Easy Low Carb Living: Simple & Practical Low Carb Lifestyle Advice - Softcover

Dr. Haakonson is a retired physician who trained for the Boston Marathon (finishing in 3:35:47) while following a modified low carbohydrate diet and eating meals exclusively from Patricia's cookbook, Everyday Low Carb Cooking (now published under the title, Easy Low Carb Cooking). He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of alcohol and drug abuse and occupational medicine. Dr. Haakonson has spent considerable time researching low carb diets, the low carb mechanism, and how using a low carb approach to meal planning can improve overall health. He has used his considerable experience to "translate" complicated medical ideas and research into simple, everyday language.

Patricia Haakonson is the author of the popular cookbook, Everyday Low Carb Cooking (now published under the title, Easy Low Carb Cooking). This author successfully lost over 35 pounds following a modified low carb diet, and has maintained her ideal weight for over two years. The author wrote this book partially in response to the many requests from readers of the cookbook, for help in menu planning, learning more about the low carb mechanism, and finding low carb resources. Ms. Haakonson has included some new and exciting low carb recipes in this volume.

Introduction

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

Mark Twain

We decided to write this book for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most compelling was the opportunity to share our accumulated knowledge and experience with others who may be interested in low carbohydrate lifestyles. When Patricia first embarked on her modified low carb diet to lose weight, we knew almost nothing about this approach to foods and meal planning. We certainly didn't know about the health implications of eating a high carbohydrate diet. We didn't know where to go for information or for help. We struggled to adapt and adjust our eating habits and to search out low carb products and resources.

We learned through extensive research, reading and trial and error. We made lots of mistakes - some funny, some costly - but learn we did! Harv immersed himself in the medical research to re-educate himself about metabolism, the insulin mechanism and emerging nutrition information. Patricia proceeded to search for low carb ingredients, new low carb products and continue the development of low carb recipes. We both read many of the popular low carb diet books. Some of the diets are consistent with our approach to weight loss, others are not. It was a journey of discovery and intrigue. It was time consuming, often frustrating, and always interesting.

In our reading and research we discovered many of the popular diet books were written in complex scientific terms. Some of the explanations were complicated and difficult to understand. We have made every effort to keep our language simple, and our explanations direct and uncomplicated. You will be the judge of whether we have been successful.

We share with you all we have learned during this period. We also share the strategies we developed that have worked best for us. These strategies have facilitated our dedication to a low carb lifestyle. It has made low carb living easy for us. We have included a carbohydrate counter and a food diary so you have all the tools you need to start a low carb lifestyle.

You might ask why we would write another low carb diet book. There are already so many available. Our perspective is that this is not just another diet book. We have not developed an actual 'diet' plan. What we attempt to do is provide a method of weight loss or weight maintenance, using a low carbohydrate approach. We outline other potential health benefits and incorporate the recent radically different recommendations concerning nutrition from Harvard University. We also review some of the popular low carb diet books that are available in bookstores today. We provide the basic tools you need to make things easy for you, should you decide to follow a low carbohydrate lifestyle. We explain how to use these tools in a manner that best suits your needs. We hope we have achieved this using simple language and easy to understand explanations.

North Americans have concentrated on lower fat intake in our diets over the past few decades as the main method of weight control. We now know that this approach has failed miserably. The incidence of adult obesity has reached almost epidemic proportions. Adult onset diabetes, known as Type II diabetes, has dramatically increased over the past ten years. Adolescent obesity is also on the rise with the attendant negative health implications for our young adults. We believe strongly that lowering our carbohydrate consumption is an effective, safe and healthy approach to weight loss and weight maintenance for people of all ages.

We wrote this book partially in response to the many readers of Patricia's cookbook, Everyday Low Carb Cooking (now published under the title Easy Low Carb Cooking). We have received many e-mail messages with requests for menu planning ideas and questions about 'how to'. We have answered all of these individual requests, and have attempted to represent the overall scope and areas of interest in the chapters of this book. We have received stories from readers about the success of their low carb plans and their delight with the cookbook. Some of these stories are interspersed in the body of this book.

We wanted to round out the information contained in the cookbook with additional new low carb recipes and ideas to make low carb meal preparation easier and quicker. Patricia has developed some amazing new recipes. Some are simple and familiar (Cabbage Rolls) and some are for rare indulgences (Chocolate Mint Cake). All of these new recipes and other ideas are included.

Finally, we were interested in collaborating on a joint project like a book, to which we could contribute equally. Harv brings the credibility of his medical degree and years of practice, as well as his personal experience with low carb lifestyles. Patricia brings her experience in learning to deal with a low carb lifestyle, relearning how to approach food preparation, and her considerable creativity in developing low carb recipes. We hope you enjoy our efforts.