Without a cooker or hobs at work (they say ‘fire hazard’ but they mean ‘Too stingy’), without time to prepare a meal at home before work, without any low-carb ready meals within fifty miles, what are my choices?
Kippers, chicken legs, nothing.
All things being equal I like both (specially kippers) but I can’t live off them. Too much of either and I can’t stomach them.
Every blasted ‘complete meal’ contains at least one high-carb component, without which the meal is… incomplete. Sandwiches contain bred. Ready meals contain either potato or pastry or pasta.
It doesn’t help that all the recipies in books and online are fucking lardeeda obscure stupid snobby meals that I can’t possibly make of find the ingredients for.
Can you get pre-sliced deli meats and cheeses? You can take a slice of cheese, put a slice of meat on top and roll it up. You can put lettuce somewhere in the roll too, if you like. Secure it with a toothpick until ready to eat.
You can also boil eggs at home, and have boiled eggs if you like.
Dump some salad into a portable bowl, add some sliced hard-boiled eggs and some chunks of turkey (or whatever meat you like) pop a lid on, and head out the door.
These are just a few suggestions that don’t need any heat to eat and enjoy. If your office has a microwave (though I’m guessing it doesn’t) there are things you can put in a tupperware “dinner plate” with a lid and heat up quickly in the micro at lunch time.
Are you just starting out? It gets easier after the first couple of weeks.
I have just started out keeping my carbs below 20 a day. That rules out almost everything I tend to pick up (to look at) in town before work.
I’m not a huge fan of boiled eggs, but I don’t mind them, so your idea sounds do-able.
My office has a microwave. I know that if I am intelligent about it I can put something together each day, but it’s just rather frustrating trying to find something in town before work. Tomorrow I suppose I’ll prepare my favourite salad elements (cucumber, celery, crunch lettuce, those long oniony things, green peper) and dump some turkey slices in there. It is unlikely to fill me up or even be enjoyable, but it will be better than nothing I suppose.
What I’d really like is to be able to make all the stuff that’s possible with a cooker and hobs. I’d make steaks, bacon-n-egg, (with healthy stuff too)
Well, I know I am a papered american with a huge fridge/freezer…but if you have the space, you can premake plates of food to take in to microwave…there are actually books for non-atkins out there to literally do an entire months dinners cooking in one weekend :eek:
I favor ‘rollups’ whole wheat flour tortillas, lay a layer of spinach leaves over the surface, lay down a layer of cheese slices, lay down a layer of meat slices, schmeer with a mayo or relish or chutney spread [even garlic herb cream cheese] is good. If you are careful you can do this for lunches after the 20 gm induction period=)
I also favor making one’s own soups for lunch=) take the equivalent of meat and 2 veg and turn into soup. I make a killer sausage and cabbage soup in the winters … we have an ‘italian sausage’ over here that averages about 200 grams each. take 1 per person or meal [i make the soup and eat all 3 meals out of it some days=)] and 2 veg per sausage [200 gms of matter = 1 veg] of cabbage, onion, carrot, celery and season it with ‘italian herbs’ [rosemary, basil, parlsey, thyme, bay leaf] and use a plain nonfat chicken broth as the liquid. It microwaves well [but is best made and served from a pot on top of a wood burning stove in the winter=)]
I never thought Atkins sounded easy. I could go vegetarian way quicker than I could go on an Atkins diet, and I’m one guy who LOVES his meat ( :dubious: NOT LIKE THAT!)
Still I could live vegetarian if I had to, but give up pasta and bread? NEVER gonna happen.
Bought a packet of pork rinds today… blech… blech earghhhhhlargharrgle!
The crunchy bit was ok, but inside, it’s soft, moist, eugh. Had to throw the packet away.
Anyway, real pork rind (not prepackaged processed stuff) is just about my most favourite edible thing on earth. I dread the day when I’ve lost the teeth capable of eating it.
Lobsang , do you like tuna? I ate a lot of tuna and eggs and small amounts of nuts when I was doing South Beach. Hubby frequently made massive quantities of chili on the weekend to eat during the week. Another staple of our diet was grilled chicken, which requires little time to prepare.
I’m not familiar with all the details of Atkins, but South Beach becomes far less restrictive after the initial two weeks and gets so much easier. You can do it!
Whoah! Prok rind are supposed to be dry and crunchy through and through. Pick a different brand next time, because no part of a pork rind is supposed to be mushy or moist.
Beef jerkey is an option as well, but you need to find some that wasn’t seasoned with corn syrup.
I hopped on Atkins last thanksgiving when I weighed around 220-240. I’m now down to 175 and feel great. The first two weeks can be tough, but after a while your appetite takes a dive and you should be much better off.
Well, I think you’ve found the real problem right there. Atkins isn’t meant to be a grab and go diet plan, but rather a whole-foods approach to lifelong eating habits. A healthy diet requires one to actually stop and think about what goes into one’s mouth. It requires a certain amount of planning.
Roast yourself a chicken, and have a nice chicken dinner with green veggies. Then take salads to work piled with chicken and cheese and maybe some nuts if you can have them. Sprinkle it all with a nice vinaigrette. Trust me, if you pile enough meat and cheese on a salad, it’s a very satisfying meal.
My husband is doing a sort of …well, it’s not Atkins, or South Park, but it reminds me of them to some degree - hardly any carbs, lots of very lean meats, lots of green vegetables. Anyway, what I’ve done is buy frozen vegetables and allowed fruits, and pre-package single servings in Gladware containers, which then go in the freezer. We also get the Butterball sliced smoked turkey breast (2 lbs for $5.49) at CostCo, and divide this into servings in Gladware also. In the morning, he gets an ice pack from the freezer. He also gets a tub of meat, a tub of veggies, a tub of fruit. He puts whatever else he needs for the day’s meals - pre-packaged yogurts, apples, etc - and all go into the little portable 6-pack sized ice chest. He takes this to work with him, and he cooks the veggies in the microwave as needed. The turkey he eats cold with allowed condiments such as mustard.
If he preferred, I could pre-package a chicken breast in some variety of marinade, to be cooked in the microwave. If I ever find a small Foreman Grill at a yard sale or thrift store, he can take it to work and use it, perhaps, to cook chicken breasts or lean hamburger. But so far the turkey is working very well. The trick to morning grab-and-go is pre-packaging in single servings, and to carry a small ice chest. And not forget and leave them at work when you go home for the day.
Get a bag of pork rinds (not a single serving sized thing - a whole bag)
Melt about 1/4 stick of butter in the micro
Spread pork rinds out on a jelly roll pan which you’ve covered in foil
Pour the butter over the pork rinds as evenly a possible.
Dump the pork rinds into a large plastic zipper freezer bag along with any extra butter.
Add 1/3c of Splenda to the bag
Add 1 tbs of ground cinnamon to the bag.
Zip up the bag (leave some air in there) and shake until everything is coated.
I can’t stand pork rinds on their own but this concoction is mana from heaven. One of my friends says she takes these and adds low carb milk for “cinnamon toast crunch”.
I heartily apologize for the lack of British measurements in this post
M&S have little packages of cocktail sausages and cooked chicken, is that what you’re looking for? They’re beside the sandwiches section. They also have yummy carrot sticks with mayonnaise, if that would work. What about sashimi, or sushi without the rice?
How about a chicken soup, with no potatoes or noodles? You can make a good Thai one with stock, meat, garlic, chillies, coconut milk, lemongrass and coriander, then bring it to work in a flask.
Fad diets usually don’t work because people think of them as temporary measures, i.e. “I’ll go on Atkins (or whatever) for six months, lose weight, then quit.”
Keeping weight off requires a permanent lifestyle change. You must make fundamental changes to your diet for the rest of your life. Before any food goes into your mouth, you should stop, engage your brain, and ask yourself the following questions:
How many total calories does this food contain?
How many fat calories does this food contain?
If I eat this, how am I going to burn off these calories?
Is it really necessary for me to eat at this time? Will a glass of water suffice for now?
Is there a better/lower calorie substitute?
As I’ve stated in many other threads, losing weight is very simple & straightforward. There’s no “mystery” to it. It does not matter what “type” of body you have, or what medical conditions you have (real or imaginary). Anyone can lose weight if they do three simple things:
I gotta go with Cafter_Man on this one. I have tried the Atkins (and failed, love carbs too much) and it DOES work. But there lies a problem. When you go on diets such as these, you run the risk of putting the weight back on and even more than you weighed before.
My husband and I have had numerous discussions on this; me pro, him con. It boils down to two things for those who use the Atkins: you’re either a body-builder or you’re too lazy to workout. Don’t take this wrong, I’m lazy too and working out can be difficult with a full schedule - but you HAVE TO DO IT to lose weight.
We keep it simple, keep below 30 grams of fat per day and we do a LOT of cardio (DDR fan here) and some weight training. Once you get into the habit, you feel a lot better and eating right becomes natural. When you go on something that deprives you of something you love, failure is always high.
Good luck on your weight loss and I hope it works for you, just be careful and make sure you get some exercise and drink plenty of water.
And I agree with you, but I would stop short at calling Atkins a fad diet. It is a fad if all you’re eating are the pre-packaged crap like bars and shakes and microwave meals marketed specifially as Low-carb. Like CrazyCat Lady said, you need to eat fresh, whole foods that are prepared yourself. Yes, it takes more time and effort, but if you really want to lose weight, you’ll do it.
I eat a diet pretty much like Chotii’s husband. It’s semi-Atkins-ish/South Beachy. Lots of lean meats (mostly poultry and fish), lots of green veggies, a salad every day, eggs, cheese, lots of water, and limited carbs. I don’t eat potatoes or pasta. Bread must be whole wheat, and even that I keep to a minimum. I don’t drink soda, and I don’t eat white sugar, as much as I can help it.
I’ll still recommend the Hacker’s Diet – no special meals, no forbidden foods, nothing more complicated than watching how many calories you’re eating and 10 seconds to log your weight every day. I’ve lost 26.5 pounds in the last two months, and I haven’t had to give up any foods I’d usually eat (just less of 'em).
