good.

I dont think we have that here

[sally]

Originally Posted by Sha_

What's the diff between that, and the one you did ?

well there are two types of carbs..simple and complex..simple sugars go in your body and cause an immediate rush..your blood is immediately impacted by the load of the sugar and the level of sugar in your blood hence rises abnormally..so for a while you feel really good but then when the levels drop down, they feel like they've dropped abnormally low so your body craves more sugar..so it's kind of like a cycle.


it's more complex than that but that's just a typical explanation you'll find

on the other hand complex carbs are released into your bloodstream throughout a longer period of time, hence they provide you with the essential sugar you need but in a more balanced and efficient manner..

im personally against low carb diets..especially if they're done in combination with exercise..you can risk loads of muscle loss which is never good. the human body requires more carbs than protein or fat on a typical day. but when you dont give it enough it starts breaking down protein and turning it into energy, a process called ketosis which isnt a healthy state for your body to be in.

so as i was saying, even if you dont exercise you need a decent amt of carbs to function properly..but if youre cutting carbs and exercising meaning expending more energy than you normally would, it's a lot more risky. a lot of athletes and stuff go on low carb diets but they've pretty much done it so many times that i guess it becomes natural for them, or it works for them or whatever. essentially they do it so much that they kind of perfect it. if that makes sense.

but as a normal human female of reproductive age who maintains a decent level of activity on a daily basis i would steer clear of a low carb diet but i'm in favor of a diet in which you cut out just the simple carbs and eat a nice balanced amount of complex carbs...which is stuff like oatmeal and basmati rice in limited quantity. basmati rice has a moderate glycemic index. plus it tastes damn good when boiled

if you google for complex and simple carb examples youll find lists of foods that you can maybe go by?

sorry my reply is really rushed and full of typos and bad grammar..im writing stuff on the side