Low carb high protein diet ideas

nic041mccoy
nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just got word from my doctor that I need to get on a high protein low carb diet. (Diabetic prevention)

Does anyone have any tips, ideas, meal plans etc for this? I'm not gonna lie, I love my sweets and pasta!! Lol but at a loss on how I can make this work. Thanks for any ideas!

Replies

  • Ket0Mermaid
    Ket0Mermaid Posts: 9 Member
    I just started this last week and I am still weaning from carbs. I have to say, since I have cut back on carbs I have gained back some energy as well. I did take in too many carbs yesterday and I felt sick so I doubt I will do that again. I generally eat fried eggs, bacon and spinach (with tomatoes) in the mornings, lunch I eat cream cheese with blackberries..and a lettuce wrap (lettuce, ham, mayo and cheese). Supper I eat protein (any) with green vegetables (roasted broccoli, salad, etc) and that is about it. You have to really explore the foods you like and tweak recipes and etc. I read the carb and sugar count on everything now (trying to get into that habit). I have lost 2lbs in one week of weaning and I am excited to keep going and see how much more I can lose.
  • Ket0Mermaid
    Ket0Mermaid Posts: 9 Member
    oh and watch the salt, the salt can make you gain water weight so I did cut back on that some.
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
    It is hard to give up carbs and sweets! I go back and forth and am as of today, trying again. I had two soft boiled eggs for breakfast, will have an apple for a snack and have a protein bar (only 1 g of sugar but 18 carbs) that I am nibbling on when I have sweet cravings. Plan on a big salad for lunch with veggies and protein... I think dinner is the easiest with lean proteins and tons of veggies. A turkey burger patty smothered in sautéed mushrooms and a little cheese is delicious! I've also been making lots of versions of stuffed peppers recently....lasagna stuffed have been the family favorite and no one seems to miss the pasta.
  • nic041mccoy
    nic041mccoy Posts: 74 Member
    Thanks!! Great ideas. I also need ideas on easy meals on the go. I feel like I eat the worst at while I'm at work because its quick and easy!
  • willburpeeforcookie
    willburpeeforcookie Posts: 117 Member
    I highly recommend reading It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig!
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    Bacon and eggs for breakfast
    A salad with grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, and dressing for lunch
    Steak and sauteed veggies for dinner
    Almonds (portioned out) for snacks, along with string cheese
  • tanyacwilson
    tanyacwilson Posts: 11 Member
    Salad. Salad. Salad. Keep different kinds of greens ready and grilled chicken,turkey and fish. I really like bolt house salad dressings for convenience. I bring sugar free bbq sauce with me to enjoy pulled pork in a restaurant. Skip the sandwich low carb wraps are great. There are lots of of meat muffins or egg cup recipes on Pinterest to have pre made and ready to grab and go. I also make a all egg white crepe to use as a wrap that you can also get in subway. And make pizzas in the oven or on the grill by slicing zucchini or eggplant in disks then adding sauce, other toppings of choice and a little cheese Sausage stuffed mushrooms. Riced cauliflower in place of rice. Simmer chicken in diced tomatoes and mushrooms with a little garlic and Italian spices (can add a little cottage cheese to make it creamy). This is some of the things I eat. Good luck. After you detox off the carbs you're going to feel great. It took me 2 weeks.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    nic041mccoy wrote: »
    Thanks!! Great ideas. I also need ideas on easy meals on the go. I feel like I eat the worst at while I'm at work because its quick and easy!

    Meal prep a week's worth of lunches on Sunday!

    This week I'm having chipotle salmon burger patties, green beans and carrots. Packing your own lunch really helps control the calorie count and macros (protein, fat, carbs) vs. going out to grab lunch.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    I have two types of lunch: (1) leftover dinner from a few days ago. Or (2) nibbly-Charcuterie-type with some raw veggies, dip, meats, cheese, maybe some olives in a bento-box style plastic container. It makes me feel fancy. And, it's easy to eat a partial portion of it, and then eat more a few hours later if I get hungry again before going home.
  • stephiemota
    stephiemota Posts: 8 Member
    li2cr8ozjsyx.jpeg


    This is what I was put on to lose weight, maybe it can help. Low carb high protein diet.
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    Google search using any/all of the following keywords:
    Paleo
    Atkins
    Keto
    LCHF
    Primal

    Hard to believe your doctor told you that you had to do it, but didnt provide you with any starting resources. He/she should know what your specific needs are, and at least get you started with literature/recommendations/referals.

    You could always head to your local library and do some research in the stacks, check out a volume or two. There has been a lot of publicity/publishing in recent years about this type of eating, and i have seen research publications and cook books widely available, even in county libraries.
  • beatyfamily1
    beatyfamily1 Posts: 257 Member
    Eat lots of vegetables (low carbs) and limit dairy. Dairy can mess with your insulin. If you don't know already, try to stay away from fruit for now.

    Example breakfast I eat: 2 eggs (no cheese), 1 potato (homemade hash brown), 2-3 cups of green beans, broccoli, and carrots.

    Example dinner I eat: vegetarian enchilada which consists of 1 tortilla, egg plant, spinach, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, olives, and meat crumbles (vegetarian beef). I'll add a little bit of avocado and sour cream. I use a little bit of mozzarella cheese, but don't over do the dairy because like I said dairy can mess with your insulin. The sauce is canned tomato sauce with enchilada seasoning. I'll have another 2 cups of green beans, broccoli, and carrots of the side. As you can see I like broccoli, green beans, and carrots :smile:
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    If it's for diabetes prevention, have you been referred to a certified diabetes educator and/or a registered dietician who has experience with diabetic patients? They might be able to offer more appropriate diet modifications that more easily fit into your lifestyle.

    Personally, I like to batch cook meat (or if the family has sausages over the weekend use leftovers for the upcoming week) and will combine it with some cauliflower rice/zoodles (regular rice and pasta are the devil for my blood sugar no matter what I do to bolus for it) and extra nonstarchy vegetables for a quick and simple meal prep. Nonstarchy vegetables are also my best friends, especially when combined with some sort of fat or protein (avocado, greek yogurt, hummus, cottage cheese, cheese, etc.) so that it doesn't spike my BG as quickly compared to if I ate the vegetables by themselves.
  • Marplem
    Marplem Posts: 1 Member
    What helps is getting into Pinterest and looking up lchp recipes and grocery lists. Make sure you get all the high carb and processed foods out of the household so you're not tempted - if other members in your house eat high carb, make sure you have a separate meal plan! Anything you crave (with the exception of popcorn) can be made in a low carb version. Making burgers? Just ditch the bun. Making fajitas? I ditch the tortillas (and any low carb tortillas from the store are fake by the way) and put them into organic iceberg lettuce wraps. Spaghetti? There are tofu noodles you can try OR try zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash. You can make low carb cinnamon rolls, awesome protein shakes, cauliflower and almond/coconut flour will become your friend. Look up YouTube videos of people doing low carb (lchf too), and ketogenic lifestyles. Make sure to count every carb so you don't go over your goal, whether it's less than 20 grams of carbs or up to 70-100. Good luck!
  • ChristyMCampbell
    ChristyMCampbell Posts: 6 Member
    nic041mccoy wrote: »
    Thanks!! Great ideas. I also need ideas on easy meals on the go. I feel like I eat the worst at while I'm at work because its quick and easy!

    I eat low carb and have for a while. Sone of my on the go meals...
    Pepperoni chips
    String cheese
    Pork skins
    Babybel cheese
    Almonds
    Single serve guacamole with celery or peppers
    Single serve peanut butter
    Tuna packets
    Boiled eggs
    Beef jerky
    P3 protein packs (by lunch meat in the store)
    Lunch meat, cheese and pickle roll ups


    Meal prep really is key! I cook boiled eggs and proteins on the weekends and eat on it all week.
    I also get in a bind with fast foods sometimes but, any restaurant can make their sandwiches with no buns and most have a salad option. Today I had an avocado bacon burger from Whataburger with no bread. Good luck!
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Focus on dairy, eggs, egg whites, meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. If you want sweet use sugar free substitutes and sugar-free protein powders. If you go over to bodybuilding.com they have some pretty good recipes for protein powder sweets. I won't say they're "great" because you're obviously going to sacrifice some flavor or texture but some of them are pretty good and worth a shot.
  • tanyacwilson
    tanyacwilson Posts: 11 Member
    Nectar vanilla protein shake mix from vitamin shoppe. I add almond milk , pb2 and ice. Or unsweetened cocoa or a squirt of orange mio.
  • MommaRou56
    MommaRou56 Posts: 68 Member
    I recently started a low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about things to mix it up a bit. Although I love bacon and eggs, I'm tired of eating that every day. I don't have as much trouble with other meals, but the breakfast is getting to me. I have to admit I love bread, but I'm living without it.
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    MommaRou56 wrote: »
    I recently started a low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about things to mix it up a bit. Although I love bacon and eggs, I'm tired of eating that every day. I don't have as much trouble with other meals, but the breakfast is getting to me. I have to admit I love bread, but I'm living without it.

    I suggest you check out the main low carber forum group herein MFP. It's where most of us Ketofiles tend to hang out:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

    As to breakfast, you don't have to have breakfast for breakfast. Think outside the meal box. There are also a ton of links to LCHF recipe websites in the launchpad / sticky note area in the above-linked group which will help you with your meal planning dilemma.
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
    Join the Low Carber Daily forum on MFP, read through their Lauch Pad.

    Make sure you get plenty of sodium :)
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
    MommaRou56 wrote: »
    I recently started a low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about things to mix it up a bit. Although I love bacon and eggs, I'm tired of eating that every day. I don't have as much trouble with other meals, but the breakfast is getting to me. I have to admit I love bread, but I'm living without it.

    Lately for breakfast I've been eating Plain Greek yogurt, mixing in some berries and flavor extract. I can make 4 days worth from the large yogurt tubs. Easy grab-and-go meal. Take some leftover meat along if you need to add some more protein.

    Sautéed greens, ginger, and chicken make a great start to the day.

    But my all-time favorite-- steak for breakfast! :wink:
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
    stephiemota wrote: »
    li2cr8ozjsyx.jpeg


    This is what I was put on to lose weight, maybe it can help. Low carb high protein diet.

    This needs to be re-written-- LCHF is one of the least restrictive diets out there, but the page starts with a bolder list of "forbidden foods"? Could be done so much better!
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
    MommaRou56 wrote: »
    I recently started a low carb diet. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about things to mix it up a bit. Although I love bacon and eggs, I'm tired of eating that every day. I don't have as much trouble with other meals, but the breakfast is getting to me. I have to admit I love bread, but I'm living without it.

    I like boiled eggs with salsa, or faux deviled eggs - fill them with cottage cheese blended with mustard and pickles. I also like scrambled eggs cooked with a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese. Ham, ham steaks, sausage, chorizo or even deli meat instead of the bacon.

    I also like protein shakes when I'm in a hurry, or a protein pancake - it's basically egg and protein powder. There are lots of recipes for them online, even on here.

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