It all takes balance

Lifestyle changes are hard, especially when it comes to food.

About two months ago, my husband and I decided to make a change in our diets.

Since he doesn’t like it when I talk about him in my columns, I’ll focus on what we’re doing and why I took the leap.

In a nutshell, it’s the Wobbema low-carb diet. We simply eat more grams of protein, and fewer simple sugars and carbohydrates.

I’m doing it because it makes me feel better. I don’t need all that bread, baked goods, pasta and potatoes. In fact, most of the time I don’t miss it at all.

What I’ve noticed is that I have more energy, and fewer stomach aches. What used to be almost daily stomach upset is now nearly non-existent. I also have more stamina to stay up late and work, which might not be the best side effect for a workaholic, but I digress.

How do I do it? Well, some days are better than others. I look for the salads, and skip the starchy sides when I order dinner at a restaurant. If I can substitute a potato for an extra serving of vegetables, I do it.

Of course, there are days when I treat myself. When we traveled to Fessenden for volleyball last week, I didn’t miss that opportunity to enjoy Rosa’s Pizza. I had two small pieces of cheese bread with their homemade ranch, and then ordered a fajita chuckwagon sandwich and ate the filling out of the bread.

The hardest part is finding meals to make when you’re used to serving starchy foods with your meat and snacking on sugary sweets. I was raised on pasta hotdishes and meat and potatoes, not to mention that high-carb (yet so delicious) traditional German fare. Yes, I love cheese buttons, fleischkuechle, knephla and strudel. We haven’t eaten any of it since we started this, but I’m sure it would be fine as a treat once in a while.

We still consume carbs daily, the complex kind that are in fruit and vegetables. We also discovered Carbquik (a low-carb baking mix) and Carb Balance tortilla shells. That way we can enjoy tacos, quesadillas, fajitas and pizza while limiting our carb intake.

It all takes balance.

I think I’ve eaten pasta once or twice in the last few months, in a cold salad. We tried swapping out the noodles for broccoli and cauliflower, and it was tasty, just not the same.

The cost of groceries is up, and of course it’s most evident along the perimeter of the grocery store, where I make more of my selections (and spend most of my time and money): in the fresh meat case, the produce section and the dairy aisle. We do the vast majority of our grocery shopping locally, and I recall one instance where we were hungry and searching for supper. We headed for the meat case and found ribeye steaks for $16 per pound. It would be easier to spend the money, we surmised, if we knew that local ranchers were benefiting from the windfall. So, we put them back and stocked up on meat from Barton Meats.

As with anything else, we don’t fit neatly in a little box, whether it be keto, or Atkins, or other. We’ve found that we just watch our carb intake, and avoid the biggest culprits.

I do it because it makes me feel better.

I think that’s what it’s all about: everything in moderation. It’s an old saying, but it certainly holds true.

The American Heart Association offers the following recommendations for consuming carbohydrates:

Limit foods that are high in processed, refined simple sugars provide calories but they have very little nutrition.

Yes, that means skipping nearly all sweet treats. I found that this is easier to do the longer I avoid them. I had a cupcake at a wedding last weekend, Although it was delicious, I woke up with quite the stomach ache the next day. Now when I’m looking for something sweet, I make myself a smoothie with no added sugar. I substitute the milk (which has added sugar and carbohydrates) for heavy cream and water.

Get more complex carbohydrates and healthy nutrients by eating more fruits and vegetables. That means you don’t have to avoid carbs altogether, it’s just a matter of choosing the healthy ones.

Focus on whole-grain rice, breads and cereals, and don’t forget the legumes — beans, lentils and dried peas.

In closing, I’d like to give a shout out to Headlock’s Bar. At Kyrie and Jesse’s wedding they stocked Carbliss, vodka cocktails with zero net carbs. I didn’t have a gut ache after a couple drinks, like would typically happen when I drink vodka cranberry or any mixer containing fruit juice. I appreciate that they make it easy for guests with special dietary needs to enjoy a party.