Don't you get bored?

Far from it. I quite relish my food. Will shortly wake up to a big fried breakfast. Far more interesting than a bowl of muesli

@Sarah69 hello. If you look at the thread, low carb what have you eaten today? You will find a large number of contributors with very varied daily food plans. If mine is repetitive it is because I am currently really enjoying a particular food or dish.

Yes, in the beginning it is challenging and I also ate a lot of the same things over and over again. But over time, I began to think of more and more new things to try and eat. It helps that I include a variety of vegetables with all meals.

My favorite meal of the day is still breakfast.

I cook a slice of bacon, then remove and cut it into thin strips. I add butter to the bacon fat, then chopped onion and broccoli florets. Steam for 8 minutes on low heat, then add one fork whipped egg, the bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese, and cover the pan with a lid again. In two minutes minutes or so, I have the most delightful folded omelet of sorts - (I fold it in half then in half again) - and let it all spill out of the skillet onto the plate. I really should take a picture.

I make a wonderful minestrone soup - (carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, cauliflower, red cabbage, and spinach) - with beef broth too. Toward the end, I add diced, stewed tomatoes and kidney beans. I serve it in bowls topped with parmesan cheese. So good...



For those who asked, here's the recipe...

Minestrone

Makes eight 500-milliliter servings.

In a 4.5 quart (4.25 liter) pan sauté vegetables with 1 - 2 cups (225 - 450 milliliters) water on high heat, stirring every 2 minutes or so, for 8 to 10 minutes or until cooked down but still crisp tender.

3 cups (750 milliliters) red cabbage - I cut into 1/2 inch (or 1 1/2 centimeter) slices, then into 1 1/2 inch (4 centimeter) lengths
2 cups (500 milliliters) cubed zucchini (known as courgette in the UK)
1 cup (250 milliliters) sliced cauliflower
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, sliced
2 large ribs celery with leaves, sliced
1 - 2 cups (250 - 500 milliliters) water, more if needed

Take one bunch of fresh spinach, separate the leaves from the stems, place in a large bowl with water. Remove spinach from bowl, repeat until water and bottom of bowl is clean. On a cutting board, mound spinach on the board and make 1" (3 centimeter) slices.

Add to vegetables:

1 bunch fresh spinach, 10 ounces (300 grams)
4 cups (1 liter) beef broth - (beef, chicken, vegetable, whatever broth you prefer)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 - 30 minutes or until vegetables are barely tender.

Add to vegetables:

1 can (16 ounces; 500 milliliters) tomatoes - (I use diced tomatoes with Italian herbs)
1 can (16 ounces; 500 milliliters) red kidney beans

Cook uncovered over medium heat about 10 minutes or until beans are heated through and flavors blend.

I ladle 2 cup (500 milliliter) servings into glass jars and store in refrigerator so it's easier to grab and go then heat for lunch or dinner.

Serve in bowls topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Hope my conversions are correct. If not, apologies...

Good morning @Sarah69 you want the truth on the very rare occasion yes but the alternative doesn't bear thinking about,but when I was eating all the rubbish food 4 months ago(when diagnosed) I never thought about what I was eating .I just shovelled down I had to change my perception of food,which I have done,but when I walk past the custard doughnuts in Tesco's in their bright orange bags I know mentally I am in the right place

My favourite meal's are Breakfast's,40g porridge and fresh raspberries
Two poached eggs on two halves of a Lidl's roll

Lunch, Yellow Haddock,Broccoli,cauliflower two small new potatoes,

Doesn't bother me in the least - I'm at the stage now where I look at packaged "food" and think "frankenfood". It's all a Jedi-mind trick

Oops, posted before I meant to...

Since I've never been interested in cooking but had to learn to do the very basics once I decided I wasn't going to buy pre-packaged food anymore, I find it's easier to follow the KISS principle when it comes to cooking. Now my palate has changed and I prefer plain and simple for the most part unless I'm eating out when I'll go for something fancy (but still low carb) that I know I'd never be ***** to cook for myself because of the pfaffing about.

Once you adapt to low carb, it becomes easier. I think a lot is mindset. Since I've become interested in health, I tend to view food as nutrition, not entertaiment. Eat to live, not live to eat and all that jazz.

Oops, did it again. Keyboard is doing weird things.

One thing that really helped with the "frankenfood" mindset was reading the label of every single food I buy that has a label. The more ingredients, the more additives (esp. the ones I have no clue about), the less likely I am to buy it. Reading labels was really a game-changer for me.

No, I don't get bored. I think it's about mindset, so I prefer to think about what I can eat. And if I'm honest, if I look back at my high carb diet, there really wasn't much variety in that - same sugary cereal for breakfast, same sandwich and crisps for lunch, too many takeaways for dinner. I'm definitely having more variety now, though I do rotate a few meals that work for me in terms of managing my blood sugar.

Do I miss some foods? yes. Do I miss having blood sugar in the 20's and all the nasty symptoms that went with it? No. I have recently found out I am coeliac as well as diabetic which narrows my choices even more. My blood sugar is normal, my A1c is 5.7% or 37, the chronic diarrhea from gluten is gone, my inflammation markers have dropped dramatically, my arthritis is about 80% better, and I have lost weight. It is not a matter of can I do this but a matter of will I do it and the answer is that my health is more important than being able to eat whatever I want.

I've arrived at a mindset where a low carb diet is a delight compared to all the stodgy pasta, potatoes and others I used to consume on a too regular basis. I can particularly agree with @chalup as I too have much diminished nasty symptoms and now feel 10 years younger than my years rather than 10 years older - 20 year gain!

Sarah69 said:

I read a lot about low carb on this forum and jealous I can't do it. I just need to ask don't you get bored with it, to me it looks the same food re hashed and your eating it over and over again.

Click to expand...

I don't go very low carb. I keep my carbs at about 20-25 grams per meal, so I have 4-5 basic starches I use with each dinner. Potatoes, soy bean noodles, lentils, and squashes are my mainstays, and sometimes sweet potato. Rarely I'll do a very small amount of rice instead.

Then I can do a variety of sauces. I'm chronically ill and disabled, so I usually use a slow cooker, which allows me to pace myself. But mostly I cook Thai and Indian curries, creamy soup, and creamy pasta sauces. I can use different spices and vegetables to get completely different dishes. Sometimes I'll do a stir-fry or even fry up meat or fish with veggies and microwaved potatoes.

It's different now, but not boring

When I think of the usual UK way of eating then that is boring!

Bread bread bread
Rice potatoes pasta
A chunk of meat
A small blob of vegetable (usually so overlooked the texture and flavours have been destroyed
A scatter of salad leaves and maybe a bit of tomato and cucumber as a salad
Most of them with a sweet dressing or sauce to add flavour.
And processed veg fats

Not very inspiring, is it?

And then there is the endless cloying sweetness of a UK diet.
The expectation that cakes, biscuits, cereals, snack bars, chocolate bars, sweet treats and puddings are half (or more) of a 'healthy' diet.
Sugar or artificial sweeteners tipped into everything, to the point that most people want to add sugar to fruit, or think they are doing well if they eat a banana a day!

In contrast, my LC diet is a riot of flavours, textures and variety.
I am on less than 20g carbs a day, but I eat like a Queen.
And get FAR more nutrition than anyone on all those carbs, because I am eating nutrient dense foods, not bulked out starchy fillers.

It is a sad world where the government has legislated to add supplements to flour because of nationwide concern about malnutrition..

I love that what I eat isn't beige!

I don't eat toast, bread, rice, biscuits, crackers, porridge, cereal, anything breaded or battered, chips (or other formats of potatoes). Pretty much all beige.

I DO eat: chilli, bolognese, stew, cheesy gratins, sausages, omelettes stuffed with amazing things like creamy smoked haddock or mushrooms, kale and cauliflower in everything - cauliflower I use as a side dish - I do homemade mash from frozen cauliflower, and homemade cauliflower rice whizzed up with coriander, salt and pepper - I have cream cheese, stews, soups, fry-ups, lots of eggs, gourmet salads, a massively wide selection of vegetables, roasts, fish curry, stir fries, homemade yoghurt, homemade cheese, pork scratchings, avocados.......

And for pudding last night we had chocolate cheesecake mousse, pimped from one of @ewelina 's recipes - ingredients were 174ml double cream, 100g 85% chocolate, 2 dsp Splenda, 2 eggs and a 180g tub full fat Philly. We were celebrating something. Made four portions at less than 10g CHO per portion.

I love food, and I absolutely love to cook, and I'm always interested in finding out new, exciting stuff.

Start by making a few simple substitutions, @Sarah69, and you'll fly!

Sarah69 said:

...don't you get bored with it, to me it looks the same food re hashed and your eating it over and over again.

Click to expand...

Do you have examples? We must be looking at different forums as all I can see here are people using their imaginations to keep their diets varied, sustainable and healthy

Sarah69 said:

I read a lot about low carb on this forum and jealous I can't do it.

Click to expand...

May I ask .. why are you not able to do it ?

Brunneria said:

I am on less than 20g carbs a day, but I eat like a Queen.

Click to expand...

I'm sure I read somewhere that The Queen eats a low carb diet . (perhaps Brunneria IS the Queen, now there's a thought!)
Sally

From the daily wail, so reliability of the source is ....................................
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228162/Mothers-rotate-recipes-feed-families.html
Lo carb is at least equal to that, and as @Snapsy states, better looking.

Edit to say - staggered at the sexist nature of the article

sally and james said:

perhaps Brunneria IS the Queen

Click to expand...

'Perhaps', Sally? Perhaps?!

Certainly a queen of this forum, IMO!

walnut_face said:

Edit to say - staggered at the sexist nature of the article

Click to expand...

Oh my goodness @walnut_face you're so right!

Perhaps if they considered using the word 'people' to describe, well, people, the article would come across a whole load less patronising!!!!!!

(edited, because the article was specifically about busy mothers, so what I've deleted from my original response was actually overstepping a couple of marks.)