low sugar, low carb lunch ideas

What about a salad? Greens, veggies and chicken/tuna? Or if you like smoothies maybe reduce some of the fruit and add in veggies like spinach or kale?

I have no lunch ideas really, but I would suggest you add sodium to your list of macronutrients. It doesn't look like you eat vegetables, but adding those would increase your fiber. Good luck!

I find that soups make great low carb, low cal options. Make a big batch and then eat the soup all week for lunch. I doubt if it is the fruit that is keeping you at a plateau. Maybe you need to eat more for lunch. Have a lean protein lunch and pair it with a big salad or fresh vegetables. Some soups that work well might be white chicken chili, chili made with lean, white ground turkey, chicken and sweet potato soup, bean soup, etc.

Hey folks, I've been loving my smoothies for lunch recently because they're easy and cheap and low calorie, but they're really high in sugar due to the fruit. I've been absolutely stuck at this weight for a little while and I'm wondering if sugar and carbs might be the culprit. My dad and grandpa are type 2 diabetics also, so keeping an eye on sugar wouldn't hurt me. Anyone have some awesome low carb and low sugar lunch ideas? Bonus points if they're cheap/low cost ideas. And if you have any ideas why I'm plateauing majorly, I'd love advice and feel free to look at the diary.
p.s. yesterday's popcorn lunch is not typical, so please don't judge me

I usually have 2 oz. of organic cheddar and a piece of fruit for lunch--usually a low-fructose fruit. If I feel like having a higher-fructose fruit, I just cut the portion in half and save the half for later. The cheddar will suppress your appetite for several reasons. The butterfat is a natural blood sugar/insulin swing inhibitor and the calcium speeds the loss of belly fat. Organic cheese also has much higher levels of CLA---which has been shown to boost fat loss. I also might have some cut up vegetables like celery and green pepper. That carries me right through to my mid-afternoon slump when I grab a handful of some kind of nuts. Macadamia nuts have been shown to boost metabolism, so I will eat 7-10 of those most commonly. But walnuts and pistachios are good too. I don't worry about fat because I am on a lower-carb plan. I usually aim for 15 grams or less of fructose which means I eat a lot of citrus---especially, my favorite for fat loss---grapefruit. Grapefruit is magical for helping one to burn fat. Haven't looked into the biochemistry of grapefruit but I just know that eating it has been shown to boost fat loss.

Join us over at www.reddit.com/r/paleo and www.reddit.com/r/keto for low-carb and natural eating support? We also have a pretty active low-carb community on here, just mostly on non-default public forums because low-carb is apparently the devil to most people on MFP.

Yes, it seems that the body builders and runners dominate the forums here (and they can be as domineering as the body builders at the gym) Body builders and runners apparently HATE low-carb plans. While carbs are great for high-performance athletes, they are not so good for the obese---particularly obese women.

I find that soups make great low carb, low cal options. Make a big batch and then eat the soup all week for lunch. I doubt if it is the fruit that is keeping you at a plateau. Maybe you need to eat more for lunch. Have a lean protein lunch and pair it with a big salad or fresh vegetables. Some soups that work well might be white chicken chili, chili made with lean, white ground turkey, chicken and sweet potato soup, bean soup, etc.

A fruit smoothie can yield a whopping 45 grams of fructose per meal and can derail fat loss. Especially need to beware of commercial "fruit smoothies" which can be made of a little fruit, a LOT of high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings, and ice.

Soups and salads are great lunch ideas.

You can make salads very different by changing the greens (mixed greens, spinach, romaine, etc), the dressing (I love Ken's Steakhouse Lights - especially the Northern Italian), and the toppings.

I love jalapenos, olives, scallions, shredded chicken and salsa with romaine lettuce for a taco salad. Or, spinach with feta, tomatoes, craisins and light italian dressing.

In the winter I love to make a pot of soup and take that with me. Today I am making Red Lentil Curry that I will split into 5 servings and take with me to work each day.

All great ideas here. I love the idea of a rotisserie chicken. I have some snack/meal ideas. It really depends on how much you eat in one sitting. It depends on how low carb you are going too.

- 1/2 -1 cup cottage cheese with spinach, tomatoes, and sunflower seeds
- 1/2 chicken breast (I butterfly them and cooke them on the foreman grill) with a salad (I like spinach salads) with balsamic vinaigrette, or zucchini/squash sauteed in butter and a little salt, or creamed spinach. Easy creamed spinach - sautee shallot/onion and garlic in olive oil or butter until translucent and the garlic is fragrant, add spinach and wilt. When wilted add some cream cheese 2 tbl is probably enough - I use 1 of those packets. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat up well too.
- pork chop w/ 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.
- 1-2 oz of cheese, 1/4 cup nuts, and an apple or strawberries
- celery and 2 tbl peanut butter or cream cheese
- turkey and cheese rolled up in a lettuce leaf, and 1/2 cup nuts
- greek yogurt with some fruit and slivered almonds (you will probably have to add a sweetener...I can't eat it plain)

Ok, and these two might sounds strange but...
- BLT salad in a cheese roll. I mix 1 avocado with 4-5 pieces of bacon and chopped tomato. I then roll that up in a cheese slice with some spinach leaves.
- Tuna salad in a cheese roll. Tuna salad (or chicken) made however you like, rolled up in a cheese slice.

60-100 is what many "lower carb" plans recommend and this level has the advantage of boosting fat loss without eliminating fruit. Most people on this type of plan elect for eliminating grain and sugar and consume a couple of pieces of low-fructose fruit per day.

100-200 grams of carbs would still result in some fat loss over an extended period--depending on the activity level. Those who are very active, would probably perform better at the upper end of this carb range. The 200 gram range would not be a fat-loss plan per se, but would result in fat loss if the person were running a lot and restricting fat although depletion of essential fatty acids could be a problem in that scenario.

I personally cannot eat over 100 grams of carb per day or my fat loss just comes to a screeching halt, even if I stay well below my calorie allowance.

Interesting. What number of calories is this based on? surely if you are eating 2000 calories you will be having more carbs than someone eating say 1200 no? I'm at 1800 - set to 45% carbs. Lower carb is something I am likely going to be looking into but quite honestly I am not sure how much lower I could go and still eat 'normally'. My family have no need to be on a reduced carb diet so I have very few things I could change. Just curious

60-100 is what many "lower carb" plans recommend and this level has the advantage of boosting fat loss without eliminating fruit. Most people on this type of plan elect for eliminating grain and sugar and consume a couple of pieces of low-fructose fruit per day.

100-200 grams of carbs would still result in some fat loss over an extended period--depending on the activity level. Those who are very active, would probably perform better at the upper end of this carb range. The 200 gram range would not be a fat-loss plan per se, but would result in fat loss if the person were running a lot and restricting fat although depletion of essential fatty acids could be a problem in that scenario.

I personally cannot eat over 100 grams of carb per day or my fat loss just comes to a screeching halt, even if I stay well below my calorie allowance.

Interesting. What number of calories is this based on? surely if you are eating 2000 calories you will be having more carbs than someone eating say 1200 no? I'm at 1800 - set to 45% carbs. Lower carb is something I am likely going to be looking into but quite honestly I am not sure how much lower I could go and still eat 'normally'. My family have no need to be on a reduced carb diet so I have very few things I could change. Just curious

Most lower carb plans do not emphasize counting calories but if you eliminate sugary foods and grain, you will find that it is difficult to even MEET your calorie allowance on MFP, let alone exceed it. I restrict fruit to two servings of low-fructose fruit because the new research shows that fructose can be something of a "trigger" for the obese person to turn carbs into fat instead of burning them for energy. That is why high fructose corn syrup (the sweetener in soda pop and in many processed foods) is especially bad for anyone who battles obesity. I generally end up eating about 1200-1300 calories a day---more on days when I am very active. But again, I am not particularly concerned about calories. I don't get on the scale a lot, but I use fat calipers to judge the loss of body fat. I have lost about 20 pounds of body fat so far (I have "beefed up" my muscles at the same time with weight lifting). Most of my friends tell me that they can't believe that I have only lost 20 pounds as it looks like a lot more. Previous to starting on the low-carb plan, my muscle mass had shrunk to pathetic proportions because I was on blood pressure medication---which really did a job on my muscle mass. I think it is likely a big reason why older people experience "sarcopenia" (loss of lean tissue) and become weak and clumsy---the majority of older people are on B.P. medication. (Note to anyone reading this who is on B.P. medication---don't go off cold turkey---you could get a stroke! You need to lose some body fat and increase your activity level and home monitor your B.P. if you are going to taper off the medication.) While I didn't gain a lot of weight while I was on them, I gained a lot of fat---particularly belly fat. I have lost 4 inches off my waist in about six months and my muscles don't hurt anymore since I was able to get off my B.P. meds.

It is pretty easy to do lower carb with a family. When they have spaghetti, you have spaghetti sauce on some kind of cooked vegetable (sounds awful but it is yummy). When they have grilled cheese sandwiches, you have just plain cheese and fruit.

I just had a 2 egg omelet for lunch. (1/2 green pepper chopped, 2 slices onion, chopped, 1 tomato chopped. 1 t coconut oil to saute veggies. 2 whole eggs and a slice (1 oz) of cheese of choice. (Today's was smoked gouda! YUMMY!) Easy, added a little bit of veggies and is very filling.

I've been using the whole grain sandwich thins that are on the market. I do different things with it:
Toast and add peanut butter (1 T)
Turkey (baked not deli meat) and a 1/2 a wedge of laughing cow flavor of the day! Depends on my mood!
Toasted with mashed avacado, then sliced onion and tomato

Love Cottage cheese. I normally add pineapple but that won't work with your qualifications!
I also enjoy a mix of the following: cucumber (thick chunks), onion chunks, sweet pepper chunks and tomato chunks I add a little sweetener salt and pepper on top and then douse with tarragon vinegar and sometimes add 1 T of olive oil. I love this medley with cottage cheese.

Yep--I have scrambled eggs with cheese and sauteed onion and spinach almost every morning for breakfast. I love cottage cheese too (4% is lower in carbs--simple cheeses like cottage cheese or ricotta always have some carbs) but I put vegetables in it--instead of fruit--to keep the carbs down. I put in scallions, minced raw carrots, chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, chopped green pepper, a little bit of chopped beets---or whatever other vegetables I have around that appeal to me. I also like cottage cheese with a handful of unsalted organic peanuts or other nuts. The natural sugar in cottage cheese is galactose but the good news is that galactose is metabolized very slowly, so you don't get blood sugar spikes from it. Hard cheeses like cheddar don't have any carbs at all. I normally have fruit with hard cheese.

In college I used to love tomatoes and cottage cheese or green peppers and cottage cheese, so maybe I should bring those back into the lunch rotation!

Yes--cottage cheese is very adaptable. On a day when I haven't had too many carbs and I have craving for a potato, for dinner, I will have a microwaved baked potato "smothered" in cottage cheese and caramelized onions with a generous topping of hand grated parmesan (I don't like the canned kind--too salty). Sometimes I will saute onions, green peppers and mushrooms and add those to my cottage cheese on potato. Mmmmm. When I've had a busy day and I don't feel like cooking, it is a FAST dinner for me, while my hubby eats leftovers (which I hate).

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I love to have a little snack tray sort of. Cheese, almonds, berries of some kind or grapes, maybe carrot sticks too. It's nice and lite but satisfying as well.