Join us for the Fall 2016 Low Carb Challenge!
I had strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, spinach, eggs, sausage, pecans and almonds yesterday.
All made into super easy low carb meals, of course. 🙂
I tend to eat very simple. There are tons of great low carb recipes online, but I find it harder to track servings of recipes – and of course more expensive and messier in the kitchen. 😛 lol.
Easy is GOOD!
I also like to eat as few foods together as possible, keeping my food combinations to a minimum. You’ll notice I often just have 3 or 4 foods max on a plate. I call that “3IMAX” and you can read more about it here: 3 Ingredients Rule.
Here’s what I ate yesterday, along with my MyFitnessPal food diary, to give you some meal ideas and see how I track things.
Friday’s Low Carb Meals
I started the day with my favorite low carb breakfast: 1/2 cup crushed pecans, 1/4 cup Daisy brand cottage cheese, 4 small diced strawberries and 1/8 cup (17.5 grams) of blueberries = 6 net carbs and 85% healthy fat.
For lunch I cooked up a BIG skillet of sausage & spinach, then fried two eggs on top of 1/4 of it (I put the other 3 portions away to eat on the rest of the weekend).
I love to get spinach in any way I can. 🙂
Sausage and spinach are delicious together!
You can add an ounce or two of cream cheese to make it creamy, and that’s also great for making stuffed mushrooms or stuffed squash.
I used Tennessee Pride pork sausage – but you can use any ground meat. I keep frozen spinach on hand too. My favorite is Pictsweet cut leaf spinach that steams right in the bag. It makes a great side dish, or you can put it in hamburger steaks or something like this low carb oven stew.
I steamed the spinach first and drained the water. I cooked the sausage in a skillet, and about halfway through added the spinach and finished cooking the sausage.
Once the sausage was done, I took out the 3 extra servings and put that away – then fried two eggs on a serving of the sausage & spinach. It reminds of making fried eggs on corned beef hash. 🙂 Yum!
It was DELICIOUS of course! 🙂
You could easily add chopped onions and peppers, or whatever else you might prefer to “dress it up” a bit. Like I said earlier, I eat pretty simple and plain.
That was a HUGE plate of food and very filling, and it was a later lunch… so I didn’t really feel like another BIG meal at dinner.
When I got hungry again last night I just grabbed something simple.
It’s 1 ounce of Philadelphia cream cheese, 1 ounce (28 grams) of Blue Diamond almonds and 1/8 cup frozen raspberries – all thawed out & juicy.
That was delicious together! It’s a favorite. 🙂 And at 5 net carbs and 280 calories, it totally satisfied me. I didn’t have much of an appetite last night.
Why bother with complicated recipes when you can just throw it all on a plate and enjoy “real food” as it is? It’s beautiful and yummy!
Here’s My MyFitnessPal Diary for Friday:
Macronutrients: Simple Explanation Of Low Carb Macros
How To Get A Net Carbs Column in MyFitnessPal
Calories: 1411
Net Carbs: 21
Total Carbs: 34
Protein: 64 Grams
80% Fat, 15% Protein
Water: 56 ounces
I just tracked my package… and my August Keto Krate will arrive TODAY! 🙂
I’m so excited, lol. I know there are low carb brownies in the box, and some other cool low carb products. I cannot wait to try the brownies!!
You can see what’s in the August box here. They are shipping daily right now, so if you sign up you’ll get the August box too (until they run out). 😉
That perked me up. I’ve been kinda “blah” this week. Tired, busy with work, dealing with paperwork hassles, etc. I’m SO glad it’s the weekend. 🙂 My weekends are calm and quiet (the opposite of some of you, I know!) so it’s nice to slow down the pace.
We’re expecting storms & rain here in Tennessee too, so I may grab my rainboots and romp in the rain a bit with my great dane. 🙂 It’s been entirely too hot to walk him lately, especially with our humidity, and I miss getting out for playtime with Slim!
How are things going for you?
It’s day 6 today. How are you doing so far?
What meals do you have planned for the weekend?
I think I’m going to make veggies in Alfredo broth to go with my pork chops…
Leave a comment and let’s talk!
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
Linda Lambert says
Your MFP shows Coffee Mate on most days and you never have it in the discussion.
Are you drinking 7 ounces of coffee mate as a snack?
Freezing it as an ice cream?
The rest of your food is clean real food, Flavored coffee mate daily surprises me!
Lynn Terry says
Yes, I had 7 LARGE mugs of coffee yesterday, each mug is probably 18 ounces of coffee with 1 TBSP of powdered creamer in it.
I went through this whole thing a couple weeks ago trying to swap that creamer for something else, and ended up gaining weight – lol. I tried BPC, just butter, just HWC, just black (blech! haha).
The conclusion is… I drink entirely too much coffee, lol. π But yes, it’s the one “frankenfood” as I lovingly call it that I was trying to swap out of my daily diet. I recently got some coconut cream and am trying that with hazelnut coffee next week.
But in the end, I had to go back to the powdered creamer I love so much (for now) because I’m losing weight SO fast lately – and gaining did NOT appeal to me. π
Nichole H says
I just ordered my first Keto Krate, I so excited. I have been waiting to try it and after your reviews I will give it a go.
Lynn Terry says
Very cool Nichole. π They are shipping daily right now, so you should get the August box too within a few days. π
Linda Lambert says
Thanks, I just found you at the beginning of the 90 day challenge so missed the post a couple of weeks ago. You are not listing your coffee so I was just seeing the creamer and wondered about it.
I have enjoyed the simplicity and of your foods and have adopted your breakfast as a snack. I drink one cup of coffee with heavy cream as my breakfast.
I understand having one Frankenfood. I started drinking Diet A&W root beer with heavy cream as a TV snack occasionally. It satisfies my sweet tooth.
I got my Aug. Keto Krate yesterday. I am leaving on vacation today, so will wait until I get home to try the items. My initial reaction is they should have packed better, my bag of SeaSalt Protings are crumbled. I thought I was getting last months package and thought it was the last one in their supply.
Lynn Terry says
I had a major meltdown over the coffee thing, lol – don’t worry about missing THAT haha. π
I’m getting my Keto Krate today, so I’ll see how mine arrives. My last (and first) box came in perfect condition so I am surprised to hear that!
ENJOY your vacation!! π *cheers*
jamie says
My protings were a little crushed too but wow they are so good, I didn’t even care!! I immediately ordered them on Amazon! I am so happy I tried Keto Krate!
Lynn Terry says
My box JUST arrived. Can’t wait to dig in and see what all is inside!! π
Lisa says
Hey Lynn,
I look forward to all your daily posts and appreciate all the motivation! I was here during the coffee discussion and understood it was a group consensus for you to keep your original choice. BUT (there’s always a but- lol) I thought it was sf powdered cream? I have given up my morning coffee with coffee mate cream- omg – does this mean you would think I could go back to enjoying my 1 tbs of real coffee mate? Thanks for all you do for this group!
Lynn Terry says
Hi Lisa π
It IS sugar free hazelnut powdered coffee-mate creamer. I don’t think ONE tbsp of coffee-mate cream is going to hurt you at all. If it fits within your total carb limit for the day, and it should! – then enjoy it!:)
Trudy Allen says
I have been on track since July 29th and that is HUGE for me, as I have not been able (for whatever reason) to stick with anything for quite some time. Your posts have helped me immensely, so THANK YOU! I am down 3 pounds and feel like I have the right mind set. Will be on vacation the next 2 weeks and am determined to not get off track!
Lynn Terry says
That’s awesome, Trudy! π Low carb is EASY compared to so many other “diets” – which is why I chose this method when I originally wanted to lose weight. I’m so glad I did, because there are so many other benefits!
ENJOY your vacation. π I love eating low carb on the go. It’s FUN to try all the creative combinations and low carb food options along the way. I kind of make a game of it.:) It’s so nice not to have to cook/clean while traveling, and all the different low carb foods you can find / come up with. π Have fun!
Trudy Allen says
Thank you Lynn! So nice to have encouragement and support! Lots of fishing and peaceful days ahead!
Lynn Terry says
Ahh, that sounds SO nice! I used to love fly fishing – bait fishing too, but fly fishing was my favorite. π
Take along almonds, pecans, cheeses, sliced cucumbers, etc in a ziploc bag. I find being outdoors works up an appetite and I always pack a fun little mix of low carb foods!
Trudy Allen says
Will do!!
kay says
i am making a bacon cheeseburger casserole. last time i made it i planned on having leftovers for the week. well the family loved it so much we had leftovers for only 2 days! π
Lynn Terry says
That sounds delicious, Kay! I’m off to make up my spinach & sausage with eggs for a late lunch, lol. I probably should have just made half a batch of that. π I’ll be tired of it before I eat it all! π
brenda kohler says
i got my keto box and chips half crushed but good. liked the stuff in the box. only got 1 coupon for a $1 off…very disappointed!
Lynn Terry says
I wonder if they came that way to Keto Krate, because the box seems packed well. I just opened mine. π
As for the coupons, look on the sheet labeled “The Goods” in your box. There are SIX coupons / discount codes! They’re all good too – $5 off, 10 / 15 / 20% off…
Trish says
I’ve been reading your site for a few weeks now and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy it! I’ve been trying to keep my meals simple like yours as well. I have a husband and two kids so don’t want to cook any additional meals for myself. I hear you on the coffee addiction with your “not clean” creamer. I’m addicted to Walgreens no sugar added chocolate covered peanuts. The whole bag is 2.5 carbs and they are awesome and since I have zero self control I like that I can eat the whole bag. I know they are not good for me ect ect… I have to have something to look forward to though! π thanks for doing your site, it’s really helped me!
Lynn Terry says
I must go to Walgreens today. π lol – those sound fabulous!! I’m not a food snob. I think we all have to enjoy our life and our meals (and our coffee!! haha). It’s important to start out just keeping it simple, lose weight and deal with the whole lifestyle change – and for me, weight issues.
I do find I’m eating cleaner and cleaner as I go, I think that’s a natural progression, but not something that can be forced on you, or that anyone should push on anyone.
I’m healthier now than I’ve EVER been. When I first started I still used margarine (I didn’t know any better, and it’s zero carb! lol) and drank 6+ diet cokes a day – among other things. I still lost weight of course. It’s really just about figuring it out as you go, and improving as you go.
But I see nothing wrong with your peanut affair. π
Gina says
Lyn. That does not sound right. 2.5 Gms of carbs for a whole bag of no sugar added peanuts because peanuts have carbs alone. I would have to inspect that label closely. It has to be net carbs for one thing but still the peanuts have carbs.
I am OCD when it comes to label reading. I do not trust these makers of low carb and diet foods. A lot of them are trying to push their products to unsuspecting people who do not pay close attention to labels. Not only that but The serving size is the think you have to note carefully.
Lynn Terry says
I have to check this one out for myself. π I have a Walgreens down the road, and it’s actually one of my favorite stores – and if the label IS correct, that will be something I’ll really enjoy!
brenda kohler says
oh ok i was looking for actual coupons
Lynn Terry says
Glad you found them! π *cheers*
Brenda says
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for your advice on increasing my fats. I have finally broken my plateau. By the way, that cream cheese, raspberry and almond mix is so appealing. I must try that with strawberries. Not to fund of raspberries, lol.
Lynn Terry says
I’m so glad. π Increasing my fat to 70-75% consistently is what broke my plateau too! I love all kinds of berries. The salty almonds are nice with the creamy & sweet, but just berries & cream cheese is like cheesecake to me. π Enjoy!
Gina says
I love the way you keep your meals simple
i can see where it would be hard to track complex recipes. I have not tried hardly any recipes though i really want to make your cookie recipe though i don’ t trust myself not to eat the whole bunch. Lol. π
Why is it that we ( me) have more problems with overeating on sweets or even low carb treats than anything else
i guess if you bake only what you need for the day then i will be ok with the low carb cookies. I think that is what you did.
Your blog posts about eating out low carb really helped me today
When i was ordering i thought to myself….what would lyn order. π
I ordered a steak with a side salad. Then a spinach and artichoke dip. ( i know u love spinach haha) but it came with chips
i asked if i could get veggies instead….celery and cucumber slices
then i asked for a side of avacado
i was proud of my choices
you were right…even though it is not on the menu most restaurants have avacado and cucumber slices……i will have lots of leftivers i am sure for days. Lol. π 22
Gina says
*leftovers. I mean. I do not know how the #22 got at the end of my sentence. Lol.
Lynn Terry says
That sounds like a FABULOUS meal, Gina! π YUM! It’s so nice to create your own delicious combinations, taking what they have on the menu or in the kitchen – especially when they’re more than happy to accommodate. π
I love leftovers too. I often order more than I’ll eat just so I’ll have some to enjoy later, for other meals.:)