Help with meals

Emma1903

i want to cut out bad carbs, breads ect. Problem is what are bad carbs? Pasta, bread, rice are potatoes bad too?
As I was thinking of having oats for breakfast but not sure what to have for lunch and dinners, I'm used to having carbs in every meal, like lunch a sandwich, dinner pasta rice nor potatoes, have you got any ideas, apart from eating salads all the time?

YVL93

try picking healthier alternatives to those items for example instead of potato use sweet potato and for bread and pasta use whole wheat. for dinner have alot of steamed vegetables and protein hope this help

Caharleygirl

I was told that to cut starchy carbs by my dietician...I get 2 or 3 a day now. So for breakfast I eat oatmeal (old fashioned not instant) with fruit, nuts, and soy milk. Then for lunch usually a big salad with chicken or tuna and some SF/FF yogurt. For dinner, fish or chicken with lots of veggies and one grain. I like quinoa, brown rice or wild rice. I also eat alot of beans. Snacks are SF/FF yogurt or LF cheese with fruit.Feel free to add me as a friend and/or check out my diary.

dls06

I use Thomas's Sahara mini pita's or Sara Lee light bread. They are both low in carbs and calories but you can still have a sandwich. I need to eat bread. I also only eat 1/2 a small white or sweet potato instead of whole. 1/2 cup Whole grain rice, 1 oz of whole wheat pasta insteat of 4, and add a lot of veggies to 1/2 cup of tomato sauce. Zucchini, yellow squash, Choppped no salt tomatoes add bulk without a lot of calories. Put it with 4 oz of Grilled chicken. I make a few Boneless Chicken Breast and use them all week for lunch or dinners. If you eat oatmeal only have a 1/2 cup cooked. These are some of the things I do because I need to have carbs all day. I like Popcorn at night, jollytime has a healthy pop that's good. Whole wheat crackers with an oz of cheese. Grapes, 1/2 an orange, Strawberries, Blueberries or yogurt are a good go to too. Spread your carbs out for the day and you'll be able to eat them all day. It's all about portions and the right kind. Good Luck

taso42_DELETED

General rule of thumb, anything white/bleached/enriched is bad. Whole grain based stuff is good.

Potatoes and pasta are actually just fine. Just mind the portion size on the pasta - it's easy to go overboard and fill up your plate.

For rice, try to stick to brown rice, but if you're in a situation where it's white rice or nothing, the white rice once in a while isn't going to kill your diet. (Heck, I'll bet even having white rice regularly won't kill your diet).

mlemonroe2

White potaotes are fine. They have a lot of nutrients. So is pasta and bread, if it is whole grain. Avoid white sugar and carbs. Those are "bad" carbs. Sugar in fruit is ok, and you can use raw sugar in your coffee. (splenda is SO bad for you!) "

Caharleygirl

btw...that is what works for me since I am a diabetic...you need to find what works for you. Not all carbs are "bad". Just the less processed it is...the better it is for you. Try Whole Wheat bread not White. Try Brown Rice not White. Try Sweet Potato not White. So pretty much watch the white stuff...lol

BrookeEspinosa

Try shirataki tofu noodles as a pasta swap. I absolutely can't live without pasta, but even with whole wheat the serving size it tiny. So I switched to the tofu noodle sub, and its really not bad. And the serving size is huge. Well worth 40 calories!

Emma1903

Ok I might give pasta salads for lunch a try or rice. Just have no carbs after 2pm I think, unless there in vegetables.
I love bread so much but don't thi it agrees with me.

Emma1903

Try shirataki tofu noodles as a pasta swap. I absolutely can't live without pasta, but even with whole wheat the serving size it tiny. So I switched to the tofu noodle sub, and its really not bad. And the serving size is huge. Well worth 40 calories!

I will give these a try if I can find them

AmandaJPK

I've been eating mixed green salads with black beans, colby jack cheese, tomatoes and Newman's Own Light Lime dressing. And when I get sick of salad, I tried a Cooking Light recipe of Black Eye Pea Cakes w/Adobo Cream & Monterey Jack Cheese with a side of tortilla chips and homemade salsa.

amysj303

are you vegetarian? I don't think you should think of food as "bad" but if you want to limit refined foods, it will help.
A suggestion that I am trying to follow is getting enough protein. If you fill up on protein you won't be hungry for the other stuff.
I liked this guideline: protein and a fruit for breakfast, protein and vegetable for lunch, protein and a fruit for snack, protein with a vegetable and whole-grain for dinner. So you can make a list of sources of those things that you do like and create meals. For me it's like yogurt and berries for breakfast, grilled chicken and salad or vegetable soup for lunch, apple and almonds for a snack, steak with sweet potato and a salad for dinner.

ftoddw

Pasta salads are yummy, but most are high in calories, fat and unless spinach pasta or whole wheat pasta, not a good carb either. I love bread myself - that's why I don't eat it much of it at all, an occasional whole wheat roll or maybe a low calorie whole wheat deli-flat, but I love that fluffy white bread, sour dough bread, French, Italian, you name it, and so I just try to avoid bread as much as possible.

Fresh fruits and veggies, salads, ff Greek yogurt, lean protein like chicken turkey breast and fish seem to work for me. Brown rice, oatmeal, and quinoa are my friends, pasta and bread, I try to avoid.

Emma1903

No I'm not vegetarian, just not very adventurous with foods to be honest, but I'm willing to give anything a try