Riding the carbohydrate rollercoaster

I’ll admit it, I’m a carb lover.  I don’t think this is a bad thing at all.  Brown rice, oats, quinoa, sweet potatoes, whole wheat, etc. – I think they are all part of a healthy, well balanced diet.  So are fruits and vegetables.  It’s hard to imagine a low-carb plant-based diet.  How would that work exactly? 

Well, that’s the exact dilemma I was faced with last week (after failing my first GTT).  While I was waiting to take my second GTT, I tried reducing my carb and sugar intake to see how it might work (so that if I did, in fact, need to eat this way for the rest of my pregnancy, I’d have a game plan). 

It was definitely harder than I thought it would be.  I think a lot of this has to do with my pregnancy hormones.  [Not only has my metabolism changed (big time!) since becoming pregnant, but there’s also significant unpredictability in my activity levels and my cravings]  Anyway.  It was hard.

I figured I’d just limit simple sources of sugar and reduce the role of whole grains and complex carbohydrates.  Sounds reasonable right?

Breakfast:

I normally eat eggs and toast with Earth Balance or nut butter.  It’s basically the only thing that I want in the morning and the ratio of protein to carbs has been rock solid in keeping morning faintness and dizzy spells at bay.  On work days I wake up extra early just to fry an egg and make toast – it’s that crucial of a component.  I’ve tried tweaking the combo in the past, but both are necessary (I feel hungry 15 minutes later without the egg and faint without the bread).  For this reason, I didn’t change anything with this meal.

What I did adjust with breakfast was my coffee.  Pre-pregnancy I made it with stevia and almond milk – aka negligible amounts of sugar.  Since becoming pregnant I have omitted stevia from my diet (as well as coffee until these past few weeks).  For (iced) tea sweetening I’ve been using maple syrup – aka lots of simple sugar.  And now that I’m back on the (half-caf) coffee wagon, I’ve been continuing using maple syrup.  Until now.  For the purposes of this low carb phase, I tried using part agave and part xylitol.  Both have FODMAPs, but agave is way lower on the glycemic index and xylitol has 0 g of sugar.  Truthfully, I didn’t notice any change in GI symptoms.  Success!  Sugar intake decreased.

My second breakfasts (at work) are usually oatmeal or some kind of hot grain (with lots of sweet add-ins), so this was another thing I changed.  It was especially brutal passing on the home-made cinnamon rolls.  Instead I made mini oat bakes, with almond flour and egg whites and agave to sweeten.  It turned out pretty great actually.  I did add some pear slices so it wasn’t completely carb free, but definitely lower than my typical sweet oats.  Mini breakfast quiches are another option.  

Fried egg with home-made whole wheat bread toasted with Earth Balance. 

Snacks:

This was the hardest to change because my go-to snacks are things like fruit, Larabars, pretzels, crackers and carrots with Sabra, granola, etc.  On work days especially I was really at a loss.  There are only so many nuts a girl can eat!

Here are a few low(er) carb things I added into my snack regimen: protein powder smoothie, daiya wedges, and celery/bell peppers slices with hummus.

 

1 cup Almond Breeze, 1 serving Sunwarrior chocolate raw protein powder, 3 strawberries, 4 ice cubes.

  

I tried it with blueberries and the vanilla powder too.  Both yummy. 

Lunch/Dinner:

Cravings and the desire to be frugal (and use up what was already cooked/prepared in the fridge) seriously limited my choices.  I had leftover acorn squash and quinoa as well as a curry couscous dish (recipe coming soon) staring me down each time I opened the fridge.  And with the change in weather, all I want to eat are heaps of roasted root vegetables.  With a side of quinoa.  Or potatoes.  Not exactly low carb. 

Seitan is my #1 when it comes to vegan protein “meat”, so that played a major role in my new diet.  But I wasn’t feeling that into tofu or tempeh at the time, which meant I had to get creative. 

Enter faux meat products.  Not my favorite thing at all.  This kind of vegan junk food is limited in my regular diet because it’s heavily processed and often lengthy in ingredients.  Field Roast “sausage” and Lightlife smoky tempeh “bacon” are on the more acceptable end of the spectrum, whereas gardein and soy isolate based items are a bit more iffy. 

 

Salad with meatless meatballs.

 

The Veggie Grill “buffalo wings” take-out. 

Dessert:

Just like snacks, this was really hard to adjust.  I tend to wake up hangry and in a fragile state if I don’t have a little something something after dinner.  But since I’m also health conscious, I try to make quality choices (and I also dislike eating right before going to bed).  My typical dessert fare depends on if I’m cravings sweet or savory.  Medjool dates with nut butter, greek yogurt, home-made hot cocoa, frozen fruit, and carob chips with candied ginger are my favorite sweet selections.  Whereas, popcorn, carrots with hummus, tomatoes with olive oil & vinegar, and toast with Earth Balance are my savory choices.  The common denominator with all these is pretty obvious…carbs. 

Once I began making an effort to reduce my sugar intake, I just ate nut butter straight up.  But I didn’t like eating so many calories at night, so I turned to peanut flour.  I made a paste out of it with either water or almond milk and added cinnamon & agave (and occasionally a few raisins) and had that for dessert.  It was tasty, but I still felt like I was eating frankenfood.

Now that I’m back on my normal diet I’m sooooo happy to be eating real hippie foods again.

Yesterday I had a warm breakfast bowl with a combination of steel cut oats and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free hot cereal mix (it has corn meal, whole grain brown rice, white sorghum, and buckwheat).  I stirred in lots of almond milk and Earth Balance, and then added a fried egg on top.

   

Delicious!  It was like creamy risotto. 

I had two servings of this (separated by a few hours).  I do a lot of snacking these days, as opposed to entree eating, because I get full fast, but hungry fast.

And since I have lots of daiya to use up, I enjoyed some with my favorite carbohydrate, making a pizza sweet potato.

 

Steamed sweet potato with marinara and daiya on top.  Mmmm. 

 

Later on, I had apples and grapes as a snack.  And a few spoons of almond butter.  Followed by a 20 minute strength training routine (with sets of jumping jacks in between).  That got me sweaty!

For dinner I made a potato and apple hash with blackened tempeh (recipe coming soon).

 

And had a mug of hot cocoa (made with almond milk, cocoa powder, and maple syrup) topped with Suzanne’s rice mallow creme.

 

Very happy indeed.

More apples met their final fate when I made spiced applesauce in the crock-pot, which was super easy.  I started it when I was making dinner so it finished around 10 pm.  Naturally, I had a sample as I was jarring it and it is goooood.

Crock-pot Applesauce [vegan, gluten free]

Ingredients:

• ~5 apples, peeled and cored
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch ginger powder
• 2-3 tbsp water

*****

• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup (or 1-2 tbsp cane sugar)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Peel and chop apples (the smaller they are, the faster they cook).  I used 5 small apples (picked from Riley’s Farm), so if you are using larger ones, you may need to increase the rest of the spices slightly.  I used a combination of rome, red delicious, and pink ladies, but any apple variety will do.

2. Add to slow cooker with cinnamon, ginger and water.

3. Cook on high for 4 hours.  If you want, you can stir/toss them half way (I did). 

4.  After four hours you can basically mash the apples by hand.  If you want chunky applesauce, you can do this in the crock-pot, but it you want smoother applesauce, wait for it to cool and pulse in a blender or food processor until you reach the desired consistency.

5. Add lemon juice and sugar (taste test to adjust to your preferences). 

6. Serve and enjoy!

Yummmmmm!