I've lost 23 pounds since February limiting carbs. I'm not super low carb, just shooting for around 100 g of carbs a day or so, and that seems to do the trick. I'm getting into a bit of a rut, so wanted to get some ideas from some other low carbers out there to see what your go to foods - for either meals or snacks - are so I can mix it up a bit.
Some of my staples over the last few months:
- mashed cauliflower with cream cheese and/or butter
- cottage cheese
- carrots and hummus (homemade or store-bought)
- nut butters right off the spoon
- raw almonds and sunflower seeds (I keep them in my desk drawer)
- cold lentil salad with lots of veggies
- beans with salsa and avocado
- omelette with whatever veggies are on hand
- egg salad either on its own or over greens
- greek yogurt with berries and flax seed, chia seed and cacao nibs
- apple slices and nut butter
- grilled or baked salmon
- canned tuna
A pretty good list, and tasty stuff, but I'd like to branch out. Ideas?
Hard boiled eggs
Egg scrambles
Salami
String cheese
Tortilla-less taco: ground beef or chorizo, lettuce, salsa, cheese, sour cream avocado
Pickles
Cucumber salad: Sliced cucumbers and red onion with dressing (sour cream, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper)
buffalo chicken thighs: Chicken cooked in buffalo sauce with celery and ranch/blue cheese dressing on the side
Mashed cauliflower OR mashed turnips with butter/sour cream etc.
for a quick mini pizza:
a low carb tortilla topped with a simple marinara sauce (no added sugar), mozerella cheese, and turkey peperoni (and sometimes onion, green peppers).
for an easy dessert:
ricotta cheese with splenda and either almond extract or natural peanut butter
Feta cheese
Almonds
Chia pudding
Big train low carb vanilla frappuccino
Bacon
Spinach dip with celery
Hummus with vegetables
Eta: I am also loving Liberty 5carb yogurt with a bit of vanilla and a drop of liquid Splenda
This is my second time around, and from what I remember I always kept Beef Sausage (the kind you get on a party tray) in my locker at work, or in my car during the winter, for random cravings.
I love metRX protein bars, the carb conscious ones are full of hidden sugar, but the regular ones with advertised 1-2g sugar are acceptable.
Bacon wrapped chicken with homemade Alfredo and spaghetti squash.
Tuna, lots of tuna. can be made many different ways, and the ONLY fish I can stand.
I also made sugar free chocolate peanut butter pudding pie, with coconut crust, for the times I absolutely had to have something sweet.
Experiment! If you are any good at cooking, start throwing together different combinations and see which you like!
I've been eating wheat-free low-carb since January and basically my diet is "normal" except I have almost entirely eliminated pasta/bread/rice/potatoes etc. and I calorie count to control my portions. It really makes my weekly food planning simple - whatever I want but not the carby stuff. And I've discovered some great substitutes for the things I've eliminated - mashed cauliflower, cauliflower "rice", z'oodles (zucchini noodles), etc.
I like to mix foods a lot. I'll put fruit such as sliced apples or peaches or cucumbers mixed in to my cottage cheese. I eat a lot of soup (now that it's getting cold outside) and lettuce wraps.
If I'm feeling a little hungry I'll have a slice or two of turkey.
This thread is a good idea - one thing that helps me is focusing on the low-carb foods I really enjoy.
Staples of my diet :
- avocado
- salad w homemade blue cheese dressing (I love it on crunchy iceberg but I try to eat organic and organic iceberg is hard to find)
- eggs
- bacon
- raw grass-fed butter
- cream (grass fed small producer) - but I'm trying to moderate my consumption a bit it's very high calorie
- cream cheese - same, trying to cut back consumption
- cheese - I live in France and one of the great treats here is cheese! (Again, trying to limit consumption)
- steak
I'd like to revisit this thread with a list of the main dishes I make all the time - will try to remember to do that.
Bacon
Chia Seed pudding made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and 2 tbsp frozen blueberries
Salami
Hard cheeses (Gruyere, Dubliner, Emmentaler)
Eggs, especially fritattas
Bel gioioso fresh mozzarella
avocado
raw almonds
green and black 85% dark chocolate
macadamia nuts
Last edited by rocksplash; 11-21-2013 at 07:43 PM.