We, my husband and I, are still on a low carb diet. We’re using a combination of Atkins and Keto diet guides and recipes to assist us in keeping our carbohydrates low. In the last month, he’s lost almost all the weight he wanted. I am half way there. We are still very encouraged by our progress. However, there have been a few cheating episodes. One was for a tiny slice of Key Lime pie at that was offered as dessert at a dinner party. And, more recently, we cheated to have ice cream at our favorite mom and pop shop near our cabin. I chose Jamaican Joe which is coffee ice cream with caramel and fudge. Oh, so good!! My husband tasted my cone and even though he does not like coffee, loved the taste of this ice cream. We both cheated on the same thing and at the same time. And, it was worth it. When deprived of sweet things, they taste oh, so much sweeter!
Surprisingly, I’ve still been able to have a glass of wine on this diet. Dryer red wines, the type I like, typically only have 4 carbs. Rose, I’ve learned, has even less, carrying only 2 carbs per serving. I’ve enjoyed this perk of having my wine without a lot of interference with the diet. Of course, I have to have enough calories available to consume this adult beverage by dinner time (when I have the wine) but, so far it has not been an issue.
We’ve bought some La Croix flavored sparkling water recently, as well. My favorite is lime. My husband is enjoying the grapefruit. Carbohydrates (read, sugar) are “bad” on a Keto type diet. On hot summer days, I like an occasional gin and tonic. But, gin has calories (about 73 per shot) and so does tonic (about 140 calories per serving). So, having a gin and tonic has not been an occurrence since starting the diet.
But, there have been some hot summer days, of late. I wasn’t sure about substituting club soda for tonic water in my preferred summer cocktail. So, I got the La Croix Sparkling water in lime and used it in place of club soda. Both do not have calories. But, the lime taste of the sparkling water makes a nice replacement. On one of those late hot summer days, I had a gin rickey instead of a gin and tonic. I like the added lime juice that is called for – a half of a lime is squeezed in to the mix!
My husband prefers a beer and has switched to a low calorie brand. It’s “just okay” for him, preferring the German beer he tasted while in Munich last fall. He’ll have to wait until we can enjoy more carbs to have one of those! In case you don’t know, there are lots of carbs in beer!
It’s nice that we have been able to diet without totally denying ourselves of a simple pleasure now and then. It’s allowed us to socialize, on a limited basis, and even try some new things.
I’d never cheat on my husband, but cheating with him on a diet? Now, that’s okay!
The Apples in My Orchard 