Hi folks – anyone on here coped on the BSD through the winter months (Oz, NZ peeps?) and if so how have you coped with not having carb heavy food during the dreary winter months? September through to February I normally crave carbs and to be honest I’m wondering how to approach food with long winter evenings and grey, cold days looming ahead (you can tell I’m really looking forward to winter in the UK!). And then of course it’s the heavy social time of year so all in all I desperately need to plan ahead because I would hate to go back to being Mrs Chubby Lady ☹️

Hmmm …. i live in Northern Canada. I expect to reach my 1/2 way goal by Dec. 10. I will stay on 800 as long as i can until around Christmas/New Year. I expect to start 800 cals again mid January.
Cold, ice, snow, gray days, dark in the morning, dark early in the evening. It’s already freezing overnight and barely above during the day. We could start getting snow anytime.

I don’t know about expecting particular winter carb problems … you go outside you bundle up real warm. I am buying a new humidifier for the house because the furnace heat is very dry.

I wasn’t really expecting any carb problems over winter? I would say more hot drinks … but i usually drink tea and coffee anyway.

I guess my advice is to eat a little more of the complex carbs … esp. if you are doing outdoor skating, hockey, skiing, etc.

Hmmmmm …. i am wondering now if i will want more carbs then?

Fill up on soup!

Done in next to no time if you have a pressure cooker. If pressure cooking, most soups will do in ten minutes at pressure. No need to put all the liquid in when cooking. Add hot water or stock as required when blitzing. Make sure you have the minimum liquid for your pressure cooker though. When done, move pressure cooker off the hot burner and allow pressure to fall naturally (don’t release using cold water or lever or whatever).

One of my favourites: onion or leek and a few courgettes. Stir in a bit of blue cheese to melt before blitzing. If no blue cheese, a swirl of yogurt in the bowl when serving. Takes six minutes once at pressure in a pressure cooker.

Hi-carb but another of my faves: spicy carrot and apple soup. Garam masala and a chopped onion, a few carrots and an apple. Ten minutes at pressure. Very forgiving of rubbery carrots! This one needs ten minutes at pressure.

I second the soup suggestion. One of my favorite winter soups is chicken stock, lentils, tomatoes, onions and Swiss chard. I make a giant batch of 8 servings so even though lentils are by no means low in carbs — a cup will run you about 25 net — they’re spread out over several meals. Also you can make it ahead and freeze in serving sizes for quick meals whenever you feel a craving coming on.

Yes, definitely soups…and casseroles (only use low carb veg)…baked dinners (think pumpkin, fennel, cauliflower to name a few to bake instead of potatoes).
Over winter I simply substituted cauliflower for potato, cauliflower rice for rice, courgetti for spaghetti.
Make creamy vegetable soups and with things like pumpkin soup you can add sour cream.
Any meat and steamed veg. Frittata, focusing on adding low carb veg.
Berries and cream are delicious for dessert.
I hope you find these suggestions helpful and best wishes on your BSD journey.

excellent suggestions and ideas. thank you.
Snoop I don’t have a pressure cooker but on the other hand I’m home most of the time in winter so have plenty of time to make soups. Love the idea of adding a bit of blue cheese. I shall try that.

Esnecca – yes I shall put lentils in my soup, that sounds like a really good idea for me and they will be healthy carbs so I shall experiment.

Switzerland – yes, casseroles! – now why didn’t my brain think of that? and the baked vegetables are a good idea.

Shalimar – thanks for the complex carbs tip, I shall do that (assume lentils come into that bracket?). Your post did make me chuckle. As you’re in Northern Canada you maybe haven’t experienced our delightful English winters. Forget outdoor activities – our infrastructure grinds to a halt in an inch of snow and everything is damp and wet, which is why everything ices up if we get snow. On the other hand if it’s a crisp sunny day the countryside is beautiful.

I shall delve into my recipe books and find yummy soups to cook. If I find some good BSD friendly ones I’ll put them on here. Thanks all, I’d hit a real mental block on winter food. Good luck with all your BSD journeys.

I had a lovely beef casserole with lots of veges last night. It was very rich and meaty and while the family had toast with it I was wishing for some plain steamed cauliflower to soak up the juices!

Oh yes ….. lentils are a great complex carb to use …. i don’t use the really tiny ones either. Very high in fibre too!! Soups are the basis for my BSD plan …. and you can vary the contents and taste so much!

and hearty soups and chilli with some beans and lentils and tons of vegetables are great to make for guests … with a bit of chopped onion and cheese on top …. and you can serve hearty whole grain breads with the soups and chilli and maybe even have 1 slice of bread in your calorie/carb allowance.

I have found that it is really worth soaking dried chickpeas overnight and cooking them rather than using a tin. He taste difference is akin to frozen vs tinned peas. I just wish Tesco and Waitrose still sold frozen chickpeas and artichokes because I loved them. Pearl barley is nice too

Hi chasingthedream – I’ve used tinned chickpeas (Sainsburys) to make hummus. Tried it 3 times and I still can’t get the taste right, in fact I chucked the first batch as it was horrible. Would it make a difference to the taste with the dried ones? I’ve never used them but willing to give it a go as I’d rather know what’s in my food.

Huge difference in my opinion. Think of the difference between tinned and frozen/fresh peas. It’s much less convenient of course, you need to soak them overnight. But you can cook a batch and freeze them though. Good luck