I just got back from a work trip to a conference in New Orleans, the home of beignets, etouffee, jambalaya, muffulettas, and gumbo.
New Orleans Etouffee
Etouffee, jambalaya, and gumbo all contain rice which I’m not supposed to eat right now. Muffulettas are sandwiches and I’m not supposed to eat bread. Beignets are amazing pillow puffs of deep-fried dough covered in powdered sugar, need I say more.
The first day we arrived my travel companion and I ordered crawfish chowder and shrimp etouffee from a cute little diner not far from our hotel. As you can see from the picture the rice was in clumps in the middle of the etouffee, so I was able to avoid most of it.
The conference planning committee thought it would be cute to serve authentic New Orleans cuisine. While that was great for everyone else there weren’t many options for me except fruit and veggies. I ended up having small portions of the other options. Even having only small portions, they add up and I felt bloated from all the rice.
Luckily New Orleans is a city built for walking so we walked a lot even with a conference going on! The first day we walked almost 17,000 steps, the next just over 13,000, and the last day there we walked nearly 12,000 steps. I was able to walk off a lot of the carbs I ate. Moving was not my challenge last week avoiding the beignets were by far the biggest challenge. Powdered sugar lines the streets in the French Quarter, the smell of fried dough wafts through the air, and there’s a Cafe Beignet, every few blocks in any direction.
It is funny how when you avoid carbs for so long you can start to really detect how they make you feel when you eat them again. I am glad to be back home where I can control what I’m eating a bit better.
When I talk to my friends at Eleve, they are super supportive about choices. Sometimes we’re faced with choices that aren’t the best, and we just do what we can at the time and don’t let that derail the progress we’ve made. Kirsten, Eleve Clinical Nutritionist, reminds me that I just need to be very intentional when it comes to eating. With a focus on protein and fiber. Some of the other stuff can slide into my diet from time to time as long as I am filling my plate with protein and fiber first. Those are the things that are going fill me up, so I eat less of the carbs even when they’re in front of me.
I’m so thankful that I have the support I need to stay on track and not feel guilty. If you’ve been struggling with getting healthy maybe you just need some extra support, encouragement, and guidance from some qualified ladies at Eleve. Call them today, 715-847-0000.
Comments