Why We Switched From Low-Fat to Low-Carb

This is Part 1 of The Switch from Low-Fat to Low-Carb Series.

Read Part 2 – What is Ultra Low-Carb (ULC)? | Part 3 – What is Carb Nite?

The woman sitting at the next table over is staring. She’s eyeing the plate of food that the waitress just brought over – a juicy, 8 ounce bunless burger topped with sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheese, 3 strips of bacon and garnished with a fried egg. You notice her look down at her empty salad with her low-fat dressing on the side and wonder what she’s thinking. Eating Ultra Low-Carb has its advantages and it also draws a lot of attention, whether it be from friends and family or from the woman sitting next to you at a restaurant. Maybe it’s the generous amount of fat (BACON!) that accompanies your meal or the heavy cream you ask for at Starbucks instead of Half n’ Half, because when it comes down to it, we all know that fat is bad! Regardless of how much research is out there about the benefits of a high-fat (low-carb) diet (more on this later) there will always be the fear of sauteeing your green beans in butter or ordering a rib-eye steak and not slicing the fat off before you gobble it down. We know there are other ways to eat and if what you’re doing is working for you, more power to you. We’re here to share why we’ve chosen this lifestyle and to share with fellow low-carbers (Carb Niters and Carb Back-loaders) what we love most about it – the FOOD. Food is unavoidable. It’s everywhere and we need it. The kinds of foods we choose to eat is a different story – that we have control over.

Mary and I often share stories about our PRE-Carb Nite and PRE-Ultra low-carb (ULC) lifestyles and the list of challenges we faced. We were afraid to eat fat, unless it was the occasional handful of almonds or a tablespoon of almond butter, dairy was a no-no and our schedules revolved around mealtimes. Looking back, I don’t know how I managed to plan out and prep all 6 meals every day. It’s a job in of itself. What’s stick out the most is how fixated I had become on my “next meal”. I watched the clock constantly, counting the minutes until I could eat again. My closest friends and regular clients learned to tell when my next meal was approaching…why? Because “hangry” Alex would slowly appear. You know what I’m talking about! Rrrraaarr! The Alex that I hated being, yet I felt I could never control…until I ate my next meal. Even if blood sugar wasn’t an issue, there was an even bigger challenge – having a life. Not only did our schedules revolve around meals, socializing did too. Something as simple as lunch with friends turned into a task. For Mary it was being able to choose the restaurant that best fit her dietary needs (which usually resulted in a chicken salad) and for me, I’d more often than not end up bringing my pre-made meal in tupper-ware and then deal with the embarrassment of pulling it out at the restaurant table. We’re lucky that our friends and family were supportive and understanding, yet the questions always came up at some point: “How long do you have to diet like this?” or, “When do you get to eat real food again?”

It was something I thought about often. And the harder I tried to convince myself that I was in it for the long haul, the easier it became to sneak a few of my roommates cookies at night (sshhh…I still don’t think she knows) and then jump on the treadmill the next day, with the hopes of wiping out any damage I caused from the previous nights cookie binge. I felt guilty more often than I felt accomplished and it became harder and harder to preach that lifestyle to my clients (especially when I wasn’t living it 100%). Eating was becoming a chore and all I wanted was the occasional cookie…or 2, or 3. Enter The Carb Nite Solution® (CNS). A program designed to take a ketogenic style diet to the next level by boosting your metabolism, and thus your fat-burning potential with an evening of high-glycemic carb consumption. Wait…what? So, you’re saying that I can eat cookies? I’m suppose to have cookies? And I can eat bacon? SOLD! I started CNS as a competition prep diet three years ago and I’ve never looked back. And, I’m pretty sure Mary got on board when cookies were mentioned, because she’s a bit of a cookie monster like me. But seriously, she was intrigued by the program after witnessing fellow competitors drop body fat and reveal their awesome lean body mass with little to no cardio work, while consuming copious amounts of fat and indulging in sweet treats one night a week. Who could blame her? Most people are intrigued when they hear about how it works, yet still have a hard time believing that results like that are typical. Which is why we’re here, sharing our story and the love we have for this lifestyle. Okay, I’ll admit it. They had me at “cookie”. But, the results I saw and the way I felt after only a week of eating ULC made me believe there was more to it. And believe me, there is.

We like how we feel!

So why do we continue to eat this way? It’s simple really. We like how we feel. We’ve never felt more in control of our health, the decisions we make around food and knowing what our bodies need and want. Sure, it didn’t happen overnight and I don’t doubt that we’ll have moments, or events that may throw us off our normal routine, but that’s life. And I don’t know about you, but we want to enjoy life, food and all. We want to try out new restaurants and experiment with new ingredients or combinations of classic favorites. We get a kick out of watching the Food Network and brainstorming ways to turn the dishes we see Guy Fieri eat into Ultra low-carb versions (we’re dorks, we know). We get excited about herb-infused butter and flavored bacon and if you’ve read this far, then maybe you’re excited too!

We’re here for the food and all the magic that comes with eating for health and longevity.

With all the variations on keto-style diets and Atkins-like programs we’ll be sharing the guidelines we use and why they work for us. Cooking ULC is our priority here at FitLivingFoodies and every recipe you find have under 10g of usable carbs. That’s not to say that we’ll never post recipes from our epic Carb Nites, but they won’t be the highlighted recipes. And since we all know that “abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym” you can expect to find tips and tricks to make your mealtime creations as easy as possible. If you’re looking for more immediate answers on why we do what we do here, we encourage you to check out our products page to learn more. We love hearing from you, so if you have questions about a recipe, or have one you want to share here, drop us a line or leave a comment below.