I wanted to do a little post outlining some of my real life savers when it comes to low carb dieting. I am currently carb cycling, so have had to figure out meals and snacks that I can incorporate into my diet on the trickier to manage low carb days.
So heres my top 10
1. Josephs Pita Bread
These have appeared all over my instagram, the small pita breads which I order contain under 7g of carbs each, meaning I can easily have 2 for lunch. I use them stuffed with scrambled egg for breakfast at the weekend, I fill them with chicken for lunch, and they even make a great low carb alternative to a burger bun.
2. Rice Cakes
I buy Kallo Organic Lightly salted wholegrain low fat rice cakes. These are a decent size and with only 6g of carbs they are great with a bit of peanut butter, or marmite for a handy snack.
3. Eggs
Eggs are AMAZING on a low carb diet. Eggs have under 1g of carbohydrate per egg on average. Omelettes turn a bunch of vegetables into a hearty meal, a poached egg will fill out your dinner plate and is delicious ontop of Quinoa. Boiled eggs sliced up on a rice cake make a fantastic snack, and scrambled in a josephs pita make a great weekend breakfast.
4. Bare Naked Noodles
These things are like magic. 0.1g carbohydrate per 100g of noodles is utterly bizarre. These noodles are delicious, super filling, and make a fantastic stir fry or alternative to pasta.
5. Fage Total 0% Greek yoghurt
With 4g of carbohydrate per 100g this yoghurt is a breakfast life saver, topping my protein pancakes with it, or having it on its own with zero syrups for flavour is just fantastic, I even mix in my favourite protein powder to make breakfast more exciting and protein packed.
6. Josephs Wholewheat Torilla wraps
These wraps contain 10.63g carbs per wrap, and one really is enough to complete a meal. Fantastic for lunch with chicken and avocado for a healthy easy to make meal. For a bigger dinner I have a couple of wraps, use fage total 0% greek yoghurt to replace sour cream, and make healthy home made fajitas.
7. Courgetti
With only 2g carbohydrate per 100g you can easily use courgettes to make a meal feel more satisfying. You can pick up a spiraliser for around £15-£25 and that is one kitchen gadget that wont sit around gathering dust. If I can afford the carbs I will have half courgetti half wholewheat spaghetti, and if not Courgetti alone makes a truly satisfying stir-fry.
8. Quest Bars
The holy grail of the protein bar. The flavours are fantastic, and with between 3-4g net carbs, the rest of the carbs coming from fibre, they make a welcome treat. My top tip is to pop it on a plate or bit of kitchen towel and microwave for 10-15 seconds just until the centre of the bar starts growing.
9. Sugar-free Jelly
I buy Hartleys Sugar free jelly in sachets, and make up either one big bowl or I have my own mini pots. You can buy it ready in pots but that is slightly more expensive. Make sure you get the sugar free version. This is the best snack when your struggling for something sweet, less than 10kcal per portion, and under 0.5g carbs.
10. Ezekial Bread
This bread is harder to find, but can be bought on Muscle food. Its a whole grain bread with 15g carbs per slice. Higher than the josephs pita breads, but really tastes like a proper satisfying slice of bread. You couldn’t even tell that it had zero sat fat and was high fibre.