This week in the low carb challenge we’re doing a “3IMAX Mini-Challenge” which just means three ingredients max per meal or plate.
See: The 3-Ingredients Rule for details & meal examples.
It’s a way of simplifying your meals, and making smarter more deliberate food choices. It also makes your meals easier to track. 🙂
On that note, this is a REALLY good read: Healthy Low Carb Swaps. It has 5 great tips for improving your low carb diet with healthier choices and for faster weight loss. Enjoy!
I kept my meals super simple yesterday…
Challenge Details | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
Day 8: Monday’s Low Carb Meals
For breakfast I skipped my usual berries and just ate cottage cheese & pecans. The Daisy brand cottage cheese only has cultured skim milk, cream & salt – just three ingredients, which makes it the best brand on the shelf. 😉 Not to mention it tastes better than other brands.
Anyway, it was just 1/4 cup cottage cheese and 1.5 servings of pecans (3/8 cup, or 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup). It was 3 net carbs and 85% healthy fats.
When I went out to run an errand, I picked up some back & grilled tenderloin. A zero carb plate! I was craving bacon for some reason. 🙂 I got this from a little local “greasy spoon” type place that makes real breakfast. They always make the best tenderloin!
When I picked up my take-out night before last, I actually got two meals – so I had the second one for dinner last night. It was just plain grilled chicken with broccoli & cauliflower.
I didn’t finish the bacon & tenderloin earlier in the day, so I had the rest of it later last night – along with a block of colby jack cheese. It made for a quick & easy late snack when I got hungry again. 🙂
Here’s My MyFitnessPal Diary for Monday:
Here’s how & what I track, and how I get Net Carbs in MyFitnessPal.
Calories: 1427
Net Carbs: 13
Total Carbs: 20
Protein: 129 Grams
Macro Ratios: 56% Fat, 40% Protein
Exercise: None
FitBit Steps: 3,219
Water: 24 ounces
Starting Weight: 154.6
Current Weight: 151.2 pounds
Weight Loss (so far): 3.4 pounds
My weight is really bouncing around this time for some reason. It’s common for me to see it “hold” for days at a time, but the up and down is interesting this time around.
I’m just glad it’s going in a general downward direction. 🙂 It does seem to do this more when I get closer to the 150 pound mark. I’ve noticed that in the past…
My macros were off yesterday – lower fat, higher protein than usual. I’ll have to work on that today, as I continue to eat simple. 😉 I also didn’t get any exercise in yesterday. I’ve had my head down working on business taxes this week. Ugh, lol.
How did you do on Day Eight?
Leave a comment below, and let’s do this together!!
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. You can subscribe by email below to get my Daily Food Diaries throughout the Low Carb Challenge sent straight to your inbox. That way you’ll never miss great (easy!) low carb meal ideas. 😉
I have been thinking about going on a low carb life journey.
Thank you for making it look so easy as I am a person on the go all the time. I run a concession stand during baseball season every night, this is my downfall! I do not want to pack on another 10 lbs this season.
My question to you is what do you suggest when it comes to coffee creamer. I am a 4 – 5 coffee cup drinker a day with flavored creamer. Which should I use? A fat free, sugar free or original?? Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
FYI – I need to lose about 95 lbs.
Hi Roberta,
I drink a lot of coffee, so that was my biggest hurdle when I first got started. I started off using heavy cream (heavy whipping cream or half & half) with Splenda. Now I’m using the Coffee-Mate sugar free powdered hazelnut creamer (1 carb per TBSP) and I really like it. π
Join us this week!! You’ll be so glad you did. π
Lynn Terry, Thank you! I plan on starting tomorrow!!
I’m going to the store during my lunch today!!
I’m so glad, Roberta! π *cheers*
Roberta,
If you’re into flavored creamers you could also use Davinci or Torani Sugar free syrups with some heavy whipping cream. That’s what I use in my coffee. They have a ton of flavors and it’s sweetened with splenda so there’s no need to add extra splenda to it. They sell it online (I get mine from netrition.com) or they have select flavors in most grocery stores on the coffee aisles. Hope this helps and good luck!
Justine, Thank you for this info! I never thought about trying this!
I appreciate all the helpful tips / hints. I’m new at this so all is appreciated!
That’s where I get mine too, and they’re fabulous! You can find all the flavors here:
DaVinci Flavored Syrups: http://www.netrition.com/cgi/goto.cgi?pid=121-0010&aid=3558
Torani Flavored Syrups: http://www.netrition.com/cgi/goto.cgi?pid=204-0006&aid=3558
The great thing is they have a low flat rate shipping cost no matter how much you order. π
I love the Torani Irish cream and all i use is ” coffemate sugar free creamers. I am not a fan of HWC in my coffee. I prefer SF cofeemate and favoring syrups.
You can also get the SF syrups at TJ Maxx — and a couple of other stores. Even small bottles in the coffee sections of grocery stores.
My weight is also going down then up but with my weigh-in this morning I am down a total of 4.5 pds. Last night’s dinner was a whole roasted chicken and brussel sprouts, with some roasted red potatoes on the side for my husband. Thanks Lynn for all your help and encouragement.
That sounds like a great meal. π
The fluctuations are odd, I know – I just have to ignore them and keep eating good. I’m not sleeping well lately and also taking cold medicine off and on, so I’m sure that’s what is going on with me. When I don’t sleep enough, or don’t sleep well, it always affects my weight loss. π
Hi Lynn, I wanted to ask you about your coffee creamer. Are the ingredients in the creamer good and what brand do you use. Thank you.
Iβm using the Coffee-Mate sugar free powdered hazelnut creamer (1 carb per TBSP) and I really like it. It’s FULL of ingredients π but creamy and delicious. My one guilty pleasure, lol. π
It is my guilty pleasure too Lyn. I HAVE to have a good and flavorful coffee every morning or else i just cannot make it through my day. A coffee addict? I suppose so but i never drink more than two cups a day and it is always before noon. π
I’ve had a good and frustrating couple of days…lost 2 pounds! I am having a very difficult time getting logged into My fitness pal to document my food! I’ve been emailing back and forth, have tried all the “tricks” they suggested. If I can’t get in to my account today, I’m just going to bag it! Perhaps find another program to log – Atkins may have one?
Congrats on the pounds lost, Jill!
I wonder what’s going on with your account? Is it your log-in? Maybe you are trying to register instead of log in – that’s happened to me before. Or you could just create a new account maybe? I do hope you get it worked out. π I know there is an Atkins app but I’ve never used it. That would be worth checking out.
I was super hungry yesterday but stuck to plan.
B:BPC, 2 fried eggs, 2 sausage party’s
L:2 ham and colby jack cheese rollups, Oscar Meyer smoked sausage w/mustard to dip
D: 2 thin grilled pork chops, 1/2 cup green beans
S:diet dr pepper, 1oz colby jack cheese, 2 servings pecan peanut butter bar
Yesterday’s net carbs were 13 and I drank about 60oz of water
Sounds like a great day, Justine. π I was really hungry later yesterday and this morning too. Those take-out dinners I had the last two nights usually make two meals for me – and I ate them in one sitting this time lol.
Lol that’s funny. I honestly was looking forward to going to bed (which is only a few hours at a time because of the little one) so I wouldn’t be hungry lol. And it worked…I had a glass of water after my first “nap” and I was fine again until my next “nap” lol
I did good all day. I had the cottage cheese with strawberries and pecans for breakfast
Then i container of Oikos triple zero yogurt with almonds
Dinner was thw same
Pork rinds and sour creme….snack
My problem is i get snack attacks late evening
I had two SF popsicles
Then i had one more container of yogurt
I was really craving icecream but resisted…..
Then i had another SF popsicle( sf bombpop)
I got to stop this late night snacking.
I can do fine all day but nightime is a problem for me
I bought some SF natural organic crunchy PB yesterday
I was thinking of having a tsb of it for my snack in the evening. It only has 6 carbs per 2 tbs and 4 net carbs. Smuckers brand
I think the fat content in it would take care of my hunger for the night and keep me LC
Thank you Lyn for sharing you meals with us everyday. It is very motivating.
Hi Gigi,
What about trying larger / higher calorie lunch and dinner to help curb the snacking at night? I find it helps me to eat my carbs at night – helps me sleep better, that is. I should switch my “cereal” to my evening meal, lol. That might work for you too!
I might try that Lyn. The LC cereal breakfast is so filling. I might try it for one day. But i DO so look forward to that meal in the morning wuth my coffee. π
I may go back to my LC yogurt in the AM and then have my LC cereal at night.
Great idea. Lyn. π
I love it in the morning too. π I may have a bowl tonight too though, lol. I had an early dinner!
Great idea Lyn! The LC cereal breakfast is super filling. I love it!
Hey Gigi.
I too have a huge problem with late night snacking. For the past two nights, I chewed sugar free gum. That helped me a little. Hope it helps. π
I had my best results last week when I fasted through the day and ate in the afternoon/evening. Today I’m up 2 lbs! Although I’m still not back on track from camping. My tummy tells me so. And while I was good yesterday, when I got home, I had major junk food cravings!!! So I made myself some Keto Ranch dressing and dipped some pork rinds in it while making our dinner. I know this little splurge pushed my calories over the edge for the day, but I seriously needed it. Also my coffee has been upsetting my tummy a little – but seriously only since I wasn’t feeling well on Sunday evening, so maybe I have a little bug – there was a sick baby at the campsite that was apparently contagious (her mom came down with it the same evening I started feeling ill).
My food diary in general (I stopped tracking after I left work – may try to track it anyways, even though I know it’s bad)
Breakfast – Espresso w/ Cream & Stevia/Xylitol (i have this right after waking up @ 6:15)
Later Breakfast (around 10ish) – I tried your cottage cheese, pecan, strawberry dish π
Lunch – Pecans, Cheese stick, 6 olives, 1/2 avocado
Afternoon snack – 1/2 avocado, cheese stick
Pre-Dinner Snack – Pork Rinds and Keto ranch dressing
Dinner – 3 chicken drumsticks (baked), green bean fries (baked), 1 carrot stick (raw), keto ranch dressing to dip everything in (I LOVE that dressing)
I’m not feeling well either, and I think that may be why my scales are fluctuating on me the last few days. It has definitely been the case in the past. Plus I’m taking a cold/allergy med here and there. I say let it play out for a few days, get your stomach back on track, and take good care of yourself! Hot chicken broth out of a mug is great if you’re coming down with something, and may settle your stomach more too.
do you have to pay for the fitness app that you refer to in your blog?
No the app is free (I use the free version) and the hack I use to show Net Carbs is free too. Here’s what I use and how I have it set up: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4448/myfitnesspal-hack/ π
Hi there, just starting. I’m surprised at how little water you consume, isn’t that important! And do we need to be aware of caleries even though we are focused on 20 carbs a day??
Thanks
Sandy
Hi Sandy π
I eat a lot of foods high in water content. And no, you don’t need more than 64 ounces of water a day, and that includes water you get from your foods. See: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4884/how-much-water-should-i-drink/ π
You don’t have to watch calories. At first you want to keep it super simple and just eat 20 net carbs max, and get 70% fat minimum. Stick with that to start. The reason you don’t have to watch calories is because there is a science to the way this diet works. See: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4606/lchf-diet-explained/