How I lost 100 pounds by unwrapping food: breadless recipes for weight loss

If you're old like me, LOL, you might remember "impossible pie" recipes in which the unbaked crust was put on top and baked up through. I do something like this with my diet food swaps. However I not only flip it upside down, I shake it out and eliminate it all together. Part of how I lost 100 pounds was by unwrapping foods and breadless recipes. I'll explain. 

"My 600-lb Life" shows how morbid obesity originates, as pre-gastric bypass patients try to lose weight. And a ubiquitous item on the table is food wrapped in bread of some kind: tacos, tortillas, pizza, sandwiches, cheeseburgers, egg rolls, pasta, potato based casseroles, etc. It takes a lot of carbs and starch to feed overweight bodies. "My 600-lb Life" Dr. Now's 1200 calorie diet slashes almost all carbs in anticipation of and after gastric bypass. 

It's not just "My 600-lb Life" folks who eat tons of bread-based stuff. Food wrapped in bread is so popular that it's now referred to as "handhelds" on restaurant menus. The bread slices of today are actually designed as "holders" for food. It's no wonder with this bread obsession, so many of us are overweight. So, for optimum weight loss, gastric bypass patients are told to put down the handhelds: buns, sandwiches, pizza, tacos, tortillas, etc., and nix "white foods" (bread, corn, rice, potatoes and pasta). 

I lost 100 pounds by losing the white foods, going breadless and "de-breading" and ergo, decarbing recipes. I follow a 1200 calorie diet which doesn't allow for a lot of high-calorie carbs. So I empty out the handhelds and eat just the filling or topping. I make taco salad, wonton-less egg roll filling, protein salads, crustless pizza (just the topping) and bun-less burgers. I wrap sandwich stuff in lettuce leaves and burritos in cabbage leaves (that's the correct way). 

When I do eat bread, it's keto. My diet food swaps use keto type legume pasta, coconut and almond flour, cauliflower pizza crust and high fiber oatmeal. I switched from grains to seeds. These boost metabolism and lower blood sugar (and hence diabetes). I found that to lose weight, obesity and diabetes, I didn't need gastric bypass. I lost 100 pounds and increased metabolism, following the 1200 calorie diet and balancing fiber, protein and carbs. That's where the keto term "net carbs" comes from. I'll talk more about that later. 

You might be thinkin, yeah that's great for weight loss, but you must be hungry all the time. Not really. I found I could lose weight and stay full on this low carb "keto" type diet because I'm eating a lot of protein.  Also, as I shed obesity, I filled up faster than I did when I was overweight. When I just gotta have some of 'dem white foods, I'll use a little bit. For example, today's diet food swap was a taco salad with two crushed tortilla chips sprinkled on top. It hit the sweet spot without the calorie blitz. 

Diet low carb, lowfat tacos and taco salad recipes: Mexican food swaps for weight loss

What is with this crazy obsession with tacos? Mexican food, tacos, burritos and nachos dominate the pub grub scene. They're about to overtake McWhoppers as the fast food of choice. This blog chronicles how I lost 100 pounds and one essential step to lose weight was creating recipes with diet food swaps. Use these diet recipes to swing Mexican food weight loss friendly. 

The show "My 600-lb Life" explores morbid obesity. Overweight folks seeking gastric bypass are shown eating a lot of fast food. One overweight "My 600-lb Life" participant had admitted to a $100 A DAY fast food addiction. Mexican food like tacos, nachos and burritos are frequent flyers on "My 600-lb Life" tables. 

Made right, like our favorites places in Southwest Detroit (Mexicantown), Mexican food is pretty healthy. But the Taco Bell way, uh-uh. Restaurant food is bad enough, but fast food is basically obesity (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, liver disease) in a paper wrapper. 

Dr. Now teaches his gastric bypass patients to cook at home. That's part of how I lost 100 pounds, cooking recipes with lighter food swaps, beginning with Mexican food. I blame tacos for making  me overweight, LOL!  But I was able to lose weight with these protein and veggie forward diet recipes. 

Inside Out Tacos for weight loss

Tacos fail at weight loss in one word: tortillas. And they're very high- glycemic, so avoid if you have diabetes. Switch to low carb keto flatbread with high protein, or go straight keto and eliminate the tortillas chips and shells. Instead of wrapping food in carbs, turn tacos inside out. 

Make a low carb taco salad. If you just can't lose the tortilla (raises hand here) toss in a few chip crumbs. OR, my favorite, swap a little frozen corn (cooked or just thawed) or hominy in your taco salad. I hate flour tortillas and love corn tortillas. I found hominy hits that sweet spot with about a third of the calories. It isn't low carb but it is high fiber at least. 

Swap beef for ground chicken. Season with lime juice, smoky chipotle paprika, cumin, celery salt, oregano, garlic, cinnamon and onion flakes. 24 g of protein for just 100 calories. Make a salad of shredded  lettuce, purple cabbage, carrots, cilantro, diced peppers, tomatoes and onions. Top with meat. 

Skip the cheese and sour cream or use less to lose weight. This was hard at first, but I found I didn't even miss the cheese. Keto diet wisdom says parmesan is the best cheese for weight loss so try that. Top with salsa verde and a little peach pineapple chipotle salsa. Muy bien, taco salad! 

Eating like this, m'dears was how I lost 100 pounds, diabetes and hypertension!

Whole grain flaxseed wrap-wiches: low-carb, high protein and fiber weight loss recipes

My  readers know by now that I've lost 100 pounds using food swaps and self-styled strategies. I share these tips and recipes on this blog. So today, we're talking about wraps. Wraps (as in sandwiches on flatbread) have a cult following weight loss because dieters mistakenly assume they are lower in calories and carbs. But a wrap sandwich is often more highly caloric because flatbreads are not created equal. Even the "veggie" ones which appear to be full of green vegetable goodness are in fact sugary carb-laden and dyed green *headdesk*.

So here are low-calorie wraps using lavash and flatbread that are low-carb, high protein and high fiber and a good source of ALA omega 3 (MUFAs). These have no saturated or transfats and only 1 gram of sugar. My three go-to brands are Joseph's, Flatout and Fit & Active--a comparable, much less expensive Aldi version of Flatout. Aldi is $2.29 for six breads compared to $3.99 for Flatout. 

<---As you can see, my package is all gone, so yeah...

They have an amazing 1 gram of protein per 10 calories (90-100 calories per wrap) plus multi-grain, multi-seed flax fiber. Enjoy as a breakfast sammy (hate that word but hey, it's very popular and when in Rome... :)

Low carb breakfast wrap-wich

1 Flatout, Fit & Active flax flatbread or half a Joseph's lavash 

1 tsp. feta cheese (spread from solid variety like cream cheese

sliced tomato

spring mix or baby spinach

whole grain or horseradish mustard

4 oz. curried pan-seared boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced (sprinkle with curry powder, turmeric, ginger and green Thai curry powder and saute in oil-free ceramic pan)

Roll or fold and enjoy! 

200 calories total

Top 10 bestest ever food swaps for weight loss!

So I've lost over 100 pounds in the past few years. <-- This is now and --> was then. And one of my best success tools is food swaps. I analyzed what I was eating and found better alternatives with lower fat, better fats (MUFAs), no or low and healthier sugars, more productive carbs, etc. Here's the best ever food swaps for weight loss.

Drink water instead of everything else. Drop the pop (okay, soda, southerners, lol), fruit juice, sweet tea, booze and coffee (appetite stimulants), milk, soy milk, etc. The one thing that might be just as good as water is green tea.

Trade red meat for chicken breast, fish, nuts and seeds (seeds being the best as they have protein plus fiber).

Lose the white foods--rice, pasta, potatoes, bread--and eat whole grain starches with fiber. Light oat bread with 35 calories a slice or oatmeal with flax and chia are ideal!

Take a whole food vitamin like Alive to get fruits and veggie quota, A, B, C and D, etc.

Take spirulina or blue green algae. I don't know what makes this superfood so super but I do know that it regulates everything from mood to bowels (ick, I know, but regularity of poops is critical to weight loss).

Drop all dairy except Greek yogurt.

Use pea or plant protein powder instead of whey or soy.

Nix corn and soy and add flaxseed.

Cut refined sugar to nil. Try blue agave, Sugar 2.0 and unsweetened fruit.

Drop processed food for fresh, restaurant for homemade and trade carbs in for protein and fiber.

Did I say 10 tips? Well, I lied. Here's an 11th free:

Skip skipping breakfast and make a power shake every day. Recipe to follow later.

Love you all! Be well!

Magic weight loss bean: white kidney bean extract helps you have cake and eat it too!

Dear fellow weight loss seeker, are you sick of denying yourself and still feeling hungry? Are you tired of counting calories and still not shedding pounds? Try bean counting-- as in white kidney beans (or the extract of them). These magical carb interceptors help you metabolize carbohydrates better so you burn fat. White kidney bean extract also help curb hunger which as we all know is the biggest detriment to successful weight loss. As with all supplements use as directed. Don't expect them to block a dessert blitz at Golden Corral. Ain't no supplement that strong, unfortunately. White kidney bean extract won't make you lose weight in and of themselves, but they will help you make healthier food choices to do so.