Advice for my first lchf shop?

[beerbelly]

Hi! I've just started a lchf diet and got a few bits - smoked salmon, avocado, full fat cream cheese etc....

But I am doing my Tesco order later and want to stock up. What are the must-haves?

Also, any breakfast tips? These calorie laden rich brekkies are leaving me feeling a bit sick for the rest of the day!

[BIWI]

What have you been eating for breakfast? Eggs are your best bet.

Must haves:

Any meat or fish - but try and go for fattier cuts (they're usually cheaper anyway!), things like breast of lamb, belly pork, shin of beef and high fat mince.

Eggs - hard boiled they make a really good snack - it's always worth having one or two in the fridge

Butter, olive oil, lard, coconut oil

Vinegar, for salad dressings (apart from balsamic vinegar, which is too high in carbs)

Salad leaves
Shallots (instead of onions)

and a good selection of other low carb veg:

broccoli
cauliflower
celeriac
leeks
mushrooms
swede

cheese, olives and nuts make good snacks (macadamias and almonds are lower in carbs than most)

full fat yoghurt (another good breakfast alternative - look out for Total)
cream

Bacon and sausages - look out for The Black Farmer sausages as they are very tasty and also low carb

hope that helps and isn't too late!

[MincePieDiet]

Make a meal plan for the first week and then work out what you need. Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs made with cream is a good breakfast. Chicken and avocado salad for lunch. Cauliflower baked in pepper Boursin and cream is a good dinner option plus broccoli etcetera

[MincePieDiet]

Plus lamb or some other meat for dinner. Loads of ideas on the menu thread. I am about to jump back into the next bootcamp. It worked really well for me I have just had a lapse over the last few months which has not been good.

[Hangonaminutewillyou]

Ooh this is good, I was hoping for some food shopping advice too...I've never been any good at meal planning...will have to give it a go to get back on the low carb wagon!

[beerbelly]

Thanks for the advice. I am doing ok in this first week but I am back at work on Monday - I am a teacher - so hoping I can come up with quick breakfast and packed lunch ideas.

[BIWI]

Why are going to the pub and drinking wine if it's your first week?!

[beerbelly]

Cos it was Friday! And dieting is miserable enough without depriving myself of a social life. And dry white wine has relatively low carbs - I would've preferred beer! Might be going out again tonight...I am the world's worst dieter!

[BIWI]

Easier, in the long term, to think of this as a way of eating rather than a diet! And if you're miserable eating low carb food then you're not doing it right

[beerbelly]

Eating low carb doesn't necessarily make me miserable, but - let's face it - any diet that deprives you of just eating what you want is a bit miserable. It is for me anyway.

[BIWI]

Well yes. But being overweight makes you miserable too. Choose your miserable!

Hopefully, once you've reached a weight you're happy with, you'll be able to re-introduce things that you like to eat - although in the recognition that you can't simply go back to eating the way that you were. Because that was what led to the weight gain in the first place.

[nappyaddict]

Hellmans mayo has the lowest carbs I have found - 1.3g/100g

Lidl Milbona Greek style yoghurt is better than Total. Total has 3.8g carbs but Lidl only has 3.2g carbs.

Sausages - Aldi some thick good quality sausages in their Specially Selected range that are 0.5g per 100g. I think they are the Lincolnshire ones.

Lidl do 12 thinner vacuum packed Bratwurst sausages in their Linessa range that are 0g carbs.

Aldi full fat soft cheese is 2.6g carbs.

Lidl do a diced soft cheese in a red chilli and herb marinade that is only 1.4g carbs in their antipasti section.

[BIWI]

Delouis mayonnaise is even lower - 0.6g carbs per 100g

[nappyaddict]

Not heard of that one. Where do they sell it?

[BIWI]

Sainsbury's used to - not sure if they do any more, because I buy a different one (Sainsbury's French-style mayonnaise).

When I looked it up online it came up in the Ocado website.

It's expensive too, so you may not want to buy it - but if you eat a lot of mayo it is important to realise that the carbs can swiftly add up.

It's worth making your own - it's really quick if you have a blender/hand-held blender - which will be equally low in carbs, as all it will contain will be oil and eggs (plus any favourites you choose)

[nappyaddict]

How many carbs is the french style one?

[wornoutwaitress]

I have just discovered the Sainsbury's basics peanut butter is no longer so low in carbs i have switched to the Sainsbury's organic peanut butter which is 5.8g carbs per 100g. this is a bit high for bootcamp but not too bad if you just add a bit to sauces etc.

also be careful with coconut milk. i looked at the tins in my cupboard and the sainsbury's one is 4.3g carbs per 100ml and the sainsbury's one is only 2.9g carbs per 100ml. the sainsburys coconut cream is also slightly higher in fat for the same amount of carbs so have been using that instead of coconut milk in most things.