Trying low carb - am I on the right track??

[VA1983]

I have been trying low carb for the last two days, I have a pregnant looking belly 3 years after a c section and am slightly over weight. With two young children I don't have much time to prepare food, this is what I have eaten yesterday, am I on the right track?

Breakfast: Greek yogurt full fat, nuts, a banana
Snack: apple
Lunch: 2 boiled eggs, 2 slices of ham, lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, baby corn, grapes
Snack: carrot raw
Dinner: roast chicken, parsnips, broccoli

[danTDM]

I'm starting today too for the same reasons. I'm not huge but feel I could lose a stone to get rid of stomach/tone up. This diet appeals and makes sense to me.
I was reading lots of BWIW threads today (she is the expert)
I think for 2 weeks you need to totally avoid fruit. Bananas, apples and grapes especially have lots of carbs! Then later you can eat them.
Also carrots are the most carby of veggies, so all in all I think that you had quite a lot of carbs! Very healthy though.

Someone will be along with more wisdom than me! I'll watch with interest.

I think the idea is NO sugar! Kick starts it all!

[VA1983]

Yes I was thinking even though I cut out bread pasta rice and potatoes maybe I still ate a lot of carbs! A normal day for me though is toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, a pack of biscuits!, and something with rice or pasta or potatoes for dinner, so I'm hoping I've still made a reasonable start? It's hard to know as I don't know much about low carb! It felt a bit worrying that the Greek yogurt had half my saturated fat intake for the day!

[danTDM]

Yes, it's strange isn't it! Like you I normally have pasta/rice piece of toast as a minimum so I felt virtuous cutting those out. But no, fruit in the first two weeks needs to be cut out in order for your body burn the stored fat and to wean you completely off sugar!

The key is masses of vegetables (no potatoes obvs_) nothing reduced fat. Eat as clean as possible! Loads of protein and after just 2 days you will be less hungry.

I think after 2 weeks you can then introduce fruit, nuts, a bit of dark choc, a glass of wine etc.

Oh, drink LOADS of water apparently!

I wish us both luck!!

[danTDM]

I'm having an omelette for dinner fried in butter, supposed to be excellent for you on this diet.

No strawberries that I bought yesterday I'll have to give them to DD!

[VA1983]

I need to have a better look into this then to set myself up for success!

[BIWI]

The thing with low carbing is that there are lot of different plans/ways to do it! And just cutting out refined carbs like bread/pasta/rice/potatoes and sugar is one way - so your diet so far is a lot better than it would have been before.

However, to comment specifically:

Breakfast: Greek yogurt full fat, nuts, a banana

The yoghurt is fine - and it should be full fat. If you're eating a low carb diet then it should be high fat and medium protein. However, the banana is a big no no - it's a really carby fruit

Snack: apple

Again, fruit isn't ideal - although apples aren't too bad, depending on what else you're eating during the day!

Lunch: 2 boiled eggs, 2 slices of ham, lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, baby corn, grapes

All good, apart from the grapes - they're high carb, and also more fruit. I hope that you also had mayo and/or an oily dressing on the salad?

Snack: carrot raw

Carrot is relatively high in carbs - and you've had two carby snacks in your day. What you should find after a few days of eating low carb is that you won't be hungry between meals, and so won't need to snack any more

Dinner: roast chicken, parsnips, broccoli

Parsnips are definitely out - they're very carby

[danTDM]

Ooooh, BIWI [bows]

I've been reading your tips all morning. I think I've got it sort of straight in my head.
Thanks so much for all the work you've done to make this easier for us new low carbers!

[VA1983]

Thank you for the reply! I didn't have any mayo on the salad as I wasn't sure if I was allowed! Thank you for the information I will know what else to cut out tomorrow thank you!

[BIWI]

If you go and have a look at any of the Bootcamp threads, you'll find a link to our spreadsheet in the OP. Have a look at the tabs at the bottom, and go and have a read of some of the resources there. It will really help you to know what you should be doing, and also why.