The two winners of my Nasoya giveaway chosen randomly via random.org are…
and 
Comment #12 Haley @ Health Freak College Girl
Comment# 16 VegAnn
Congrats, winners! Please send me your mailing info and I’ll get your free coupons right out to you this week. 
Thanks to everyone who played!
You guys know how I like to change things up with my diet. This week, I’m starting a little j3nnified carb-cycling/calorie-cycling/intermittent fasting. My plan that’s subject to change:
- Sunday (+IF), Monday, and Tuesday — lower carb, very little or no grains/beans, very little or no added sugar*, IF on and off. No strict rules, just cutting down on fruit, sugars, grains, soy, processed foods, etc. for half of the week. Upping my fat + protein intake.
- Wednesday (+IF) – 20-hour intermittent fast; 4-hour eating window. Menu undecided, but can include things avoided on Sun-Tues
- Thursday, Friday, Saturday (+IF) – Higher carb, unguided menus. Saturday 20-hour intermittent fast.
This plan is mine. It’s not a copy of anyone else’s I have seen. It’s not officially low-carb or high-carb or Paleo or Weight Watchers—it’s just me having fun with menus like I always do.
Why the decision to go part-time low-carb? To be honest, I’m sort of fascinated by it. I love, love, love experimenting with all different styles of eating, from high raw diets to carb cycling to intermittent fasting to ultra-high carb vegan diets to carnivorous diets, they’re all so interesting. I don’t discriminate, I like all foods and want to try as many as possible in this lifetime. I love trying new preparation methods and flavors. I just love variety! I don’t think I could ever choose just one particular way of eating. I like the traditional Mediterranean style, and I like all-American sometimes, and I love vegan foods. Plants rule. But I also LOVE seafood. There will never be a time that I settle on a label. I’m into a little bit of everything and I’m happy that way.
I don’t even believe in going very low carb indefinitely; I adore carbs!!! But I do appreciate the science behind it and like to do n=1s as often as possible. Yeah. I’m a nerd. I like hacking my metabolism to see what the results are. I don’t need to go low-carb just to lose weight, I can and do lose weight eating my usual higher carb diet. So I’m not doing it with just that in mind, I’m doing it for the nookie me, because I dig it and that’s all that matters.
If someone asked me how I lost and kept off 75-80 lbs, I’d tell them I ate less and moved more. But if they asked for the details on what I eat and when and how much, they’d be like WTF? hahaha I eat everything and sometimes nothing until later in the day. It still all boils down to calories in and calories out. Whether your calories are the same each day or vary from day to day or your increase your burn rate by eating foods with a high thermal effect (meats + fibrous plants), at the end of the week or month, it all works out the same way. Of course you could get totally fanatical about it and delve into nutrient timing and all sorts of minute details, but I’m focusing on the macros, not the micros.
There are people who will tell me I am doing this all wrong and this is not how you carb-cycle or do intermittent fasting or yada, yada, yada. And I’d tell them that they’re absolutely right. I’m not doing it their way; I’m doing it my way. Get your own diet, this one’s mine. 
I did a 16-hour fast today. It was hard going grocery shopping hungry, but I persevered. ha!
My first meal was a snack of 2 slices of fully cooked uncured Nature’s Place bacon (50 cal), a few olives from the olive bar, and a diet pepsi. Then about an hour later, I made a real meal…
Asian-inspired Tuna Avocado Lime Lettuce Wraps with Cabbage Slaw
Ever since the Korean pork wrap at Epcot, I can’t get enough lettuce wraps!
On the side, a simple veggie salad made with 1 baby cuke (10 cal), 96g raw white mushrooms, 2 TBSP red wine vinegar, 3g EVOO, 2g grated parmesan cheese, black pepper, Himalayan pink sea salt, and a pinch of garlic powder. SO GOOD! Marinated mushrooms are AWESOME! I made the salad, tossed it and let it sit in the fridge for an hour before I ate it. YUM!
Tuna avocado salad…
- 1 Starkist low-sodium chunk light tuna pouch (80 cal)
- 34g fresh avocado
- 1/2 teaspoon Coconut Secret coconut aminos
– Mash it all together to desired consistency. I like to leave a few avocado chunks.
Asian-inspired cabbage slaw:
- 1 oz shredded cabbage
- 1/2 oz shredded carrots
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Secret coconut aminos
- 5g Skippy Natural creamy peanut butter
- Pinch of garlic powder
- 1 TBSP coconut vinegar
- 1/2 TBSP lime juice
- 2 drops liquid stevia extract, unflavored
– Toss together well; let sit for a few minutes before using.
I read about this no sugar added So Delicious dairy-free “ice cream” on a blog last night and had to pick some up today. I had a coupon in my desk for a free So Delicious product and left it at home! D’oh! I bought it anyway. 1g sugar? No artificial ingredients? Dairy-free? Soy-free? SIGN ME UP!
It has an artificial sweetener aftertaste and you can taste the coconut in the background, but I drown that out with with cacao nibs, Cold Stone mash-up style. hehe
I had half a serving after my lettuce wraps, saving the rest for after dinner.
Verdict: LOVE IT! Will definitely buy again. And I just happen to have a coupon for it. YAY!
Chicory root extract is all the rage right now. It’s the new “natural” sugar-free, low-carb sweetener on the block and I’m a fan so far. The texture of the ice cream is a bit dry and crumbly, but I mixed it up well and the texture became softer and more ice cream-like. Can’t wait to have my other half of the serving later on. 
Today’s menu courtesy of MyFitnessPal.com in two images (couldn’t fit it all in one screen shot)
Total carbs = 102g minus 36g fiber = 66 NET carbs
My sodium is higher than this log shows; I added some sea salt to my salads and such. My goal for lower carbs days is to come in under 100-120g NET carbs. So far, it looks like that will be easy. Fruit will be the hard part. 
Love fruit <3 I’ll make room for it. And hey, it’s only 3 days a week. Wednesday I can be a fruitarian if I choose, LOL. Can you imagine? 
I’m working on a separate menu section for my blog, but it’s all messed up right now and I have no idea why. Waiting for Dustin to take a looksie. For now, I’ll just post it within my post until I figure this out.
Aunt Flo rolled into town today. Yay. /sarcasm Just in time for my doctor’s appointment tomorrow!! Can’t wait to step on a doctor’s scale all bloated. Gah! haha
Going to eat the dinner I planned in my menu, then go to sleep. I have an egg and apple planned for a snack. I know from experience if my carbs are too low, I have trouble sleeping, so I want that apple before I go to sleep to avoid it being interrupted when I have an appointment tomorrow. Plus, I love Honeycrisps and bought 10 of them today, so it’s an excuse to eat it. 
Do you eat low-carb? Do you carb cycle? Or anything “different” compared to conventional eating?
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