am I doing this right?

[comeon2023]

Had a nasty wake up call recently about how much weight I've put on and how much sugar I eat, so trying to cut sugar and carbs. I don't think I'd be able to stick to super low carb (and I'm breastfeeding so I think it's not advised anyway?) but I'm aiming for max 50g per day. Though the other complication is that I'm trying not to actually weigh my food or calorie count cos that's too triggering 😅 so it's a guesstimate. I'm also trying to eat smaller portions and drink more water.

One thing I'm finding weird is that I sort of feel hungry most of the time, but only mildly? Like I'm walking around in a constant state of "yeah I could eat" but never hitting that point of feeling starving and shaky. Maybe cos I'm eating more frequently or maybe that starving shaky feeling I'm used to is actually a sugar crash and not normal hunger at all???

Here's what I ate today, maybe you guys can tell me if it looks ok?

breakfast: 2 low carb egg muffins, 1 small banana, 1 coffee
snack: 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of cheese, cup of natural yoghurt with a drop of honey
lunch: Thai spicy soup (prawns, carrots, peppers, chillies, coconut milk)
snack: 1 rice cake, a few spoonfuls of bolognese sauce that's in the slow cooker for tomorrow's lunch 😁
dinner: roast chicken, carrots & potatoes. Half a glass of red wine

Bananas and honey are fed not low carb and I'm not sure on rice cakes but wouldn't eat them if I was low carbing.

There is a MN low carb bootcamp starting in the new year - head over to the threads and there is masses of information and support on there

I most effectively lost weight combining low carbing and intermittent fasting.

Good luck!

Carrots and pepper sadly not low carb either! Mainly leafy green veg!

If I was low carbing, I wouldn't eat peppers, carrots potatoes, banana, honey, rice cakes and probably not bolognaise depending upon what's in it - tomatoes are too many carbs for me and my blood sugar.

Swap banana for berries, carrots potatoes and peppers for leafy green veg, rice cakes for no sugar pork scratchings or a small amount of nuts.

Was the coffee black? What else did you drink (wine's not low carb either)

I suspect that you had way over 50g of carbs

I found I could eat more protein/fat/leafy veg and still lose weight and not feel hungry rather than trying to restrict portions.

No that is not low carb!

The boot camp rules are very easy to stick to understand without having to weigh stuff. There's a great spreadsheet with a list of stuff to avoid - in short:

Rice / grains / wheat / pasta / flour
Potatoes / parsnips / carrots
Fruit apart from berries / lemon / limes
Added sugar / honey
Milk / yoghurt (unsweetened soy is ok as is proper Greek yoghurt)

Definitely don't do the strict version if you are BF - so you can and should include nuts, berries, dark chocolate etc.

it is compared to how I was eating before 😬🤣 I was having bread or pasta for almost every meal and eating cake or chocolate every day... I thought it was a big improvement 😭

I did have a quick look at the bootcamp page but found it really overwhelming. I used to have quite disordered eating when I was younger and now have IBS so I don't think I can do such a restrictive diet

Bolognese was mostly beef with a tiny bit of tomato & other veggies, I can't eat too much tomato either!

Coffee had a bit of milk, the only other thing I've drunk is water, about 2.5l

I'm doing similar to you. I'm not restrictive low carb trying to keto but I'm cutting out my usual bread, pasta based meals and going for protein and veg. Looks quite good to me! Well done!

It's not really low carb though, if you're still eating bananas (the worst possible fruit from a carb POV!), rice cakes, carrots and potatoes!

Add more green veg and up your fat, and that should stop you feeling hungry.

Your diet looks much healthier than what other people are suggesting !! I can't imagine restricting things like peppers and carrots...

Then you don't understand what low carb is!