Unlikely low carb candidate...could I do it??

[findingherfeet]

Having been veggie much of my life most of my cooking has been carb based.. My builder husband and our 2 1/2 DD love their carby dinners - pasta/paella/pies/mash/tortilla wraps etc etc

Started eating meat three or so years ago (seriously anaemic and desperate to conceive!)

I'm desperate to loose weight (at least 2 stone) and I'm struggling to find something that is a lifestyle change rather than quick fix that doesn't work long term.

I need meals that will suit hubs and daughter (and son once he's weaned!) but actually I wouldn't know where to start..

Typical day is porridge for breakfast, sandwich and yoghurt for lunch and super carb heavy dinner (generally veggie) washed down with a glass of wine...

Impossible??

[findingherfeet]

To add, we also have a large salad with our dinner most nights, not always on the healthy side - avocado/feta/olives are all favourites and we have masses of fruit for pudding, obscene amounts really, which i need to address also.

[yumyumpoppycat]

Def not impossible. I don't think you need to go very low carb and cut out carby veg to lose weight. You could start by switching your sandwich at lunch to a salad with cold meat veg and adding in some good fat from olives or avocados? Once you get into that you could start making more traditional dinners for your family - think stir fried meat and veg, roast dinners, curry or casserole. You don't necessarily need to cut out potatoes; some paleo/primal plans have reintroduced potatoes as an acceptable part of that type of diet, and some also say a little rice is ok too. The main thing to consider cutting out is gluten and in particular wheat. The wheat belly blog is a good read www.wheatbellyblog.com/

You could also try posting on one of the paleo threads on here for more meal suggestions or scan through them for some links to good blogs? Hope it all goes well with improving anemia and ttc.

[whatdoesittake48]

There are some good books available for vege low carbers - google it.

other than that, your salads sound brilliant - high in fat and nutrients.

Try those with meat/tofu/eggs for dinner

To start with just increase the meat portion of your dinner and have with veg and salad - cut out the carbs. if you kids and hubby want rice or potatoes on the side, just make enough for them only.

But to be honest, lower carb meals are healthy for everyone - even kids.

Then work on your lunches.

But breakfast - as the first meal of the day you are going to find porridge raises your insulin levels and will make you hungry. try eggs and bacon, sausages for breakfast instead.

have berries with full fat greek yoghurt instead of full on fruit salads. Kids can still snack on fruit tho.

[miffy49]

My son and hubby are both heavy on carbs as they do Slimming World. I do my own thing during the day and in the evenings I cook a curry or casserole or whatever and they have some form of carby filler with that. I add extra fat to mine and have it with some stir fried cabbage or cauli mash or courgette ribbons. If its a roast I just have extra veg. I like eating low carb. It makes me feel well so I'm happy to add in that bit of extra effort and the extra bit of washing up!

[whatdoesittake48]

Miffy - I bet you are losing weight quicker too!! And with less hunger.

[findingherfeet]

Ok thank you all that's given me food for thought!

I'm moving house soon, really want to make a new start... It doesn't sound quite as horrendous as I imagine the way you guys describe it! .... Motivated, thank you!

[findingherfeet]

Off to google cauli mash!

[miffy49]

Cauli rice too! You can add chopped veg and make a sort of pretend fried rice. Good for soaking up a curry! Don't forget, you can have things like butter and cheese that add lots of extra flavour to your veggies once you kick out the carbs.