Hello, I'm Sadie

[SadieH]

Could someone please advise me on what to eat for a low carb diet?

 

[janw]

Hi Sadie and welcome, by the way I love the name Sadie, wanted to name my second daughter that, but hubby wasn't keen sadly.
Low carb foods - if you do a google search for low carb recipes, or even keto recipes, there will be thousands to choose from. We do use substitutes for foods that are too high carb for us - and that is a personal thing for each of us - that is why most of us T2s self fund a BG meter. We test before a meal, then 2 hours after the first bite - we look for a rise of no more than 2-3 mmol. If it is higher than that, try reducing the portion size, otherwise use a substitute - ie cauliflower or celeriac mash, cauliflower rice. Meats have 0 carbs as have fish, cream is lower carb than milk, veggies that grow above the ground are best (except peas and sweetcorn, they are both high), berries are lower carb - tropical fruit including bananas are high. Look for low carb bread if you want that, breakfast cereals are too high but egg and bacon is fine - eggs are 0 carbs so great as snack if hard boiled and kept in the fridge. Anything made with white flour - cakes, pizza, pies etc are all high carb, but there is keto pastry to try out if you enjoy baking. We can still eat a lot of nice things, just have to change a few with substitutes, but you get used to that - and it is much healthier for us too.
Check out the "What I ate yesterday" thread in the food section, see what other T2s have eaten to give you some idea, but do check out google for recipes and ideas - the ones on the main site here can be carb-heavy, so be careful. If you aren't sure about something, just ask - someone will always get back to you 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

The quick answer is meat, fish, eggs, cheese, full fat dairy, nuts, berries, salads, non starchy vegetables. Other foods need to be treated with careful consideration on portion size and some pretty well avoided
Check out this link for ideas for a low carb approach with real food. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[harbottle]

For me:

Breakfast - usually Yoghurt mixed with a bit (I lie, a lot) of Peanut butter with berries. Sometimes vanilla essence, sometimes Lemon zest and juice and a bit of sweet cinnamon on top.

Sometimes I make an omelette using an omelette maker I got as a 'review' item from a well known web-based retailer. Cook up some ingredients in it (Mushroom and onion) and then thrown in some egg.

I have some low carb bread and usually some low carb batches I've made from a recipe in the Caldesi book. Sometimes have one of those with scrambled egg.

Lunch in the office
I usually take some celery, some home made mustard dressing and veg (Peppers, celery, cucumber, tomatoes) plus some cold meat (Usually chicken). Occasionally go for a subway salad at the nearest subway, or a Pret Salad. Sometimes take some of the low carb bread (LivLife) and have a sandwich. Occasionally make chicken leftovers into a salad with Apple and celery.

For daytime snacks I tend to eat a lot of Almonds or Oat crackers (Just one or two.) with almond butter on. Occasionally some dark chocolate (One or two squares.)

For the nut butters I only buy pure ones with nothing added.

Drinks: tend to drink black coffee in the morning, and then switch to caffeine-free coffee or 'red bush' tea in the afternoon. Diet sodas like Pepsi/Root Beer and water.

Dinner:

Usually some form of meat or fish with vegetables, which could be cauliflower, leeks, onions (I eat a LOT of onion, as I love it.) and tomatoes, steamed. Sometimes make a side order of mushrooms cooked in white wine, garlic and soy sauce.

Eat a lot of sea bass, Salmon and prawns. Use 'Konjac' noodles to make prawn stir fries (Zero carb). We make large curries using chicken and onion and tomatoes and they last a few days and also for lunch. have them with cauliflower rice (Pilau flavoured). I've made a large chile-con-carne from the diabetes.org website which was nice.

I use a lot of recipes in this book:
Caldesi low carb cookbook

They are generally easy and quick to make and very, very tasty. I have a few other books of theirs, but find this one is the best due to the quick and easy recipes.

I sometimes make banana pancakes for breakfast (Banana, peanut butter, egg) and also make banana muffins. They don't use a lot of banana.

Eating out:
Subway salad, Nandos, but occasionally have some potato or a small portion of pasta or chips. I find in small amounts they don't seem to affect my blood sugar levels and when I do an 'experiment' like this I test. For example, today I had a small cappuccino from Caffe Nero and blood sugar showed no rise at all.

At other restaurants I usually go for a dish on the menu but ask them to replace chips with salad, or get side orders of veg.

I occasionally have some Snafflin' Pig pork crunch, but am trying to keep the sat. fat low.

 

[SadieH]

Hi Sadie and welcome, by the way I love the name Sadie, wanted to name my second daughter that, but hubby wasn't keen sadly.
Low carb foods - if you do a google search for low carb recipes, or even keto recipes, there will be thousands to choose from. We do use substitutes for foods that are too high carb for us - and that is a personal thing for each of us - that is why most of us T2s self fund a BG meter. We test before a meal, then 2 hours after the first bite - we look for a rise of no more than 2-3 mmol. If it is higher than that, try reducing the portion size, otherwise use a substitute - ie cauliflower or celeriac mash, cauliflower rice. Meats have 0 carbs as have fish, cream is lower carb than milk, veggies that grow above the ground are best (except peas and sweetcorn, they are both high), berries are lower carb - tropical fruit including bananas are high. Look for low carb bread if you want that, breakfast cereals are too high but egg and bacon is fine - eggs are 0 carbs so great as snack if hard boiled and kept in the fridge. Anything made with white flour - cakes, pizza, pies etc are all high carb, but there is keto pastry to try out if you enjoy baking. We can still eat a lot of nice things, just have to change a few with substitutes, but you get used to that - and it is much healthier for us too.
Check out the "What I ate yesterday" thread in the food section, see what other T2s have eaten to give you some idea, but do check out google for recipes and ideas - the ones on the main site here can be carb-heavy, so be careful. If you aren't sure about something, just ask - someone will always get back to you 🙂

Thank you, I was stressed trying to find the right food to eat. I was told all the things not to eat but not much of what I can eat.

 

[SadieH]

Thank you, I was getting stressed trying to find the right food to eat for breakfast, lunches and dinner. I was told the things not to eat but not much of what I can eat.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @SadieH

You might find these meal plans from Diabetes UK helpful

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

or the ‘Enjoy Food’ guide

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/resources-s3/2018-07/1398_Enjoy-food-refresh-March2018-V4WEB2.pdf

There are also a range of different members’ choices posted on the ‘what did you eat yesterday’ thread, encompassing low- moderate- and higher-carb ways of eating 🙂

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/what-did-you-eat-yesterday.30349/page-521