Help with easy low ish carb low calorie meals

[Jackieweaverishere]

Please can anyone help me with ideas for low calorie ish, low carb type meals? I need to lose at least half a stone so not too much but I'm very stuck. I don't feel like I'm eating a lot of calories, I'm not eating desserts or drinking alcohol (since New year). I need to start counting calories to shift it.

I found fast 800 really good but I don't want to do it again, I'm worried about messing with my metabolism. It's also a lot of planning and buying expensive food.

I'm really looking at packed lunches, that's the hardest, especially in the cold. A Thermos flask of soup really didn't cut it, I was chewing my own arm off by 4pm!

But any meals would be great, especially family dinners. I have a couple of picky eaters at home.

Tia

Anyone?!

I was going to suggest Fast 800 until I saw you’ve done that before.
You can use the recipes and just make larger portions obviously. I’ve just bought the Fast 800 easy book. But then I think if you’re sensible with breakfast and lunch, I think dinners can be ‘normal’. I’m following low calorie at the moment, 1200 cals or less, but I still eat the same dinners as my kids, I’m just careful with my portions, especially the pasta etc. I just do spaghetti bolognese, but loaded with mushrooms, courgette, peppers, and give myself a kid size portion of the spaghetti (wholemeal).

Last night we had wholemeal penne pasta and I cooked some chicken breast, onion, courgette and squash, poured in tinned tomatoes, passata and at the last minute stirred in some cream cheese to make the sauce creamy. It was delicious and the kids like it. Saves using jars, which I think have lots of added sugar, salt and preservatives.

Salad and tinned tuna is an easy lunch.

If you’re hungry around 3-4pm, you should probably just pack a healthy snack that you can grab at that time. Soup is still nice and warming, but gets a bit samey, just have some unsalted nuts as a snack like almonds.

I’m planning to make a chorizo and pea risotto in the week, and although probably not ideal because of the rice and butter, again, I’ll just have a small portion and add a salad on the side.

I generally skip breakfast but it’s easier for me because I don’t work, so I appreciate more active people need something more.

Thanks for all the suggestions @SingaporeSlinky, I think portion size is key for me and a healthy snack to keep me going. Nuts are perfect but I work in a school which is nut free so I'll have to think of something else...

Have you looked at foods that are low glycaemic load? That should give you lots of options.

I actually lost loads of weight years ago through the Patrick Holroyd LG diet, I need to dig out the recipe books. The recipes were relatively family friendly as well, though I have another picky eater to contend with now.

I need to get meal planning, it all falls apart if I don't meal plan. The difficulty is slowly falling back into bad eating patterns and putting it back on.

Ah, what about a yoghurt? Or a banana? At least it’s sweet and should tide you over until dinner. I’d probably just make a list of stuff you like that’s healthy, and alternate through the week. Meal planning for the week helps save time and energy each day, and it makes it easier to look at any nutrients you might be missing. So some days I’ll have plain bio yoghurt with berries and seeds, then the next I might have porridge and banana. Make sure you’re eating plenty of protein. So dinner can be simple, but make sure it’s a piece of meat or fish and lots of veg. I like doing a massive tray of veg at the weekend, bake with some olive oil and it lasts for days. I do big chunks of peppers, beef tomatoes, courgette, broccoli, red onion. It’s nice cold with some salmon fillet and lemon juice and wholemeal couscous on the side.

That all sounds delicious! A big tray bake of veg would really work for me. I've just remembered I used to love roasted crispy chickpeas as a snack...

I'd do a simple packed lunch of home made veggies coup (no fat just lots of veg and spice or herbs with veg or chicken stock, blended, so a bowlful is about 120 cals. Then add a sandwich made either from a bagel thin (120 cals) or small sugar free stone ground loaf (55 cals per slice, with ham or chicken or finely grated cheese and plenty of salad. Add a little 11-cal mayo or salad cream instead of butter. That's about 200 cals - so 350 so far. Then add a piece of fruit.

Or do a big salad of lots of fibrous stuff like iceberg, cucumber, celery, red pepper etc with some very fine slivers of strong cheese, some chicken or tuna and chunkier veg like carrot sticks etc for about 250 cals in total. Then have a fibre one bar which is chewy and feels like a treat.

Or make a small amount of couscous, then bulk it out with lots of chopped mint and parsley. Add some steamed veggies in spicy tomato sauce, for a warming lunch - about 400 cals.

Family dinner
The old school WW macaroni cheese or spag carbonara are great family dinners.

Mix a tub of quark with 2 beaten eggs, 2 ox low fat strong cheddar, a pinch each of nutmeg and smoked paprika, a tsp of garlic granules and one of dijon mustard. Then stir this into either cooked macaroni and cauli for cauliflower cheese or into spaghetti with some grilled crumbled bacon and steamed peas for a carbonara.

I often top the macaroni with sliced tomatoes on one side, and plenty more cheese and some breadcrumbs on the other, then stick in the oven or under a low grill until golden brown. I have a tomatoey helping and DC get the richer version. Serve with salad.

Also good and easy is roast mediterranean veg - chop them up, put just one measured tblsp of olive oil in a mixing bowl then add the veg and toss it around. Sprinkle on some garlic, salt, herbs etc and roast for 45 mins with either chicken thighs rubbed with seasoning or white fish or salmon, dressed with fresh lemon slices and herbs.

DC can have crusty bread with it.

Great ideas, thanks!