I have been averaging around 35g carbs a day but due to a bit of a stall I’m trying to stick to 20g for a few days. Can’t say I’m a big fan, but it is working. So can I ask what your favourite super low carb lunches and dinners are? Also I am having to resort to psyllium husk… how do you get enough fibre on 20g?
Thanks!

I’m interested in this too…… I struggle to keep carbs below 30g. I tend to eat / want a good quantity of vegetables and by the time i have some broccoli, lettuce, a couple of cherry tomatoes, a 1/4 of a pepper, maybe a handful of frozen berries and 2 cups of coffee with milk or cream I am way over. I tend to think i’ll ‘fill up’ on veggies and that its good for me but it makes my carbs high. Going to try at least 5 days on 20g or less but i am apprehensive as i think its going to be very hard. Trying to look at it as having more protein and fats to coincide with some HIIT training so its all good form me but a little concerned about the lack of fibre……
Interested in what others eat when staying below 20g…… maybe its just my portion size is too big… hmmm

I have had the occasional accidental super low carb day before, but the last 3 days I have been quite religious about it. It is difficult because suddenly you can have too many vegetables… but I seem to have settled into a pattern of eggs with no veg or very little for breakfast and then very small salad with some sort of protein for lunch and then another salad with 100g of meat in the evening with a nice fatty dressing. As long as it is as hot as it is here at the moment that works ok and it did really make a big difference. It also made me drink more because I was basically quite hungry a lot of the time! I think I might try and do a 5:2 within the 800 calories – so have a couple of 20g days in a week and then go up to somewhere below 50g the rest of the week.

Do you find your protein levels go way up as you need something to fill your belly…..and you cant really have too much pure fats on its own? Cheese i guess. Eggs and cheese and meat……I’ll have a play this week and see how i get on. Todays plan has me under 20gs of carbs but thats with just having one meal….. its interesting stuff.

Yes. I’ve spent ages adding and deleting stuff in Fatsecret to get below 20. If you’re not restricted by the 800 calories it will be a lot easier because you can just add half an avocado here and more fat and meat there, but on 800 calories that’s tricky. I don’t think I would be able to do that combo for weeks on end, both because I would run out of will power and because it would set my (now dormant) IBS off. But for a few days to get things moving its great. In terms of getting full I have discovered that ‘spending’ quite a few calories on a salad dressing seems to help (tahini, turmeric and lemon is my current favourite). I’m not a big cheese fan, so I add olive oil, tahini, seeds…

Thanks Britta, the only way i think i can hit 800 cals and 20g of carbs is to do one meal a day, and I’m ok with that a couple of days a week but dont think i could do it for an extended period of time. Its been enough of an adjustment to see apples as as an occasional treat (19g of carbs per apple) but to have to cut back on broccoli and sugar-snap peas seems a little bit…..odd?!
Unfortunately i’m partial to cheese and mayo so find it easy to use up calories on salads. some variations i find fine with less or none of either but I do love a cheesey salad.
I’m not a big egg fan although i am finding more ways to enjoy them – spicy omelettes, of cinnamony pancakes (no flour just egg and cinamon and maybe protein powder or baking powder). But not ready for poached, fried or scrambled!
Learn so much with this and really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it too.
Hopefully 5 days of low carb, HIIT and some longer fasts will give me some decent results and some motivation.

I should start by saying that I’m not counting carbs on 800 calories. Looking at Myfitnesspal nutrients per week, I’ve averaged between 30 and 40gr of carbs a day over the last 7 weeks – a bit more at the start when I was hoping to get away with a slice of toast every now and again. I’ve now cut that out. I have higher and lower-carb days, so sometimes I have steel-cut oats, lentils or beans, also to keep up the fibre. It’s working for me so it’s a matter of experimenting with what works for you.

Hi Britta, Just wanted to check that you are counting net carbs – ie subtracting the fibre? I can see why we might need to avoid sugar snap peas, but broccoli ticks most boxes! Dietdoctor is always a good resource for giving the lower carb options. But I am probably teaching you to suck eggs!

Thanks Caronl, I just leave all that to the app, I think it does break it down, but I’ll check that again.

I believe it’s only in the USA that fibre is deducted to get net carbs. Europe and Australia already have it deducted so carbs on a packet or veg covering are the actual carbs to count.

I’ve recently discovered (courtesy of Diet Doctor) cheesy crusty omelette. Just put some grated or finely sliced good hard cheese into a non stick omelette pan to melt then carefully pour over the eggs and cook. You can turn it over (I do) to finish off. It gives a really nice, and tasty, crust.

I haven’t listened to it but on You Tube, Low Carb Down Under (a good source of information) there is a presentation by Zoe Harcombe about fibre. It might be useful.