hey! i'm going to try this low carb thing because i find that i eat a lot of carbs. i have carbs at almost every meal. An example:

Breakfast: granola bar or cereal
Snack: granola bar
Lunch: sandwich
Dinner: varies

does anyone have low carb meal ideas?? sometimes i get salads for lunch but those get boring after a while. thank you :)

Meat, eggs, cheese and heavy cream.
For dessert, Diet Jello with whippped heavy cream.
Vegetables with butter and cheese sauce.

No pasta, potatoes, rice, or bread.

that sounds good. i can have eggs for breakfast and meat for dinner but what about lunch optioins? chicken salads?

Yes chicken salads are awesome, just make sure the dressing is low carb (1-2 carbs per tbsp or lower). For lunch on the run I fill a tupperware with (some kinds of) deli meat, pickles, cheese, feta stuffed jalapenos, olives and a few crackers for the cheese. Tuna salad in a romaine/lettuce leaf is also portable if you pack 4-5 in there so it doesn't bounce around.

I have to share my fav low carb salad...

3 cups +/- baby spinach washed and dried
2 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 an avocado in cubes
3-5 strips of broken up cooked bacon.
Oil and vinegar dressing.

This has about 5-6 net carbs.

For variety I add in some or all of these...

Smoked salmon to taste
Prawns
Cubed cheese
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar for some zing
1-2 tbsp of roasted nuts like pecans or walnuts.
Leftover chicken, beef or pork sliced up
1/4 cup berries (I've tried strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries they are all awesome with spinach.)

Low carb can be quite normal with some imagination!

I've been doing low carb for about a year and here are some things that I usually eat:

Turkey burgers
Chicken strips (Mexican seasoning) with onions, green and red
peppers with sour cream
Scrambled eggs
Omelets with cheese
Broccoli
Green beans
Spinach
Quiche: (scrambled eggs, cream, cheese, ham or bacon, bake in
casserole dish)
Turkey meatballs: (ground turkey, egg, parm cheese, Italian
seasoning)
Boar's head chicken or turkey rolled up with a roasted red pepper
and mayo....Boar's head has NO fillers.
Natural peanut butter
Mock French toast (3 scrambled eggs with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
cook
like an omelet, cut into quarters, use butter, and drizzle with sugar-
free maple syrup)
Tuna fish
LOTS of salads with chicken and either blue cheese or oil and
vinegar
Salmon
Cauliflower
Roasted chicken
Celery
Deviled eggs
Homemade chicken soup (for veggies, I use celery, onion, spinach,
cut green beans)
Egg salad
Mock mashed potatoes (cooked cauliflower, cream and
butter, whipped)
Squash
Chicken burgers
Occasional sauerkraut (salt!:eek:, I try to drain and rinse it well)
Almonds
Ocassional whey protein shake when I'm in a hurry or it's too
hot to cook
Chicken wings
Chicken Salad

About a month ago, I stopped eating low carb bars, SF jello, and regular peanut butter (some sugar), and I have found that now I have absolutely no craving for anything sweet, and I am also trying to keep processed foods to a minimum. I'm not suggesting that you do that, I believe those things probably really helped me to transition over to a low-carb lifestyle.

It has been a gradual process with some setbacks, a lot of perserverance (some people and situations will test your determination), a lot of reading to fully understand what your body's going through, a lot of de-brainwashing (I was brought up on low fat/low calories), and a lot of trial and error. I am finally in a comfortable, happy place now...I LOVE this way of eating, and I don't miss a thing about the way I used to eat ( YUCK!!!) I also NEVER thought I'd ever see 118 lbs again, and here I am! Life is good!

118..wow that is my fantasy goal weight.
all of the foods you guys mentioned sound really good but I feel like they are only snack...like the cauliflower, nuts, celery, beans and brocoli. I will definitely have chicken salads - those are always amazing. But is there anything else that would fill me up? Some nights i will have chicken and vegie's but what after that gets old? You mentioned that you liked to have tuna fish and egg salad. Do you eat that plain or on a lettue leaf?

Thanks Kittylove , I got a couple great ideas from that, the mock mashed potatoes and mock french toast sound fantastic! Turkey meatballs sound a lot better than beef ones and you can have a bit of tomato sauce with it, a 1/4 cup has 4 carbs I think, thats not too bad. I wish I knew how to make a good meatloaf but I've no idea.

Samizzle I always have tuna on a lettuce leaf cuz if you're limited to 20 carbs/day it's good to know Iceburg lettuce has .1 net carbs per leaf and romain has .2 for 1/2 cup therefore it takes 3 cups to equal 1.2 carb which is a great deal esp to cut the richness of the tuna or egg salad and add a crunchy texture. I cut up some diced dill pickles(pat dry), celery and green onions to add to my tuna. I prefer devilled eggs over egg salad, with a little curry mixed into the yolk and a shrimp on top, it's kinda different that way. Mayo is better...0 carbs/tbsp vs Miracle Whip 4 carbs/tbsp... adding a little grey poupon to mayo gives it a bit of zing.

If you're looking for something different what about a stirfry? I stir fry some of the following in some oil: cauliflower, broccoli, gr or red peppers, zuchini, green onions and/or green beans (or buy some pre-made stir fry mix bulk and pick out the carrots) then I put some sliced up beef into the other half of the frying pan after the vegies are started and cook 2-3 minutes each side leaving it med-rare in the middle. Add desired spices and 2 tbsp soya sauce (or more if it's low enough in carbs) which will mingle with the juice coming off the meat and mix it together then serve on a bed of (steamed for 2 minutes) bean sprouts with a few tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro or just throw them both in the pan at the end and mix/warm for 2-3 minutes and serve! Yummy. If you live in city with a low carb store they have low carb sauces like sweet and sour.

Another idea I just remembered is something a friend invented for me when she was having some friends over for dinner. Actually she just made all the ingredients for fajitas but put some red lettuce leaves out for me to use as the wrap. It was really good, the meat, cheeze, sour cream, some salsa, some guacamole, pan friend peppers and onions. Yummy.

good idea's! thanks guys :)
i was just wondering...is it really worth going low carb if you eating foods that aren't neccessarily good for you? i mean cutting out carbs could mean eating more meat but doesnt meat have alot more calories? and like in the fajita, none of that stuff is really that good for you. Just a question that i was wondering about...

Samizzle,

I will try to explain what low carb means , IMO, but I highly recommend that you read Dr. Atkin's book to fully grasp the concept without relying on "this and that person's" idea of what it means. Many people who say low carb is a crazy, fad diet and dangerous haven't even read the book.

The most important factor of any diet is to maintain your blodd sugar level. When you eat carbs, especially refined carbs like sugar and white flour, your blood sugar level will rise rapidly, and then drop suddenly, leaving you hungry and craving more carbs. This is an addictive cycle that can be broken by limiting carbs.

A lot of people think a low carb diet means that you eat nothing but meat, cheese, and fat. When starting Atkins, yes it is very restrictive to protein, fat, and some low-starch veggies, but that is only to get you to break your carb addiction, help you to experience how it feels to not be hungry all the time, and to make you more aware of carb grams in food. Overtime, you will see that because you are hardly ever hungry, you will eat a lot less.

At this point, I don't count carbs or calories, I have just learned from experience what foods to eat, but again I didn't get to this point without a lot of counting, no obsessing, about carbs. Now I just stick with low-carb foods, eat only when I feel hungry (which isn't a lot), and I eat until satisfied, which is easy when you're eating protein, fats, and veggies. Since starting low carb, my weight has never gone up, it has just slowly gone done.

In short: Controlling your blood sugar level = controlling your hunger = eating less = weight loss.

The foods that nature intended for us to eat ( protein, fat, veggies, fruit, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, which IS a low carb diet ) are what's best for us. This "diet" has been working for us for thousands of years. Ever since refined carbs and "low fat foods" came around, we've had nothing BUT problems. A low carb diet IS the way nature intended for us to eat. The only "crazy, fad diet" out there is the one we have all been brought up on... the low-fat/low-calorie diet. Why are processed low-fat/low calorie "foods" being promoted as being healthy weight loss foods?? MONEY. Processed food is the largest industry in this country and also very powerful.

Help this helps!!!:wave:


.

good idea's! thanks guys :)
i was just wondering...is it really worth going low carb if you eating foods that aren't neccessarily good for you? I mean cutting out carbs could mean eating more meat but doesnt meat have alot more calories? and like in the fajita, none of that stuff is really that good for you. Just a question that i was wondering about...

Meat has calories like everything else and you can still count calories as well as carbs if it concerns you, exp for portion size. For your info 5.2oz of sirloin steak has 248 calories and 1 serving (probably1/2cup) of rice has 238 calories. Pretty similar but rice won't keep you from hunger for 6-8 hours like protein does. For me that's pretty important cuz if I'm out and I get hungry I'm tempted to buy something quick, and quick=junk food to me.

What kind of foods do you eat regularly that you consider good for you? If you let us know we can give you a better idea of recipe ideas etc using stuff you already like. The fajita recipe is really low carb like 1-2 carbs per roll up depending on how much salsa you put in so you could still have a salad with it, or you can add diff vegies or whatever. Salsa is actually really good for you and is considered a serving of vegetables.

Better recipe ideas would be great! What i eat alot of now are granola bars, cereals, and sandwiches. I eat some fruit and yogurt.
Earlier this year, around September, i restricted my calories to like 1200 a day and i ate really healthy and all of a sudden i got sick of it because i wasn't seeing any results and i gave up and realized that i love food and want to be able to enjoy it and not feel hungry all the time. However at that time, i craved the feeling of hunger and not letting myself eat. Anyway, I want to get back on a low calorie and low carb diet that i can stick to. Any recipies or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!:)

good idea's! thanks guys :)
i was just wondering...is it really worth going low carb if you eating foods that aren't neccessarily good for you? i mean cutting out carbs could mean eating more meat but doesnt meat have alot more calories? and like in the fajita, none of that stuff is really that good for you. Just a question that i was wondering about...


You are EXACTLY right to wonder about that. That's the crux of the issue.
I know of no other country that has people relying on such unhealthy eating in order to lose weight and I know of no other country with as much heart disease and such problems with obesity. I often wonder why people would choose to eat in large quantity the very foods that are known not be healthy. Why do people want to ignore the simple truth? And it really is simple. Move more, eat less. That's all it takes. We really do not need to make sandwiches and fajitas with lettuce leaves. Really. Bread is not evil, even cookies are not evil. What is evil is the amount of foods we consume. If we just eat normal portions there is no need to cut anything out of our diet.

What i eat alot of now are granola bars, cereals, and sandwiches. I eat some fruit and yogurt.

I'm afraid those things are all high carb, with no protein to satisfy your hunger, little vitamins(except the granola bars which are probably(?) fortified and the fruit), and little fiber so are not technically good for you. Except that they provide enough fuel for the body to subsist but not thrive. Yogurt I'm on the fence about cuz all flavoured yogurts are FULL of sugar. Why? To make you hungry so you eat more, of course!

Earlier this year, around September, i restricted my calories to like 1200 a day and i ate really healthy and all of a sudden i got sick of it because i wasn't seeing any results and i gave up and realized that i love food and want to be able to enjoy it and not feel hungry all the time.

I love food too and I can't just "eat less" and not always feel hungry or dissatisfied. Some people can, I hear, but I never hear them actually losing much weight. Also they tend to gain it back very quickly with extra once they get sick of depriving themselves for no results. High protein/low carb is the only way to eat where you don't get hunger pains and see results. The first 3 weeks that I did Atkins I lost 17 pounds. But the first 4-5 of those were water weight that I lost in the first 2 days, so 12 lbs total loss in 3 weeks. (BTW I had 35 to lose in total.) I will NEVER restrict intake for a lousy 1 pound a week, I just don't have the time or the patience. I guess I will have to once I near my goal weight but not before. Personally I'd rather lose 30lbs in 3 months than 30lbs in 6 months, it keeps me interested. Plenty of others will disagree cuz it isn't "healthy" or some crock.

Anyway, I want to get back on a low calorie and low carb diet that i can stick to. Any recipies or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!:)

How about what foods you like if you had time to prepare them? List them off and I and Kittylove will do our best to think of something, although we have both made some good suggestions already. You should get a copy of any low carb book, it would really help you understand the why of it. The most popular low carb book is Dr Atkins diet revolution but I have also read Suzanne Summers diet book and The Zone. They all have recipes too!

The Zone sounds like the best one cuz it's "the zone" that athletes get into when performing at their best and it is true and makes sense. However that one had a bit of math that I didn't take the time to figure out about how many protein etc blocks per day you can have for your height/weight/etc. A protein block is 1 oz of meat/seafood and I could have 11 ounces of meat a day for my weight/height etc, which isn't bad! You also get so many carb blocks (complex so no white flour) and I think lots or unlimited green vegies. I just couldn't fathom how to break it up into meals (they recommend 5 a day). However it could be great for you cuz you could prepare it all the nite ahead and grab it on the run, like you do now with your sandwiches!! Once you figure out the math it is easy I'll bet and who wouldn't want their body to perform at its best? Try to borrow them from the library in case it's not for you.