Your body's preferred source of energy is carbohydrates. If you don't give it enough carbs to keep it going, it will ultimately resort to burning fat for energy instead. The Atkins Diet two-week induction phase limits carbohydrates to 15 g a day, but you can fashion a low-carb diet of your own and set your own limits. Recommended carbohydrate intake for women should be about 25 g a day. If you cut back to 20 g, you will begin to lose weight. The most difficult part of low-carb dieting for women is the week before their menstrual cycle when they sometimes crave sweets, which are not allowed.
Breakfast
Eggs should be the staple of your breakfast meals. One large egg has only .6 g of carbohydrates. A pat of butter has none. You can have two eggs lightly fried in butter for only 1.2 g. An ounce of low-fat milk has about 1.4 g, so on alternate days you can scramble eggs for a total of 2.6 g of carbohydrates. Cheese has negligible carbs, usually less than 1 g per ounce. Enjoy an omelet with some cheese, diced lean ham, or mushrooms for a total carb count of no more than 3.5 to 4 g per meal.
Lunch
Lunch is a good time to get your salad veggies. Good low-carb choices for greens include celery, chicory, cucumbers, endive, escarole, iceberg or romaine lettuce and radishes. Mix and match daily to give yourself some variety. As long as you keep your portions of each to less than ½ c, you won't consume more than 5 g of carbohydrates. Other options offering more protein include chicken salad, tuna salad or ham salad,. Mayonnaise has only about .4 g of carbohydrates per 1 tsp. serving if it contains no added sugar. Read the label. You can easily keep your lunch meals between 6 and 7 g daily.
Dinner
At dinner, any pasta or starchy vegetables will but you over 20 g of carbohydrates for the day. That doesn't mean you can't have a healthy meal. Fish, poultry, seafood or lean meats have virtually no carbohydrates per serving. Some vegetables are somewhat higher than others. Asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and zucchini are low. Avoid peas and corn, and any sauces, which often have a flour base. If you concentrate on protein during your evening meals and balance it out with more vegetables, you can have hearty portions, feel full, and consume no more than 5 g of carbohydrates.
Snacks
If your goal is to restrict your diet to 20 g of carbohydrates daily, you've now consumed approximately 16 g at the outside. This leaves you 4 g left over for the inevitable snack attack. Your best bet is to go with healthy choices, such as olives--4 g for five large--string cheese or crunchy raw vegetables. Unfortunately, most fruits will put you over your limit because they are high in sugar content, but they also have fiber content which detracts from their total carbohydrate total. Apricots, blueberries, cantaloupe and honeydew melon are good choices.
Beverages
A 3.5-oz. glass of white wine contains only .8 g of carbohydrates, so depending on what you've eaten during the rest of the day, you can feel free to treat yourself. Water, diet soft drinks, coffee and tea can all keep you within your limits throughout the day.
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