So I’m pushing low carb again. I’m desperate–I was over 250 again (254, to be exact) and I was feeling crappy, tired, just not energetic.

So I go on the diet again and a week later I’m 7 pounds lighter and feeling much, much better.

But.

Low carb eating requires variety if you want to make it a lifetime diet. That means you have to build thst variety into your foodstuffs and seasonings, which requires a bit of menu planning. I mean, I made a killer beef stew the other night with some leftover red peppers, onions, and mushrooms along with my chuck roast, but that doesn’t happen that often (chop it all up and put in a pot on low for an hour and a half with some red wine, beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and steak seasoning , by the way–it turns tender and you can thicken up the juice by putting it through the blender with some sprinkled Xanthan gum).

So the two ingredients I can’t find are “Chinese Five Spice Powder” and Asian “fish sauce.” The five spice powder is supposedly available everywhere, but I haven’t seen it anywhere in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I can widen my cuisine choices with this stuff, but I guess I have to hunt down a food store that has it (since I’m not into making it myself).

Then I have to find a steady supply of low carb tortillas, since no one around here has them. The quest continues…