The Fall 2016 Low Carb Challenge kicked off yesterday with a bang!
What an amazing community of “losers” coming together for awesome results!
If you have any questions about the challenge or eating low carb, check that challenge link above. There are helpful links that should answer any questions you have. Otherwise you can leave a comment there or here. I’m happy to help any way I can!
I have been eating very low carb consistently for something like 120 days straight now, and did incredibly well during the last two challenges! I started this challenge at 141.2 pounds, up just slightly from my all-time low of 139.8 pounds.
I’m VERY close to my goal weight at this point, so my goal for this challenge is to continue eating healthy and low carb, and also to exercise consistently and get in amazing shape! I’m anxious to TONE UP this leaner body. 🙂
I am doing the challenge with you of course, so I thought I’d share what I’ve been eating for the past couple of days to give you some ideas and live examples…
Sunday’s Low Carb Meals
My low carb breakfast on Sunday was a simple plate of 3 scrambled eggs with colby jack cheese. Eggs are .4 carbs each, so 3 eggs is 1.2 carbs. I use real (block) cheese and measure it on my Ozeri Kitchen Scale so I can track my macros properly.
Earlier in the weekend I made up a big batch of Low Carb BBQ Spinach Burgers. I like to cook up plenty if I cook at all (lol) to make for easy meals for a day or two.
I used Guy’s Sugar Free BBQ Sauce on these hamburger steaks, and when I reheated it for lunch I just put it in the oven and topped it with Colby Jack cheese.
Delicious! 🙂
That was a pretty filling (and late) lunch so I wasn’t in the mood for a big dinner. I just had an easy low carb snack later that night of Blue Diamond almonds (28 grams) and a Laughing Cow creamy swiss wedge (1 carb).
Just like with the cheese, I measure my almonds out in ounces. I’ve found that’s the only accurate way to measure them for proper food logging.
That’s my Ozeri Kitchen Scale. I love it! Small, inexpensive & convenient!
Here’s My MyFitnessPal Diary for Sunday:
Calories: 1408
Net Carbs: 12
Total Carbs: 16
Protein: 115 Grams
63% Fat, 34% Protein
Exercise: Ab Carver Pro (100 Reps)
PLUS: 15 Tricep Dips
Water: 24 ounces
Monday’s Low Carb Meals
My low carb breakfast yesterday was a fun plate of low carb foods! 🙂 It’s 2 ounces of Oscar Mayer sliced rotisserie chicken, 1 ounce of colby jack cheese, 28 grams of Blue Diamond almonds, and 17.5 grams of hand-picked blueberries. (4 net carbs)
I had errands to run later in the morning, including my quest to find Halo Top low carb ice cream – which has proven to be quite the quest! 😛 lol. None of my local stores carry it, so a 2-hour round trip and three Kroger stores later… I finally found it!
Obviously I needed to head back pretty quick after that, with an hour drive on a hot August day in Tennessee – and ice cream in the car! I was famished though, and there was nothing around but a McDonald’s and a Burger King.
I do best at Hardee’s where you can get a lettuce wrapped burger or sandwich, and where I know what to order. I had to “wing it” at Burger King knowing I would be driving and in heavy traffic, so I just asked for two hot dogs without buns…
That was NOT great, but it got me by at least. 😛
For dinner I finished off my last spinach burger. I made some broccoli to go with it this time. It’s Pictsweet frozen broccoli florets, and I just added salt and real butter.
The hamburger steak is FULL of spinach! That made for a delicious meal. And plenty of greens. 🙂
Here’s the recipe for the BBQ Spinach Burgers again.
There’s a cool tip in that post anytime you’re making hamburgers or hamburger steaks, so they don’t puff up on you – and you don’t have to squeeze all the juices out flattening them. It makes for juicy delicious burgers!
Here’s My MyFitnessPal Diary for Monday:
Macronutrients: A Simple Explanation Of Low Carb Macros
How To Get A Net Carbs Column in MyFitnessPal
I didn’t really eat anything too exciting the last couple of days. I’m just keeping it simple, and super low carb – and easy. 🙂
I knocked myself out of ketosis Saturday night testing the Arctic Zero low carb ice cream. You can see in my food diary above that I tested the Halo Top low carb ice cream last night. Stay tuned for my review & comparison! They’re quite different…
I love that I’m finding great low carb alternatives to my old favorites. It keeps me from wanting to stray off plan, like the low carb grilled cheese for example.
I’ve been tempted to swing into Sonic for a big greasy grilled cheese lately, so I just need to order the Low Carb Everything Bread and make my own – because those are so much better!
How are things going for you?
It’s day 2 today. How are you doing so far? 🙂
Leave a comment and let’s talk!
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. I got notification yesterday that my next Keto Krate is on it’s way, so I’ll have some fun new low carb products to try when that gets here! Here’s a Sneak Peek at what’s coming in the next box: August Keto Krate Sneak Peek! They’re shipping out daily so if you sign up now, you’ll get that same box too. 😉





Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER

I envy your simple meals! Cooking for a family of 5 with everyone running in different directions every night is exhausting! I try to just keep it simple but it has its challenges!
I am on day 2 with you and will follow this challenge thru! I’ve got 13 eggs in my Instant Pot. Have you heard of one? Check out the reviews on Amazon, it’s quite amazing! Maybe they’ll send one to you for review! Lol
I’ll check that out, Barb. π I just found it: http://amzn.to/2at6mVe That may be too fancy for MY kitchen, haha.
I remember those days very well… that’s about the time it became “make your own” at my house, lol. Simple IS nice. When I do have company or the kids home, it’s easy enough to make a meat and green and maybe a starchy vegetable for them too.
I do still cook enough for a family if I cook at all. I just have to eat it for DAYS. lol…
Hi Lynn,
Is there a way we could get access to copy meals in your Myfitnesspal? I see others sharing user names, but I am not sure how that works. Thanks
Hi Lonnie,
My MyFitnessPal account is private because I do testing in mine, but I publish my food diaries here every day. There’s no way to copy other people’s meals anyway, but you can easily see how I enter mine in these updates.
Copy entries, I mean. You can easily eat the same meals. π
HUNGRY! I followed Atkins Induction Phase guidelines pretty strictly for the first month of low carbing. Only once in awhile I would feel a little hungry. For the last two days I have been starving. I’ve lost 9lbs since the first of July. I’m probably not eating enough fat, as you have said, but I’m having a hard time incorporating fatty things in my diet. Today I will be on the run taking a friend to her PT appointment an hour away. She wants to buy me lunch at Steak and Shake. !!! I will have to break the news about my diet to her. LOL I’m planning on only getting a diet drink as a treat and taking some snacks….nuts…not sure what else. One thing I love about LC is I NEVER crave things. π
Hi Gaye,
I have “hungry days” sometimes too – usually right before my scales drop. π But yes, make sure you get at least 70% of your calories in healthy fats. Pecans are a great snack, because they are very high fat and very low carb.
Use chicken thighs instead of breasts. Those are cheaper too. π Avocado is great. I love it fried/browned in real butter. That’s delicious!
Go to Steak & Shake today! Get a burger without the bun. π
I grabbed a quick snack of 1 oz of cheese and 1 oz of pecan halves not long after posting the above comment. Wow! No longer hungry and much lessctired feeling. I had the bacon double cheeseburger (no bun) and a diet Coke at Steak n Shake and throughly enjoyed it. I wasn’t real sure how to track the burger – just added it as a 4oz. grilled patty, added bacon and cheese separately.
That’s what I do too, Gaye – I put the items in individually based on how much I ate. I find that easiest. π I’m so glad you satisfied your hunger AND enjoyed lunch out with your friend!
I ma having trouble with my fitness pal! For some reason I noticed my Net Carb coloumn is gone! I have tried to reset but no luck. Any advise on this?
Hi Billie,
Uninstall it and reinstall it – make sure you activate it. And restart your browser and/or computer. Sometimes mine acts up too. That usually fixes it!
Oh boy, how do I uninstall
l it?
Hmm, it depends which browser you use. You can google that “uninstall chrome addon” or “uninstall firefox addon” – but look in the top right corner of your browser for options there…
Oh, ok!! Thanks!
It worked Lynn, thank you!! I’ll remember what to do when it happens again!
After a weekend of off plan eating i managed to gain 2 lbs by monday Argh! I had pizza and salad one day. Sunday was low carb using guys sf bbq sauce on my wings and ribs. It was yummy. The problem was my ice cream and snacking too much even though low carb. I ate a big bowl of sf ice cream two days in a row. And Saturday i stopped for a light ice cream cone. It was sooo not worth it.
i am so over trying to eat ice cream for a while
finally today i am down two pounds again i lost 5 lbs on the last challenge but still up one the off plan meals and cheats were so not worth it.
I would like to try the halo top ice cream but i could see myself eating the whole pint
And it has organic cane sugar in its ingredientd
i wonder why they Have to use real sugar in its ingredients but advertise only the erythritol and stevia as to how they sweetened it. I guess it is a good alternative to real ice cream but i do not think it fits in for the keto woe cause of the real sugar in it
i am happy to be back on track. I am absolutely not going backwards.
I made my sf chocolate covered strawberries yesterday. Very delicious and very low carb. I sprinkled them with unseeetened coconut flakes….
it made for a very nice low carb treat!
Those strawberries sound amazing. π I hear you on it not being worth it. I thought about enjoying my favorite off plan meal, since I was already out of ketosis from the whole pint of lower carb ice cream Saturday night… but I just STILL do not have a strong enough desire for “junk food” – or for the amount of time it takes me to lose the weight again. It comes on SO fast, and takes me weeks to lose it. π Ugh!
I don’t mind the “real sugar” ingredient in the low carb ice cream. My only problem with it is eating ONLY one serving, so it doesn’t knock me out of ketosis. It doesn’t take very many grams of sugar to send me into keto flu. Double ugh, lol.
I’m guessing it’s not “added sugar” but maybe from the milk or some ingredient.
The ingredient states: organic cane sugar
I would like to try it anyway π
lol, that’s probably why it tasted so darn good! I really liked the Mint Chip. It reminds me of the peppermint ice cream I love so much during the holidays… YUM.
I love mint chip ice cream
i think the Halo top might be the best alternative to regular ice cream. I DO plan on trying it but not right now.
I am going to try to make the chia seed pudding using coconut milk. There are a lot of recipes for this. I can eat it for breakfast sometimes instead of the lc cereal
i can add berries and pecans on top of the pudding too. I need to change it up sometimes yesterday i had the lc cereal two times. For dinner i used lc yogurt instead of cottage cheese π it was good too but i prefer it with the cottage cheese.
Hi Lynn and low carbers,
I have joined your challenge in hopes of breaking a plateau and being dedicated to logging my meals in MFP. Since mid June, I have lost 12 happy lbs. I have also hit a fluctuating 2 lb plateau for the last 3 weeks. I have changed my macros a bit to increase my fats and will be getting in some exercise. Thanks for all your encouragement and meal sharing through this wonderful site.
Congrats, Brenda! That’s a great loss. π The fluctuations and “holds” are totally normal, but tracking super close will definitely help. It’s VERY eye opening. π
Getting at least 70% of your calories in healthy fats is really important too. My weight loss tends to stall otherwise.
I love low carb living… I have lost 30 lbs. since Feb this year and that includes fighting the weight gain of hypothyroidism. About the ice cream, I bought a counter top ice cream maker (Amazon) and use 2 cups of coconut or Almond milk and 2 cups of half and half 1 tbs vanilla flav. 2 tbs butter flavoring 1/2 cup granulated Splenda and chopped pecans. You can tell my favorite is butter pecan. You could modify to your favorite flavor. Point is, you don’t have to suffer thru not having goodies you crave. I need to add I do this about every other week and try to not get so use to this indulgence. The more sweet I eat, the more I want.
Wow, Cindy – congrats on losing 30 pounds this year already!! π KUDOS! And thank you for the homemade ice cream recipe. That sounds delicious! I’m not one to spend much time (or want to make much mess, lol) in the kitchen, but I’m sure others here will really appreciate that. π
Hi Lynn Terry, I am enjoying you blog vey much. You have helped and inspired me to stay on track with low carb! I now eat the cottage cheese ‘cereal’ regularly and love it. Though I may not be keeping strict track of my carbs, I am consistently loosing weight. Thanks for sharing your story and recipies, grateful in Canada
Thank you, Pamela. π I haven’t eaten my usual “low carb cereal” the last few days and it really messed up my macros, lol. I had it this morning though. π
I’m glad to hear you’re inspired, and seeing good results! If you ever feel like you’ve stalled or hit a plateau with your weight loss, tracking will definitely help. I use MyFitnessPal and find it really easy.
I just bought an ice cream maker last week and can’t wait to try Cindy’s recipe! Thanks!
It does sound delicious. π
I really like the Halo Top ice cream, and the Brownie Blast Arctic Zero ice cream, but testing them both has me 2 1/2 pounds higher on the scales – lol. π
Hi. I have lost about 18 pounds since May 1st. Thanks for all the information and support. Now our whole household is eating low carb and some of my friends have joined me. I work at a church and am always eating on the run and having evening meetings. Tonight I enjoyed McDonald’s Bacon Club House Burger with out the bun and NO fries. So so good. Thanks again for this wonderful woe!
Wow Judi, that’s great! π Congrats on your weight loss. I know exactly how 18 pounds GONE feels, so you must be quite happy about that. π It’s really nice your family and friends are joining in too. That sounds like fun!!
Well day 1 was great for me. I kept it simple and resisted any cravings for LC candies or treats. I’m really wanting to speed up my weight loss so I’m trying my best to stay away from all the “goodies” until I do so.
My meals monday were:
B: bpc, 2 fried eggs, 2 slices bacon
L: chicken salad on a bed if romaine lettuce (chicken, mayo, celery, spices)
D: No bun Philly cheese steak (steak, cheese, mushroom), diet dr pepper
S: mozzarella string cheese, 1/4 c pecans
I had a total of 11 net carbs. 80%fat, 17% protein, 3% carbs and drank 70oz water.
You have such great numbers, Justine! All of your meals sound delicious too. π I’ll be interested to see if that does speed up your weight loss this go round!