Diabetes Mine Diggin' The 'Enthusiasm' Of The Low-Carb Community

I recently blogged about my fellow health blogger Amy Tenderich from the uber-popular "Diabetes Mine" blog and her rather humorous post about obsessing over carbs as a Type 1 diabetic.

She made some excellent points in that column, although she is not an advocate of livin' la vida low-carb as a lifestyle change per se. The Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes author and I don't always see eye-to-eye on the definition of a healthy diet, but that doesn't stop us from mutually sharing in our mission to help educate, encourage and inspire our readers to improve themselves.

In that spirit, Amy recently asked me the following question in an e-mail:

"Since most diabetics seem to struggle with restricting carbs and figuring out what in the heck they can eat, I need your help. Could you share your TOP 20 FAVORITE LOW-CARB MEALS & SNACKS with me to share with my readers?"

Since I've been eating this way for nearly four years, it would have been pretty easy for me to come up with a quick 20 list for Amy to share with her readers. But, instead, I decided to let the members of my new "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum take a stab at it since they all have a wealth of knowledge and experience in this area--particularly my low-carb recipe moderator Linda.

So I pitched it to my forum readers and boy did they ever come through with some OUTSTANDING suggestions for Amy to share with her readers. Diabetics and low-carbers alike would be proud to eat those foods early and often and I'm thankful for their input (that includes so many of YOU here at my blog, too, so THANK YOU!!!).

Amy featured those in a post today at her blog entitled "Low-Carb Favorites, From The Devotees." Check out this amazing list of MEALS and SNACKS that my forum readers came up with. Incredible work you guys and I'm so proud to see you recognized for your healthy efforts on such a major diabetes web site. EXCELLENT!

Amy was a bit concerned as she expressed in her post why livin' la vida low-carb is so hard for her.

"Thanks so much for the suggestions, Guys! But I also see my problem right there; I am sick to death of skinless chicken, eggs, and salad, salad, salad. I can't stand cauliflower. Steak and pepperoni are too fatty for my poor sensitive stomach to take very often... whine, whine, whine... I know."

You are hilarious, Amy! But there is a happy medium when counting carbs that I hope you can find in your own journey to control blood sugars naturally through this way of eating. But I was encouraged to hear Amy was spurred on by the "enthusiasm" of my forum readers to get excited about controlling her carbs again.

WOO HOO! She even gave some rather high praise for the support the forum is providing people who need it when they're getting down and out.

"It's sure nice to know there's a whole community out there to fall back on whenever you feel you might be 'losing it.'"

YEAH! THANK YOU Amy for those very kind words and I'm sure my forum readers will be thrilled to know you felt the positive impact they are having there. It's one of the most caring and loving group of people I've ever been a part of and we've grown so fast, too! Over one-third of a million views in just about six weeks...and STILL growing!

Got any favorite low-carb snack or meal ideas that might have been missed? Feel free to share those in the comments section below. See, livin' la vida low-carb can be an exciting and viable way to lose weight, control blood sugars, and get healthy while still being enjoyable. No other way I'll ever eat again, baby! :D

A Low-Carb Pastry That Actually Tastes Good

Pastries are BACK for low-carbers with these delicious treats

Are there some mornings you are sitting at the kitchen table or at your desk at work with your cup of coffee and wish there was a low-carb doughnut or other pastry that you could dip in it?

Come on, you know you've thought about it, haven't you? Sure you have and that's perfectly natural. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But as long as you resist the urge to splurge on something like this, you are doing great on your low-carb lifestyle.

Now it is time to reward that steadfast commitment and dedication to livin' la vida low-carb by enjoying the perfect low-carb coffee cake and anytime snack. It's called Sweets For You Sugar Free Tasty Twists French Pastries.

These delectable low-carb pastries are an excellent sugar-free alternative to the high-carb, sugary pastries that dominate our society. Buck that trend by feasting on these truly remarkable treats that have a mere 3g carbs per 1-ounce serving. That's about a stick and a half of the most delicious pastries I have eaten since I began my low-carb lifestyle in 2004.

Sweets For You Sugar Free Tasty Twists French Pastries come in five wonderful flavors for you to choose from: Raspberry, Cinnamon (yummy!), Chocolate Chip (my favorite!), Peach, and Vanilla.

If you need an alternative to keep you away from the doughnut box at work, then perhaps having your own bag of Sweets For You Sugar Free Tasty Twists French Pastries will do the trick for you! :D

Have You Tried The GoLower Low-Carb Snacks From The UK?

It's not very often that I get real excited about a new product that claims to be low-carb because usually it either contains an excessive amount of sugar in it despite claiming to be "low-carb" or it tastes so disgusting that you'd rather just chew on a piece of bark instead!

But, wouldn't you know it, I finally came across a low-carb snack that is natural, fortified with vitamins, high in fiber content and absolutely delicious. It's called GoLower Carb Counter Nut Bars.

You may not have heard of the GoLower brand yet in the United States since it is UK-based (you can order their products online at any of their Internet distributors), but you will definitely want to add these Carb Counter Nut Bars to your list of snacks while livin' la vida low-carb.

I didn't know much about them until recently, but was quite impressed with the list of ingredients in them, including a mixture of brazil nuts, linseeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. With all of those nuts and seeds, you will get over 9 grams of fiber in just one GoLower Carb Counter Nut Bar alone!

Additionally, each bar contains essential fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, selenium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, copper, and alpha-linoleic acid. Each of these helps added nutrients improve the way the body works and adds even more nutritional benefits to your low-carb lifestyle.

Furthermore, these GoLower Carb Counter Nut Bars are sweetened with something called oligofructose, a natural ingredient that helps the body grow friendly bacteria helpful during digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals our bodies need. I've not heard of any other low-carb product that offers this important ingredient.

Finally, these snacks do not contain any sugar, artificial sweeteners, or sugar alcohols, which have been known to cause gastric distress.

Sounds pretty good doesn'it? But I know what you're thinking -- how does it taste?

Frankly, I didn't know what to expect regarding the taste and texture of these low-carb snacks before I actually tried them. But once I did, let me tell you:

THESE BARS ARE FANTASTIC!!!

I was completely blown away by how good they were. I tried each of the flavors in the following order and here are my thoughts on each.

CHOCOLATE
Being a pretty big chocolate fan, I was expecting this one to be my favorite. Since this was my first taste of the GoLower products, I was immediately struck by the rich, full flavor they had. I was expecting the chocolate flavor to dominate my tastebuds, but it did not. And that's a good thing, too. The nutty flavor along with the crunch complemented the chocolate very nicely. It was a great introduction to the GoLower Carb Counter Nut Bars.

RASPBERRY
Okay, after the chocolate one tasted as good as it did, I didn't know what to expect from the raspberry flavor. But when I stuck it in my mouth, my tastebuds went into overdrive! This was the most incredible tasting non-chocolate low-carb snack bar I have ever put in my mouth, bar none! I am totally serious. It even has real freeze-dried raspberries in it that enhance the flavor even more. This will be the one flavor I will come back to time and time again.

COCONUT
I admit that I am not a fan of coconut at all mostly because I don't like the texture of coconut. But even after making myself try this flavor, I was delighted to find it to be the same kind of high-quality snack that the chocolate and raspberry flavors were without the annoying texture that I despise. If you like coconut, then you will most certainly enjoy this snack bar.

The great thing about these GoLower Carb Counter Nut Bars is the fact that they contain 3.5 net carbs each, which makes them great to eat several times a day and still keep your carb intake to a minimum. If you consume as many as three of these delicious snacks per day, then you'll be adding 17 grams of protein and 27 grams of fiber to your diet while only contributing 10 net carbs to your overall carb intake. You certainly can't beat that regardless of where you are in your low-carb lifestyle! I highly recommend these GoLower products for everyone doing low-carb.

Wanna try 'em for yourself now? Visit the GoLower web site at www.golower.com to buy these today! Let me know what you think after trying them for yourselves!