I have had a very similar experience to Atlee - low carb has made me a foodie. In fact, it has made me think a lot about food and cooking, but in a positive light of nutrition and good health.

Before low-carbing I didn't have cooking 'confidence' and had few cookbooks. I then went through a bit of a hard core stage, buying lots of cooking magazines and cookbooks.

One very worthwhile achievment, I have learnt to cook Thai. I love making coconut milk curries, fish patties, stuffed zuccinies, shrimp pastes, etc.

I've also learnt how to just 'throw something together' - basically reading a lot of cookbooks helps you understand what tastes go together etc. I think those that complain that low-carb is hard becuase it is repetitive and time-consuming are like I used to be: they see the limitations and think steak (plain) with 2 vegies (steamed)!!

For me, thinking in the morning what I am going to have for dinner helps me incorporate healthy eating into my day. It isn't obsessive, well, it isn't any more obsessive then the way I also think in the morning 'what is my study plan for the day'!! I think being aware of cooking and food, makes it seem as a legitmate thing to think about and be concerned about as writing my thesis. LOL!

I have been enjoying LC cooking, when I was never much into cooking before. Since starting this WOL I have even indulged in new pots, a stand mixer and even a food processor (which for the first few weeks I kept calling a word processor) and Karen’s cooking classes.

Dessert was always my downfall and now occasionally I can make lovely LC desserts without straying from a WOE, which I find really healthy. I know it is the great recipes that have really helped me change to this WOE and stay there. Wow last week I tried a deep-dish pizza quiche recipe I found on this site and it was WONDERFUL.

Thanks to all that have gone before in making this so enjoyable for me.

Cheers
Malvene

I can sympathize with a lot of people's comments on this board. I'm one of those "huge meals with six courses mean LOVE" people. It is a process of retraining, I guess...instead of "six courses mean LOVE" it is, "No sugar means LOVE". The Atkins book really made me think--he talks about how people say they get things "for the kids", but if sugary, floury trashy food is bad for MY body, why in the world would I want my precious child to have it? (He'd be totally embarrassed to hear me talk about him that way, he's almost 11 and seriously into the eye-rolling "MOM!" stage...) But seriously...if I feel better without the junk food...and husband feels better...and we both concentrate better...and we have more energy...then why should I feed my kid trash and send him off to school to crash on sugar lows just in time for math? Hmmm...

Sorry I went off on a tangent here. Just the "food = love" thing really resonates with me.

Best wishes,
Nancy

Echoing the previous comment, I now find it impossible to buy food like potato chips or fruit roll ups for my kids. And believe me, I used to, figuring they were young and could handle it in their systems. But now those foods seem so problematic to me I certainly won't bring them into the house--and the kids seem to have gotten used to this!

I'm glad to hear that some people have really gotten into cooking because of the low carb WOE.

I love, love, love food. That will never ever change. I love to cook, and I DO love to think about dinner the next day when I am in bed. I love cookbooks. Before I went lc, I bought almost every pasta book around.... I still make great pasta dishes, just maybe every other month or so. They just happen to be my specialty, and there is so much more variety than your regular piece of protein with your preferred vegetable/salad and some sauce every day.

I have to admit, though, I buy a lot of cookbooks, but end up cooking things without recipes, and experimenting. So far so good ;-)

I love going out to dinner at really, really nice upscale restaurants, but that hasn't been the case lately because of financial reasons. Major bummer.

Friday we're going out to an upscale place, and I am soooo looking forward to it. It'll be hard to stay away from their fresh olive bread.... and desserts. I'll just have to share one with my husband -- but then we always do that.

I still really enjoy an excellent restaurant, and I find that the more upscale the place, the more LC choices on the menu. For example, I recently dined on paper thin beef tenderloin carpaccio with argula, followed by halibut wrapped in prosciutto served with shitake mushrooms and pea sprouts. It was wonderful and didn't make me feel I'd betrayed my WOE.

Great thread Kristina! Thanks for sharing it with me. Wanted to post so others can see it and maybe add to it.

donna

I get where you're coming from. I obsessed a lot about food. This had good and bad consequences. I learned to cook a lot of nice food but I also got close to being obese. I have a huge collection of cookery books but mostly only one or two recipes in each really got me going. We made a family "recipe file" which I still use. However, since going LC I definitely obsess about food a lot less. I still cook and my husband, who has gone gluten free, still likes my cooking! I still make large quantities out of habit but we keep what's left and eat it later.
I also like to drink with my meals. I try to keep it under control but low carb hasn't really made a lot of difference there. Another battle for another time. It hasn't stopped me losing weight though.
I echo the comment about high-end restaurants. For a special treat I love to go to a nice restaurant where there are lots of low carb choices and you get the side dishes on the side so you can leave them or turn them down. Our local cheap and cheerful restaurant does quite well too though. I can eat several things off their menu and they are good about switching carbs for veggies.
Generally speaking, I prefer the way I am now. I eat to live instead of living to eat. And I am more aware of the meaning of sustenance and how the body has all these delicate mechanisms for maintaining a health weight even if the food supply is not so regular.

I've been low carb for many, many years now. Your interest in cooking will return. At least it did for me, although it sort of waxes and wanes.

I think a lot of what people experience early on is a physiological withdrawal from carbohydrates, especially wheat, that makes them a little forlorn. Maybe their brains have been overstimulated by all the opioids from wheat and so they aren't think about their next fix all the time.

That can leave a little void, like it does when you quit smoking and your hands feel empty and things just don't seem right for a while.