“CHRISTMAS won’t be the same without you/Christmas won’t be the same if you go/All I need to see/Standing by my Christmas tree (is you)/Christmas won’t be the same without you.” Heartily dedicated to fruitcake, that is.
Christmas won’t be the same without fruitcake. Is that the low-carb dieter talking? Unless he’s now fully adapted to the diet and would rather have lechon.
There’s a Facebook group called “Life Without Rice” where low-carb dieters post their low-carb meals to guide the newbies on the many ways they can avoid rice. The staple there is eggs—fried, scrambled, omelette, boiled, whatever egg recipe has been discovered as long as the other ingredients are salt, butter, coconut cooking oil, and animal fats.
If instant noodles can be as simple as just add water, the low-carb diet can be as simple as just add salt.
The struggle is real in staying low-carb. But avoiding the high-carb diet’s side effects are enough to make that struggle worth it.
Whenever I hear people complain about their health, I’m always so tempted to suggest that they try the low-carb lifestyle. But who am I to recommend that especially since I’ve been trying so hard to avoid carbs?
There’s this misconception that as long as the food has no sugar, meaning the brown or white kind, then it’s sugar-free even if it has, say, honey, condensed milk, maple syrup, vanilla syrup. Or if it’s fruit. Fruits have fructose. Only blueberries, strawberries, and avocado are allowed in the low-carb diet.
When I started this diet in February 2022, I said if I could do this successfully, then I could rule the world. Or something like that. Haha. Only to realize that the stress caused by ruling the world might lead to indulging in high-carb food again. Stress eating pa more.
So, no more ruling the world. Focus on staying low-carb instead.
On Tuesday, I was too weak to join the Fit-Punch group exercise. After attending the Zumba class, all I wanted was to go home and sleep. I asked the Fit-Punch coach, who’s my personal trainer, for advice, and he said I should rest. So, I went to the Big Bad Wolf at SM CDO Downtown Premier to buy books.
But first, brunch at Hap Chan where the wait staff have already memorized my favorite meal: sweet and sour pork, and shrimp with scrambled eggs. I know it’s not strict low-carb—the “sweet” there in the pork is already a hint. But better than fried rice, eh?
By Wednesday, I thought I could go back to carnivore again. Wishful thinking. On that day, I was inside a donut shop where people were having coffee and donuts. And then there was a party where one of the desserts was biko turon—something new, prompting curiosity.
To make sure I’ll stick to the carnivore diet for the noche buena and media noche, meat dishes have been ordered. Lechon, anyone?
I’ve already forgotten the number of times I had to reset, refresh, and reboot my carnivore diet. To those who can eat carbs and experience no side effects, congratulations. I happen to be one of those whose blood pressure increases after some carbo-loading.
