While we’re gearing up for this new mini-challenge to start on Tuesday, I kept thinking these last few days that I’d love to have an off plan food or two before we kick-off.
I think that’s normal. First, because we can justify anything we want in our minds, lol. And second, because the rare indulgence now & then doesn’t affect your health & weight loss nearly as much as your usual everyday lifestyle.
If your everyday lifestyle is one of indulgence, that’s a different story. Even indulging once or twice a week kept me from seeing any real success before. I could never get and stay in ketosis long enough to make a real difference.
Anyway, I decided I could go 20 more days. 🙂 It’s just 3 weeks! I find that easy because I’ve been eating on plan (healthy & low carb) for over 100 days straight now.
Being that consistent for that long takes away any real cravings, which is a plus! Actually that kicked in way sooner, within the first few weeks of the last challenge.
While those thoughts were dancing through my mind, I woke up yesterday to a 2 pound loss on the scale. Then another half pound loss this morning!
I was staring down at my lowest recorded weight since going low carb more than 5 years ago… 141.8 pounds.
That number freaks me out. I’m now below what I thought was my “goal weight.” None of my clothes fit me anymore. But I’m not as “skinny” at this weight as I expected to be.
I realized at least part of the reason why: I’ve shrunk 2 1/2 inches in height since the last time I weighed 142 pounds! That happened sometime in my 30’s for some weird reason. It stumped my chiropractor too, lol.
I’m also older now (43 instead of 29) and not in the same physical shape – meaning, 141-142 pounds looks way different when it’s more fat than muscle tone. 🙂
That’s my MAIN goal this year, by the way: “getting in amazing shape” (fit/tone) so it’s time for me to REALLY step up my game! I can’t wait to see what that FEELS like. 🙂
Note: That was after my scales NOT moving ALL last week. It really pays to wait out the stalls & holds and weird fluctuations, and just see it through!
* * * * *
Here are a few EASY low carb meal ideas for you, then after that you’ll find some tips & helpful information to prepare you for the Summer Low Carb Mini-Challenge that starts tomorrow…
This is what I ate over the weekend, basically just three different meals – plus I made up some low carb bread so I’ll give you the recipe for that. It’s so easy to make!
Let’s start with this beautiful BBQ Kentucky Legend Center Cut Pork Chop I made on Saturday. 🙂 They are pre-cooked so it only takes about 8 minutes to heat/brown it on both sides. I made Pictsweet Italian Pole Green Beans to go with it.
I used the Guy’s Sugar Free BBQ Sauce that I got in my Keto Krate on this pork chop, and it was amazingly delicious!
I wasn’t sure how a sugar free bbq sauce would “cook” – meaning, would it stick to the meat?? But it did! 🙂
I fell in love with the BBQ sauce, lol. It was SO good, so next I’m going to make BBQ Cheeseburgers with it. I’ll probably mix an egg and a handful of spinach into the hamburger meat, then fry it in the BBQ sauce so that it crisps / caramelizes to the outside, and top it with a favorite cheese. (Why the spinach? Because I love to “sneak spinach” into anything I can! lol…)
Spinach makes your hair grow faster and look healthier. 😉
Speaking of spinach, another EASY rich & delicious low carb meal I made and ate this weekend was chock FULL of spinach! I called it “oven stew” and you can find the recipe here: Easy Healthy Low Carb Oven Stew Recipe
I made up a huge pan of that so I would have plenty of food on hand through the weekend. And I still have about 1/3 of it left 🙂 lol. That makes low carbing so easy!
Another meal you’ll notice I eat a lot (as in: DAILY) is what I call “Low Carb Cereal” – basically just pecans, cottage cheese & berries.
I only use Daisy Brand cottage cheese (if you compare the label to any other brand on the shelf, you’ll see why!) and I only use 1/4 cup in my bowl, which is half a serving. The nuts & berries really take over the texture & flavor. 🙂
My usual mix is: 1/2 cup pecans, 1/4 cup cottage cheese & 4 small diced strawberries. Sometimes I had 1/8 cup (17.5 grams) of blueberries too, so it’s 5 or 6 net carbs and 85% healthy fats.
Pecans are the lowest carb highest fat nut on the list, so eating this daily helps me get healthy fats in for the day – easily. 🙂 Pecans don’t stall my weight loss at all, unlike some other nuts. I’m losing weight consistently eating this almost daily…
Easy Low Carb Bread Recipe
I got this super simple recipe from my mother more than five years ago, and it’s remained a favorite and a staple in my low carb lifestyle.
Everyone loves it! Especially the variations like Low Carb Sausage Biscuits or these beautiful low carb biscuits made with leftovers. 🙂
The low carb bread is SO easy to make. The recipe is very versatile and forgiving so feel free to use a different kind of cheese, make garlic cheese sticks, etc.
I used 1/2 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour but I usually use a whole cup. Plus 2 eggs, 2 tbsp melted butter & a 6 ounce bag of finely shredded parmesan. (Using half the almond meal still worked and lowered the carb count A LOT.)
I melt the butter, stir up the eggs, and mix it all together with my hands or a spoon. Patty it out on parchment paper whatever size and shape you prefer. Bake at 350 and flip to lightly brown both sides. I’m not sure how long it takes to cook them. It depends on the size you make anyway. Just keep an eye on them!
The carb count depends on the size & number and exact ingredients you use. I count the bag of Shredded Parmesan as 6 carbs, and some people don’t – or you may use a different cheese or brand. Use the MyFitnessPal Recipe Calculator to get accurate carb count & macros for your batch.
I made some up last night to eat with the rest of my “oven stew”. 🙂
I made them really small, and got 16 pieces out of the batch, so those came out to only half a carb each, or 1 carb for two. 🙂
LOL, messy! And yes, my clothes are falling off of me at this point. 😛 That’s a good problem to have though! I hope my easy low carb meal ideas help YOU have the same problem. 🙂
Preparing For The Summer Mini-Challenge
1. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning. This is the only true weigh, as your weight fluctuates 5 pounds or more throughout a single day.
2. Set up MyFitnessPal and record your weight there, and also log all of your meals.
This is how I have MyFitnessPal Set Up To Track Net Carbs.
That only works online, not on mobile/tablet.
Sometimes you’ll lose more inches than pounds, and it’s another great way to track your progress!
4. I’ll post a weigh-in thread in our Low Carb Challenge Group, and send you the link in the morning. Keep an eye out for that if you’re participating in the Facebook Group. 🙂
5. Read the Low Carb Mini-Challenge Details
6. I highly recommend you take a “before photo” today. Even with a short challenge, you should be able to SEE a difference in yourself… and you’ll regret not having pictures to compare! Sometimes the scales may not show much loss, but comparison photos tell a different story. 🙂
Have you decided what ONE thing you’re going to give up for the next 20 days, and which exercises you’ll do? Are you prepared with groceries or meal ideas for the kickoff this week? On Tuesday morning I’ll give you the weigh in thread link, and I’ll also give you some easy home workout ideas for the challenge too…
For some ideas, read this Healthy Low Carb Swaps post.
I’ll be making a “healthy swap” myself, exercising DAILY, and sharing my low carb meals and food diaries with you right here throughout the challenge. Stay tuned for the “Day One” post tomorrow, and let’s DO THIS. 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions!
I always look forward to hearing your thoughts & comments…
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. This was a long post but I hope you picked up some useful tips, easy low carb food ideas… and a little motivation! So many new people have joined us for the Summer Mini Challenge so I wanted to share some helpful tips & ideas with you as we kick this challenge off! 🙂 *cheers*
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
thank you so much for all your post and tips . you site has helped me so much Lynn. You look great by the way !!!
Omg good job
I’m with you! This is my first time “joining” a challenge…I’m not involved with Facebook, so I definitely like the fact you still encourage people to participate π I’ve done low carb off and on for several years…I just started again about 4 months ago.
I truly appreciate your truthfulness in all your struggles & victories…I’m determined to get this 50lbs off π
Thank you!! π
Great job! What scale do you use? I need to get a new one soon:) Thank you!
Hi Loni – this Eatsmart Scale is what I use: http://amzn.to/29vAXNY It comes with a FREE body tape measure, it’s inexpensive, it’s pretty π , it’s accurate, and the batteries last FOREVER – and I weigh daily! lol
It’s the one I have and I love it.
Can u use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Hi Jennifer,
Coconut Flour requires more liquid from what I understand. You’d need to Google “substituting coconut flour for almond meal” to figure that one out. I’ve never used it.
Ok, first things first ….. YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!! :).
I’m going to give this a shot, I didn’t do the 90 day challenge because honestly I just wasn’t ready to give up my 2 glasses of wine at night :(, I don’t know if I’m ready now but I really want to see if that is stalling my losing like I used to when doing LCHF. Also I really like Greek Yogurt and buy full fat Fage Total, 1/2 cup is 4.5g carbs, is there any reason why I shouldn’t be using the yogurt instead of the Daisy cottage cheese, which I also like btw.
Also I’m sure you’ve been so successful because of all the hiking and exercising you’re doing, along with of course you’ve been great on eating right. I’m 72yrs and I’m not hiking! LOL.
Anyway, just checking in, I read along every day but haven’t been participating because I’ve been so discouraged by not losing even when I’m really trying.
Thanks SO much for all of your help, tips and recipes. I’m going to give the LC biscuits another try, I did make them awhile ago but they turned into bricks LOL.
Thanks again,
Roye
Hi Roye,
You’ll see in tomorrow’s food diary that I make up the batter for the low carb bread, then cook only what I’m going to eat. The batter keeps well in the fridge. I even patty them all out (so I know how many pieces/servings for my recipe) and put them on parchment paper layers in the fridge (sealed of course). The only other trick is to NOT overcook them. π
If you MUST have your wine – no judgements here! – switch a low carb wine and have ONE glass instead of two. Just sip it slower. π I drink White Zinfandel which is 1 carb per ounce and I limit it to a 4 ounce glass when I have it.
Or switch to rum & diet coke, again just sipping. It’s zero carb. π
The hiking etc IS helping me tone up, but I am losing weight because I am staying so consistent at eating super low carb / high fat. I am only exercising to build muscle, not to lose weight. I tried this in the past (exercising consistently) while NOT eating low carb… and gained weight, lol.
The Daisy Brand cottage cheese is 4 carbs per 1/2 cup, so about the same. I only use half a serving – so 1/4 cup. Mixing it with other things, like pecans which are very high fat, makes a bigger bowl of food. π You might try that, half a serving!
Ah Ha! I didn’t know you didn’t cook the whole recipe (batter) of the LC biscuits, I will try that, thank you. And thanks too for the suggestion of maybe one glass of wine, I try that but then always have “just one more glass” LOL. I drink cabernet, it’s 3g carbs for a 5 oz serving. I do like rum & diet coke but it’s not the alcohol I like it’s the wine :). I’m going to just have one and see how that goes.
I was doing your “breakfast cereal” every morning for a long time, then switched to yogurt and liked that better.
Thanks for all of your help.
I am so going to try this bread bite recipe in the next few days. I wonder if it will work right with monterey jack cheese as i have an overabundance at the moment lol. One question though.. what did you use to scoop out the dough/batter to get consistency in size? It looks like an ice cream scoop would be too large.
lol I used my fingers/hands. π I just pattied them out in the palm of my hand. And yes, ANY cheese will work! The recipe is very versatile and forgiving, which is what I love about it so much. π
Roye
i love my greek yogurt i use the light and fit brand which is 9 carbs per container it does not have sugar but some fructose which can cause stalls
ALL greek yogurt is fat free even Fage. I add almonds to my greek yogurt for my macros or fat calories
i also tried the Dannon triple zero greek yogurt which is sweetened only with stevia. It shows a little bit higher carb,count but ot has fiber added. (INULIN….which is a prebiotic fiber) so when you deduct the fiber it is 9 net carbs per full container.
i may cut down or give up my yogurt for this challenge to see if that is what is stalling my weight loss.
There is a lower carb yogurt called Carb masters. 4 carbs per serving……but i am not crazy about the flavor and consistency. It is regular yogurt not greek yogurt which is smoother and creamier. It also has more artificial ingredients and preservatives that my greek yogurt does not have
Fage yogurt contains sugar i think and that will stall your weight loss.
All yogurt has carbs because it is made from milk….even the plain unsweetened variety.
Hi Gina, thanks for your reply, as I mentioned above there is a full fat yogurt that I like, it’s the Fage Total and is 100% calories from fat, 5.5 grams of fat per 1/2 cup. I really like it. I get mine at Fresh Market, you can’t find it most places, they only have the 2% of 0%. It does have sugar but so does the Daisy Cottage Cheese.
Good Luck to both of us :).
Hi Lynn,
I really enjoy your posts/recipes AND pictures! They are all so helpful!
I wasn’t ready for the 90 day challenge last time, but I started early on this 3 week challenge, so I’m good to go. I have been eating your breakfast daily now, and I didn’t think I’d like it, but I lOVe it! It’s got that crunch that I missed from cereal.
Silly question for you: How do you get your My fitness pal to look the way it is, when you do screenshots for us? I can’t seem to attach a picture, but it’s below the What are Macronutrients? Post from 7/2015. I’d love for mine to look like that on Mobile & Desktop.
Thank you for continuing to help us lose weight, and thank you for your ‘real’ experiences. I LOVE that you are not so much of a cooker, too. π
I missed “cereal” too – that’s why I came up with that breakfast combo. π
The desktop version of MyFitnessPal is the only one that will calculate Net Carbs, and you have to set up this hack (it’s free): http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4448/myfitnesspal-hack/ It doesn’t work on the mobile app or tablets though.
HI Lynn, Starting the challenge today, but yesterday, I ate the Wendys Summer Berry Salad and mercy! When I added it to mfp is was 41 carbs! Yes, I had the dressing and everything except the apple chips. And here I thought I was doing so good, lol live and learn! Glad that was yesterday too! I plan to give up my Michelob ultra for the next 20 days. I don’t drink it all the time, but when I do , I notice it does stall my weight loss. I will see if that makes a difference. Good luck with your coffee, I feel for you. I now limit myself to 2 cups a day and I switched to hwc and French vanilla sf syrup, from sf coffeemate powder. Seems to be pretty good so far. Thanks for all your suggestions and help! Good luck toning!
Hi Julie,
One thing I always do is look things up before I decide what to order, or before I eat it. Your salads for example: https://www.wendys.com/en-us/salads You can usually find the nutrition facts online or even on your mobile. π I find that helps me make good decisions about what to eat, and tracking it first helps me make more mindful choices (vs mindless eating, which is easy to do lol).
I like Mich Ultra too, it’s my preference for a beer. π They are 2.6 carbs per 12 ounce bottle. But outside of the carbs, the real issue is that alcohol metabolizes SO much slower than food – and first – so it creates what’s known as “the alcohol stall.”
Any idea how the stew would freeze? I was thinking about freezing some individual servings to have for quick meals when I fail to plan.
Hi Kristen π It should freeze very well. I would use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead though, because they always stay so tender. My chicken breast did too, but freezing & reheating I wouldn’t take the chance. Plus chicken thighs are cheaper and taste better. π