A Super-Healthy Low-Carb Pasta Alternative!
by Mike Geary - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
I'm going to show you one of my favorite dinner recipes today! ...and I also have a delicious breakfast idea that you can do with the leftovers too!
As I'm sure you know, if you are trying to lose weight (more specifically, lose body fat), pastas, spaghetti, and other noodles are one of the WORST things you can include in your meals... they are extremely calorie-dense compared to the small amount of micronutrients you get from them...
Plus the large amount of starchy carbs you ingest (insulin spiking starchy carbs too) triggers cravings for more carbohydrates later... Personally, I can tell you that when my meals are mostly meat and vegetables, I'm satisfied fairly quickly and don't need to go back for seconds... but if I try to eat a plate of pasta, I just can't seem to stop coming back for seconds and thirds and even fourths!
Whatever it is... there's no doubt there's something addicting about starchy pasta that makes you overeat almost every time. Even if you don't feel "stuffed ", you most likely ate too many calories with not enough micronutrients.
That's why I almost totally avoid pasta except on "cheat days ". FYI - a cheat day is one day per week where you break your strict diet and eat almost anything you want, which can trigger a leptin response, keeping your metabolism high...done too often, it'll make you fat...but done just right, it actually makes you leaner. One of my friends and colleagues actually has an entire program based around the science of making your "cheat days "to help you burn body fat faster .
So here's a great alternative below...
If you've never triedspaghetti squash , it's delicious and it's also a great low-carb alternative to pasta, since it's much higher in nutrient density and MUCH lower in total carbohydrates and calories...
So you get MORE nutrition with less of those calories and starchy carbs that are just contributing to your excess stomach fat.
My favorite way to eat spaghetti squash is to bake it soft and when it's done, scoop the spaghetti-like textured squash out and then top it with tomato sauce with veggies mixed in, and grass-fed bison sausage.
It's a great healthy dinner that's MUCH lower in carbohydrates than eating a big belly-stuffing plate of pasta that is simply going to make you fatter.
If you've never baked a spaghetti squash before, it's simple... you just cut in half, take out the seeds, and lie the cut sides down in a big baking dish, and then put about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. cover and bake around 400 or so for about 70-90 minutes depending how big the squash is.
Then you just use a fork to scoop out the squash and it comes out in spaghetti-like strands. Top it with tomato sauce, sauteed veggies, and your grass-fed sausage or grass-fed ground meat. It's delicious and super healthy!
If you haven't seen this site before, I've found a great site that you can get grass-fed bison or grass-fed beef sausage (and lots of other healthy meats)
My 2nd favorite use for spaghetti squash:
Now you've had your spaghetti squash, sauce, and bison sausage dinner and you still have tons of leftover spaghetti squash.
Perfect! Now you have a great healthy breakfast by throwing a layer of spaghetti squash into a pan with some virgin coconut oil and cooking scrambled eggs into the squash. I tried this a couple weeks ago and was blown away how good it was!
This was my favorite breakfast for at least 3 days in a row while I finished the leftover spaghetti squash.
I just added a bunch of seasonings to the eggs and spaghetti squash mixture and it came out really good. Use your creativity with this one on the seasonings.
I hope this article gave you some good ideas to try a few new healthy meals.
Stay lean,
Mike Geary
Co-Author -- The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-hour Diet Transformation to make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine
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