Talk to me about lazy low carb!

[PotatoPudding]

I love low carb. It’s always been the most successful way for me to lose weight, feel healthy, and get rid of bloat. The trouble is, I now can’t process meat very well, I am really busy, and I just don’t have the budget for this typically a more expensive diet.

What do busy and skint low carbers eat?

I don’t love food (I am only half a stone overweight because I am lazy and grazey) but the idea of opening a tub of salad at lunch time literally turns my stomach even though I used to enjoy it.

It depends how low carb you want to go, but I do veggie chilli (made with mostly veg and some black beans) topped with Greek yoghurt.

@Wildhorses2244 that’s a favourite of mine. In an ideal world, I would do 20g a day, but 50g is more realistic.

I try to eat low refined carbs. So I'll eat potatoes if made from scratch into wedges or jacket spud, not frozen potato stuff.
My downfall is bread, I absolutely love it. It's so convenient for a meal or snack. I have a self imposed rule of 1 wholemeal roll a day, I tend to have a egg and bacon or sausage roll for my first meal. I freeze the pack of rolls and get one out everyday. I will have a flatbread for the evening meal if it's part of the meal, chicken wraps or pulled pork pittas. Its not often though, once a week maybe.
I don't eat much pasta and don't eat rice at all.

I follow what I consider a "lazy" low carb diet. I don't measure carbs but when I have done, I eat somewhere between 25-50g carbs per day, going above that when I eat out / have celebrations etc.

I don't eat more protein than before I started low carbing. What I have done is replace the starchy carbs with more vegetables (mostly green) and increased the amount of fat I eat slightly. So instead of a chicken breast, fries and broccoli, I'll have a chicken breast / thighs, broccoli and green beans with some garlic butter to flavour or some guacamole. Instead of popcorn and crisps I have a small serving of mixed nuts or peanuts and I have 10g (a lindt square) or 85% dark chocolate every day. I often skip breakfast but if I have some I have greek yogurt with blueberries, chopped nuts and coconut flakes and for lunch I often have a spinach omelette.

My food bill has not gone up at all. I also often make a big batch of chilli that I serve over green beans and top with grated cheese. Easy to freeze and defrost for a quick dinner.

I think protein is the main difference. I eat very little normally but have it for almost every meal when I’m doing low carb.

Eggs are good as well. I quite often have poached eggs with veg and hollandaise if I’m low carbing. And shakshuka is really good.

What’s Shakshuka?

It’s a spicy tomatoe sauce with onions and peppers in it, which you bake in the oven with eggs in. The sauce freezes well so I usually make and freeze a batch of sauces and then defrost and bake with the egg. It’s really good, tastier than it sounds…

I'm veggie. My faves are:

oven roasted veg with chilli pesto stirred through (sometimes topped with cauldron veggie sausages)

slow cooker mixes using veg, chickpeas or beans - curry, chilli, mediterranean style (vary using spices and herbs). Serve with sour cream, grated cheese and occasionally a low carb wrap

stir fry - with quorn or linda mccartney fake chicken pieces for protein and lots of soy sauce, peanut butter, tiny bit sweet chilli sauce as flavour

aubergine parmesan bake with cauliflower rice

Bosh roasted cauliflower curry (all goes in one pan in oven, bliss ) https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/one-tray-pasanda i just replace the carrots with butternut