Can I eat ready meals

Hi @Mikegolfbravo and welcome to the forum. You can still eat ready meals and takeaways, but avoid or cut down on ones that are high in carbohydrates, especially rice, potatoes, pasta and bread, which turn to sugar in our bodies.
There are low carb ready meals out there. Read the nutrition information on the packaging. You should try to eat food that is less than 10 gms of carbohydrates per 100 gms (ie 10% or less). I believe Marks & Spencers do some good ones.

I am pleased to be able to say that if you look up the nutrition chart for KFC then the Original Recipe (with bones in) is very low in carbs. You should avoid anything that sounds like dippers, nuggets or fries. Those fries should have a health warning stamped on each one. One of those little paper bags of stick thin fries is more than enough for anyone in terms of carbs.

I live on my own. My experience of buying the odd ready meal isn't a happy one. Try to get some healthy ingredients and make it yourself. Last night I made scrambled eggs with free range eggs, a little organic semi skimmed milk, extra virgin, olive oil, pepper on top of not overcooked broccoli. You could make an omelette instead. If you like meat, chicken thighs/wings/breast has high protein and better than the bacon/ham processed meats which can cause cancer.

You don't say whether you are overweight, but if not, be wary of the LCHF diet. Just cut down on the carbohydrates.

And finally look for a cook book!

Could someone please tag Daisy to ask her to post her general advice for new members. Thank you. @daisy1


Tag for daisy added by Mod.

Can you cook a good old fry up? Bacon, eggs, mushrooms, a tomato, a high meat content sausage (you can get up to 97% meat sausages if you look at labels). ? If you can, that makes a decent low carb breakfast or lunch. No bread of course. Salads are easy with a bag of leaves and a tin of salmon or tuna, cooked chicken, ham, other cold meats, cheese, eggs, tomatoes. Or an omelette is a good choice if you can manage that.

If you look round the supermarket shelves you may find bread with lower carb than the one you have, then limit yourself to one slice a day with butter on, and make sure it is genuinely wholemeal and not white or mucky brown. You probably don't have a Lidl near you, but if you do they sell high protein rolls that are less than 10% carbs and are packed full of fibre.

You can easily heat up frozen vegetables. Add some ready cooked meat or fish (without a coating of batter or breadcrumbs). Do spend some time searching round the supermarket. There are options out there.

yes, there are ready meals that are suitable, but you need to be careful picking them.

A while ago we bought some from Tescos. Basically a foil tray with a couple of chicken breasts in it, with some cherry tomatoes and grated cheese over the top. There was also a little pack of tomato sauce stuff (which was where all the carbs are).

We used it one evening when things were rushed. 35 mins in the oven, I think. My partner ended up snaffling all the sauce, and I had none. it worked out VERY low carb for me, and we just added some greenery done in the microwave in about 10 secs.. I will try and find a link to the product.

Since then, I have repeated the meal several times, but I make it myself. Basically buying nicer chicken breasts, my cheese of choice, and those lovely little plum tomatoes. It takes no longer to throw them into a baking dish than it takes to peel off some ready meal packaging and peer at the tiny print while calculating cooking times!

Other DIY 'ready meals' that I do often are chicken with cheese and pepperoni, pork steaks with horseradish, and chicken with cheese and leek in a cream sauce (just tip chicken and leek into the dish, laying the bacon over to stop it drying out, pop into the oben then just before serving, pour over a dash of cream).

M&S are supposed to do some fab low carb ready meals, but our local branch is tiny, and I have never managed to find them - you might need a decent sized store to have them in stock.

Here are some links to the sort of thing I am talking about

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=287314339

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=282243042

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=284848075

buy a cooked chicken and a tray of veg (no potatoes) done! or, for a hangover cure (assuming you drink) go to McD's and get 2 double sausage an egg mcmuffins and ask for no buns or, order Chinese chicken foo yung with stir fry veg or, go to kebabshop and order shish kebab and large salad no bread or, buy steak and serve with mashed avocado (add a teaspoon of mustard) or, go to takeaway and order a large portion of chicken wings or, go to local curry house and ask for tandoori mixed grill with vegetable curry or, go to your local late shop and buy 2 scotch eggs or, chop chicken breast throw in a frying pan with bag of mixed stir fry and add a lot of soy sauce or, buy bag of mussels from supermarket (in cream sauce) mop up sauce with lidl protein roll or, bacon and eggs or, spag bol on corgetti or, any curry on cauliflower rice or, chill out and eat a big bag of pork scratchings. I think I could literally go on forever but i'm now hungry so going to Tesco to buy 2 boiled eggs served on a bed of fresh spinach which I will eat with a tin of tuna mashed with a fresh chilli and a huge dollop of mayo............have a nice day and good luck

Unless you have other medical issues you haven't divulged, eggs and dairy are not poison. Your nurse is using information developed decades ago that is now overturned. Eggs are a staple diet for most of us, cooked any which way. I have around 2 per day, sometimes 3. Full fat dairy is good. Low fat spreads and other products are not good. Adding butter to veggies, or cooking with butter, helps reduce any sharp blood sugar spikes after eating.

Yes,, it is worth you getting a meter. If you test before you eat and a couple of hours after first bite you will see if that meal caused your levels to rise and by recording these figures alongside a food diary patterns will emerge that will allow you to choose meals that are good for you, and eliminate foods that cause too high a rise. In other words, you will gain knowledge. Without a meter you are working blind.

Mikegolfbravo said:

Is it worth getting one of the blood test meters at this stage?

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A resounding yes!

Mikegolfbravo said:

Not a big KFC fan and guess I will have to give the chippy or the occasional McD's a miss from now on.

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Not necessarily.. Just don't eat the chips or bun in a MaccyD's eat the meat and cheese.. maybe try to avoid the ketchup. Ask to not have it. At the chippy the fish is fine just don't eat the batter or get any chips..Can you cook eggs and bacon or a high meat content sausage? They're all pretty low carb. Otherwise maybe take this as an opportunity to teach yourself some cooking skills.. youtube is full of videos to show you how. You might just surrpise yourself.

Brunneria said:

Here are some links to the sort of thing I am talking about

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=287314339

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=282243042

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=284848075

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Are they basic chichen meat with some side to make them more interesting?
Is the same to take some poultry slices from the butcher and add the pepperoni and spices?
(Insert here rant on ready-made pasta...)

Mikegolfbravo said:

I have high blood pressure, it was at a hyper tension clinic when I was told about the diabetes risk, and she also told me that my cholesterol was up a bit.
Perhaps things aren't seeming too bleak from the info you all have supplied, I had imagined meals were gong to get very boring.

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Lots have people find that blood pressure goes down and even cholesterol too (if you are worried about that) when eating a low carb higher fat diet.

Mikegolfbravo said:

One slice of bread a day is bad news though, usually take a sandwich using 2 with me for lunch, which I'm just going to start on, but don't have butter or marg on,

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Avoid white bread which is the worst. Wholemeal bread is better. And there are breads available which are low carb, Burgen Soya & Linseed Bread is available in most supermarkets and is quite low carb.
And if you have a LIDL near you they sell a High Protein Roll which is very low carb. They are seeded, brown and triangular and cost 29p.
Butter is fine, very low carb.

Cook a bunch of chicken, shrimp, salmon, turkey etc ahead of time and defrost as needed. Cuts down on cooking and clean up. Instead of chips have some cut up veggie slices. Make homemade dip with mayo and hot sauce, mustard, horseradish etc. Pre boil eggs to have in a hurry. Low carb doesn't have to be complicated. Someone here said make a normal meal and push off the carbs. In your case, just don't make them. Protein, above ground veggies and healthy fat to satisfy is what a lot of us do. Since you are over weight, be prepared to lose it!

asparagusp said:

I live on my own. My experience of buying the odd ready meal isn't a happy one. Try to get some healthy ingredients and make it yourself. Last night I made scrambled eggs with free range eggs, a little organic semi skimmed milk, extra virgin, olive oil, pepper on top of not overcooked broccoli. You could make an omelette instead. If you like meat, chicken thighs/wings/breast has high protein and better than the bacon/ham processed meats which can cause cancer.

You don't say whether you are overweight, but if not, be wary of the LCHF diet. Just cut down on the carbohydrates.

And finally look for a cook book!

Could someone please tag Daisy to ask her to post her general advice for new members. Thank you. @daisy1


Tag for daisy added by Mod.

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hi @asparagusp
You keep mentioning LCHF in a slightly dismissive tone. Do you have a problem with it? It has changed my life and many others on these threads so I wonder what you have against it? Genuinely interested not trying to pick a fight.