"Secret" Low Carb Suggestions From Your Cruise?

I will be leaving this week on my cruise and am wondering what low carb foods will be available. Do you have any suggestions for foods to pick?

Which Line? Carnival has low carb bread at Dinner. I skip bread at all other meals. On my first low carb cruise they didn't have them and I skipped bread altogether, it was hard getting thru to them. Yes, I DO NOT want the bread, Thank You.

I also skipped the salad. You always get some vegies with other stuff. I also always ordered 2 or 3 meat entraies (sp). You have to tell them up front that you do not want to wait for your first "main" course to eat with the rest. You make sure they understand that is what you eat in stead of bread and salad.

I, too, stay away from the bread. I look for protein. At the buffets I check for chicken or other protein. I also go for veggies. I like salads so I eat salads.

I haven't found it too difficult to keep the carbs low. At dinner, if there is potatoe or rice, it's easy to just not eat it.

Have you found any sweets or desserts that would keep to the diet? I guess beries and cream are OK. Perhaps they have sugar free ice cream.

As I recall, all the menues have selections from the chef for 'weight conscious' dieters. It seems to me like I ordered strawberries and creme, blueberries and creme, and lowfat ice cream, not sure about the sugar-free. There's always plenty of delicious meat and seafood to order from the menu.

Ann

DMK...What cruise line? That would help us be able to make better suggestions (if we are familiar with their food offerings).

If it is RCI, I did 5 weeks of cruises last year on "low carb" and had no trouble (except for the few times that I meant to cheat....Tiramisu!). Plenty of selections at breakfast. Lunch always had plenty of protein to choose from and maybe a small salad. Afternoon snack found plenty of protein to choose from. Dinner....just told them "NO. No Thank you!" on the bread. As Pineview said, it is a little hard at first to get them to understand you don't want bread but then they finally understand. On RCI they have sugarfree desserts that I hear are really good. I did not try them. I just skipped dessert (not really hard for me to do except for the chocolate) except for the tiramisu and then I just cheated and knew I was cheating.

I will be cruising on Celebrity this week. I hope they have the same choices you had on RCL, skiiergirl. They are the same company. I have 4 more pounds to lose. If I can just maintain during this 2 week cruise I will be pleased.:D

Carnival had sugar free deserts also. They had them in the dinning room and on the Lido buffet.

Re: Sugar free deserts.

My DH is a diabetic and they had at least two sugar free options for desert in the dining room at dinner on Celebrity. They also had "suggestions" on the menu for those dieting . You could always get a fruit and cheese option for dessert as well. My biggest problem was too many choices and they all look good. Don't forget to drink your water to help with the oops's. :eek:

Janette

Been low carbing for a year and a half and it's been the most successful and easy to follow diet I've tried. Right now I am coasting - trying to stabilize - then I want to lose another five pounds - then another after 6 months. Lost 75 lbs so far - would like to see another 15/20 come off - but that might be a "pipe dream."

(BTW - Just what is a "pipe dream?" - sounds like a reference to drugs. LOL)

While in the "losing weight" cycle of the diet - the way I low carb is by always replacing the starch with vegetables - skipping bread - even low carb bread - at least at the beginning.

Look out for calories and too much protein. When I was in "serious weight loss mode" I tried to stay under 1200 calories and 30 carbs.

You can easily ruin any effort, if you think you can eat all kinds of fatty meat - if you think you can eat yourself stuffed to the gills - if you think calories don't count. They still count - it's just that high carb foods are also usually high calorie foods - so when you eliminate a lot of carbs - you eliminate a lot of calories.

Look out for hidden carbs:

breading on chicken in a salad

bread in meatloaf

tomato sauce on or in food; ketchup

any kind of coating on meat

dipping sauces

gravy has flour

a lot of vegetables are high carb

Fruit is very low calorie - but the carbs in something as simple as strawberries adds up very fast.

THE SECRET IS PORTION CONTROL AND CALORIE AND CARB COUNTING.

Everything you put in your mouth should be monitored.

If you are sincere in your desire to continue your diet while on the cruise, you can still have wonderful meals - just be very clear on what is in and on your food - you will be amazed at how many carbs sneak into a meal that looks low calorie.

That's a very helpful post, smudge's mom. I have recently been considering a low-carb diet to take off a little extra weight I'd put on recently, but feel like I'd miss these foods too much. How did you handle that initial break from your routine?

Thanks!

~elli

I handled the "intial break" - by feeling sorry for myself. Well - not actually right away - but at times I feel real sorry for myself.

The secret to my success with this diet is that both of us did it at the same time - and I have no others in the house to cook for. That is the ideal situation.

The first thing I did was purge the house of everything "evil." 18 months later, my pantry and fridge still look incredibly weird..

If you want to be successful, you have to spend - at least the first month - and longer if you can stand it - adhering to the initial phase of "low carbing." I follow Atkins - so it's Induction.

You have to learn what is in every bite of food you put in your mouth. Atkins website has a carb counter you can print - it's really useful. During Induction, stay away from ready-made "low carb" foods. Stay away from "low carb" meals at restaurants. They should really be called "lower carb" because a couple of slices of low carb bread has 12 carbs - that's a lot of carbs and it doesn't leave room for better foods like vegetables.

You have to read all labels - learn carb counts in fresh foods. You would think tomatoes/carrots are good for you, but they are higher in carbs.

Low carbing is a little difficult to "get into." You have a lot of research you need to do to be successful. But once you learn your basics, you can go into a restaurant and make your substitutions to make your meal low carb. Most restaurants will do starch/vegetable exchanges with no extra charge.

Low calorie dressings are usually higher in carbs than regular - look for Kraft's low cal/low carb dressings - excellent taste.

Do not cheat one tiny little bit - any cheating sets you back three days. The diet is based on a metabolic reaction - explained in Atkins book. When you deviate from what they tell you to eat - you "undo" the reaction and you have to start over.

Low carbing is unlike low calorie - you can't do it in a hit or miss way. With low calorie, anytime you eliminate calories you are doing a good thing. With low carbing, it just doesn't work if you do it one day and don't do it another day.

I have been successful by being extremely vigilant. For the first year, I was really, really in control. When I "cheat" - it becomes a slippery slope. Although during the first year of the diet, I was really not very hungry - I had adjusted to eating less - my appetite has increased as I've increased my carb eating.

Now it's more mind-over-matter. Sometimes I really feel sorry for myself - feel life's unfair that others can eat what they want - but I try not to let myself feel that way. For some after a successful diet, they change their mindset about eating - I haven't succeeded in doing that. I still feel deprived sometimes - but - I sure don't want to go back to the way I was.

Fat people view food as a wonderful thing that they feel bad about denying themselves. Skinny people think of food as fuel. Oh well.

Good luck.

coleslaw. It has around 35 grams of carbs per single serving. I tried to figure this out, but I cannot. Sugar has only 4 carbs per tsp - and, yes, coleslaw has sugar in it - but does it have over 7 tsps of sugar? Mayo has none - cabbage is low carb. Huh?

Some websites for you:

A message board about low carbing

http://forum.lowcarber.org

Atkins - main site

http://atkins.com/

You do not need to buy Atkin's book. You can get all the info you need - free - off the site.

I have been successful by being extremely vigilant. For the first year' date=' I was really, really in control. When I "cheat" - it becomes a slippery slope. Although during the first year of the diet, I was really not very hungry - I had adjusted to eating less - my appetite has increased as I've increased my carb eating.

 

Now it's more mind-over-matter. Sometimes I really feel sorry for myself - feel life's unfair that others can eat what they want - but I try not to let myself feel that way. For some after a successful diet, they change their mindset about eating - I haven't succeeded in doing that. I still feel deprived sometimes - but - I sure don't want to go back to the way I was.

 

Fat people view food as a wonderful thing that they feel bad about denying themselves. Skinny people think of food as fuel. Oh well.

 

Good luck.[/quote']

 

Excellent post smudge's mom!!!!

 

I started 1/1/03 and feel every word you wrote.

Thanks, smudge's mom!