Meals high in protein, low in simple carbs

lizzypuuh

Recently I was told that I am prediabetic and that I need to reduce my simple sugar intake as well as bad carbs. On average I have a super sweet tooth, more do lately, so I'm dure that if I eat right, and cut out all of the junk food, my numbers will return to normal.

In the mean time, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out healthy alternatives for snacks and meals that do not include a lot of sugars, processed foods, or carbs.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

csingleton24

I like spicy hummus w/cucumbers or carrots, hard boiled eggs, any fruit with some nuts, or even a small protein shake. Hope this helps getting you started! ☺

Hornsby

Well, simple sugars are in fruit and anything where sugar is added. Avoid those if you don't want simple sugars.

csingleton24

Oh, yeah....forgot about the simple sugars in fruit! I love my fruit so it's my go to.

jemhh

Were you referred to a dietician or given any guidelines for the number of carbs you can eat per meal? I keep my carbs in the moderate range (daily average of 150 over the week.) This is an example day for me:

Breakfast - 1/4 cup steel cut oats (forget the gram measurement but that was the dry amount), 14 g shredded cheese, 2 poached eggs, 1 cup Fairlife 2% milk, clementine oranges [46 c, 21 f, 36 p]

Lunch - 4 oz roasted turkey, mustard, 2 slices whole wheat bread, 31 g dip, 85 g broccoli [32 c, 8 f, 28 p]

Dinner - 125 g brussels sprouts, 14 g coconut oil, 7 g butter, 156 g beef flank steak, 1 dinner roll [36 c, 35 f, 55 p]

Snack - 1 slice whole wheat bread, 32 g peanut butter, 1 cup milk [23 c, 22 f, 26 p]

1894 calories
137 carbs
86 fat
145 protein

lemurcat12

lizzypuuh wrote: »

Recently I was told that I am prediabetic and that I need to reduce my simple sugar intake as well as bad carbs. On average I have a super sweet tooth, more do lately, so I'm dure that if I eat right, and cut out all of the junk food, my numbers will return to normal.

In the mean time, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out healthy alternatives for snacks and meals that do not include a lot of sugars, processed foods, or carbs.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Most meals I can think of don't have lots of sugar or processed foods (in the sense I think you mean). For example, chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli, or pork chops with green beans and roasted sweet potato, or a stir fry made with brown rice, lots of vegetables, and shrimp, or salmon with quinoa and brussels sprouts, etc.

Now, all of those have a starchy carb element (although technically it's a complex carb -- people misuse that). If you are concerned about complex carbs/starches, then reduce the portion while increasing your portions of meat (or other source of protein) and fat (I am assuming that one uses a little fat in the cooking), or even replace it with something lower in carbs like other root veg (turnips and carrots), winter squash, spaghetti squash (a winter squash but deserves an extra mention), nuts, so on.

For snacks, focus on including protein and fat -- greek yogurt (full fat) is good or nuts or some cheese, maybe. I like berries or other fruits with them, but depends on your medical issues. Raw veg are probably fine as they are too low cal to have lots of carbs. If you want really low carb something like a jerky or hard boiled eggs or smoked salmon.

It depends on your current diet, though -- could be you don't have to go low carb but just find a balance, stop excessive snack and (if overweight) lose a bit.

One thing that really helps many, I think, is simply understanding what foods have carbs, fat, protein and the amounts, which you learn easily from logging. Fiber is also probably helpful.

lynepstein7

I have been losing weight doing low carbs (30% or 90 g daily) and high protein, and now am maintaining with the same. I found after a while I lost the cravings for most snacks that were high in sugars and carbs - did a lot of seaweed snacks for the salt hit without many calories, also roasted veggies like cauliflower slices with a bit of parmesan, a product that I found canned called Pure Protein with 35g protein and 4g carb, 1.5 g fat, and a lot of hard boiled eggs, avocado omlets, chicken breasts and fish/seafood added to everything, especially salads, and no breads or pasta, just grains and beans in small amounts. I use fresh salsa and olive tapanade for flavorings. It took a while - but I must say the protein kept me full and helped me, plus the daily macro totals helped me make choices that fit my chosen carb levels.