I made the mistake of trying the Atkins diet about 10 years ago hoping to loose a few pounds. The carb withdrawal was not a joke and it really affected my mood.
A few years ago, I went gluten free and low carb in a much more careful way and so did not feel the terrible carb withdrawal.
Currently I am open to modifications but this is my current general routine.
Breakfast:
A glass of almond milk (yes, it took a long time for me to like this, but now I really do like it. If you take a couple of bites of sugar free chocolate drops [see below: bought in bulk months ago from below though took us long time to get through 25 pounds], it turns the almond milk almost into chocolate milk…sort of..)
Sometimes, I will add a cup of cottage cheese if we have it.
Toasted cashews: 1-2 cups
A lot of water
Sometimes a small apple or an orange
Lunch:
Salad with toasted sunflower seeds or toasted cashews
If at work, sometimes just toasted sunflower seeds or toasted cashews or pecans mixed
Small apple or piece of fruit
Dinner:
Once per month plan:
1. Moo-Shoo: heavy on cabbage, shredded carrots, no sugar, chicken or beef, rarely pork
2. Taco night (without the corn tortilla for me): heavy on tomatoes, salad, cheese, turkey beef
3. Lasagna: no pasta for me, heavy on veggies (recipe coming soon), spinach, tomato sauce, and of course cheese
4. Salads:
a. Favorite is leafy greens with pistachios, pear, balsamic vinegar (and olive oil a bit).
b. Plain Romaine salad with balsamic vinegar
c. Carrot salad with corn & bit of balsamic vinegar, olive oil
d. Guacamole, heavy on tomatoes
5. Bunch of chicken dishes: recipes to come
6. Wild Salmon: aim for 2-3 times per month
7. We are working on getting more fish recipes in our list: let me know if you have good ones!
Favorite Side Dishes:
5. Pesto with carrots
6. Brussel sprouts: a real favorite: recipe on separate blog
7. Zucchini chips
When have no time, will make for kids:
1. Trader Joe’s dumplings
2. Salad
3. Sausage with tomatoes
Favorite Family Snacks:
1. Veggie booty: buy bulk from Amazon
2. popcorn: thinking about whole GMO issue currently
3. Nuts
4. Fruit
5. Yogurt (usually miked with plain Greek yogurt)
6. Sugar free chocolate chips.
7. Sometimes tortilla chips
9. Gluten free cinamon bread
Favorite Family Indulgences, which I do not usually indulge in:
1. Saltenas: typical Bolivia, amazing type of empanada but not really: unfortunately full of carbs!
2. Pizza
3. Dutch Chocolate
4. Dutch chocolade muisjes: I still do not understand the concept of putting chocolate on a buttered piece of bread. I think it rather disgusting. But my kids had been introduced to this by my husband and the Dutch, and there is no turning back it seems. The muisjes alone, though, are really delicious (though has sugar and thus a relatively high carb content)
4. French bread.
5. Hot chocolate
It has been a challenge to keep my kids away from treats and snacks high in carbs and sugar. We do not do most of the common snacks many American families do (ie, potato chips, candy bars, sugary cereals, soda, fruit roll ups, goldfish, etc). Still, there are modifications I would love to make but they view it still as too extreme.
References:
http://www.bulkfoods.com/sugar-free-baking-chips/4355-sugar-free-chocolate-drops.html