What foods to choose for low carb

DonnaMartucci76

Can anyone help me with low carb diet?
This is what I had for breakfast: 1 cup fresh sliced strawberries, 1 cup banana sliced, 3/4 cup Dannon plain Greek Yogurt, and 1 hard roll
Lunch will be:
4 ounces balsamic marinated chicken, and Quinoa with black beans

I do not know what dinner is yet.

rileysowner

How low do you want your carbs to be? Eating meat will give you calories and beyond what is added in sauces, by the way seek to avoid ones with added sugar is you are wanting to keep carbs down, meat doesn't add any carbs. Also, don't forget eggs. They are wonderfully healthy source of energy and nutrients.

rileysowner

Also, the Low Carber Group is a good place to find help. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum

AnnPT77

Those generally sound tasty and nutritious. Most of the higher-carb items you mention - banana, black beans - are also have some fiber, which tends to slow down metabolization of the carbs, or to put it another way, lowers the net carbs. (The hard roll, considered on its own, could be high carb without much fiber, if we're talking refined white flour. But the context of the overall meal matters in how quickly the carbs will affect you, too.)

If you pre-log your meals before you eat them, you can see where there are high-carb items, and moderate those to meet your carb intake goals.

Your higher carb items there are the banana (93% of calories from carbs), the roll (carb content depends on more details about the roll, but maybe 70%-ish calories from carbs), quinoa (around 70% of calories from carbs), black beans (around 70% of calories from carbs). That doesn't make those "bad foods", since most of them have lots of other useful nutrients.

If you log the items in your MFP diary, MFP will show you a lot of details like that, so you can learn and decide for yourself.

But what you should/shouldn't or could eat would depend on your specific carb goals (how many carb grams total daily, how many per meal, net or gross carbs, etc.), and your reasons for pursuing a low carb eating style in the first place.

Best wishes!

healthybabs

I would be dropping the banana, hard roll & beans. Think lean protein...chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, greek yogurt. I don't eat beef or pork but you could include that. Fill your plate with a beautiful multi veggie salad and/or steamed or roasted veggies, not the frozen packages drenches in some mystery sauce. If you like fruit, add in some berries. Once you plug things in your food diary you can get a better idea if you are hitting your targets or if you need to make some tweaks.

neanderthin

If your trying a low carb diet just for weight loss, which I suspect is the reason your thinking of this, but I may be wrong, it's just my opinion. If your confused about what a low carb food even looks like, which should be a pretty simple search, then I wouldn't even bother trying low carb and just eat whatever you like and just control your calorie intake, it's easy that way and you don't have to think about it very much and it's being confused that leads to failure, especially when yummy foods are removed. I'm only saying this because most people that try low carb fail almost immediately if it's not for health reasons and just for weight loss. imo.:)

banana2girl

Your breakfast looks great, but I would substitute the hard roll out with something with more protein. You actually have all the carbs you need in the fruit choices, but if you feel you want something more "solid" add an egg, or quinoa, or an ounce of cheese. I'm no expert, but I think the whole "low carb" thing is a misnomer. Try to get all your carbs from fruits and veggies (the more the better!) and minimize gluten-y carbs like bread, white rice.

AnnPT77

banana2girl wrote: »

Your breakfast looks great, but I would substitute the hard roll out with something with more protein. You actually have all the carbs you need in the fruit choices, but if you feel you want something more "solid" add an egg, or quinoa, or an ounce of cheese. I'm no expert, but I think the whole "low carb" thing is a misnomer. Try to get all your carbs from fruits and veggies (the more the better!) and minimize gluten-y carbs like bread, white rice.

Just to clarify for OP, I think "gluten" may not be the word you're looking for here. Gluten is a protein, but some people are sensitive to it (or fully celiac so can't eat it). White rice doesn't contain gluten. Many breads do, of course (usually from wheat or some other grains), but there are gluten-free breads on the market.

White bread and white rice might be described as refined, or more highly-processed carbohydrate sources . . . even starchy carbs if contrasting with fruits, which contain carbs predominantly in the form of sugars (generalizing), though many veggies are mostly starchy carbs, too. (Potatoes, corn and beans are generally considered starchy carb sources, for example.)

BTW: Quinoa is higher in protein than most grains or other pseudo-grains, but around 70% of its calories come from carbohydrates, too.

Yup, this stuff can be confusing! :flowerforyou:

Hobartlemagne

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10917514/joe-manganellos-grocery-list#latest
I posted this recently. Its a low-carb grocery list. Maybe it can give you some ideas.