.A Low Carb Diet is one where you reduce the carbohydrates intake but is high in protein fat and vegatables. In this piece we look at sample low carb diet menu and meal plan as well as discuss how to eat low carb diet as a vegetarian.
In This Article
Does Low Carb Diet Work
Over the years their have been more than 20 studies which show that a low carb diet works. The low carb diet works by reducing people’s appetite so that they eat lesser calories which is proven by these studies (1,2).
If you want to start with a low carb diet please ensure that you use a nutrition tracker to fine tune your carb intake and figure out that you get enough amount of protein and fat.
How Many Carbs Should you Eat
While there is no fixed definition of how much is considered low carb but if we take 100-150 grams per day that is usually good enough for a person who is also exercising. If however you are looking for a low carb diet for weight loss than you should reduce your carb intake to 50-100 grams per day. If you reduce your intake to below 50 grams you will get into a ketosis state which is not recommended but is usually followed by extreme weight loss aspirants. Do note that low carb diet does not mean no carbs
Low Carb Diet Menu: Foods To Choose
This easy to follow low carb menu is full of delicious healthy foods that can fill you up and slim you down. Mix and match low carb menu items for a meal plan that caters to your cravings. Each day, pick one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner option (complete or one main dish plus one side dish). Then pick two snacks to curb cravings between meals.
Drinks
Try to stick to drinks from the approved list if you really want to lose weight. Limit alcohol consumption to minimize carbohydrate intake.
- Water: the more, the better
- Coffee: black or with milk, stevia if needed
- Tea: no sugar, green is best
- Sugar free sparkling beverages
- Lemonade made with stevia
- Low fat milk
- Almond milk
- Soy milk
Breakfast
This is a list of low carb breakfast items choose any one item from them
- Scrambled eggs with leftover vegetables
- Apple slices with almond butter
- Plain Greek yogurt with nuts and berries, sweetened with stevia
- Omelet with vegetables and caramelized onions
- Protein powder smoothie with milk and berries
- Low carb protein powder pancakes
- Asparagus, ham, and cheese frittata
- Chia pudding made with milk, nuts, and berries, sweetened with stevia
- Cottage cheese with raspberries, flax seeds, and stevia
- Low carb zucchini muffins
Snacks
This is a list of low carb snack items choose any one item from them
- Ants on a log
- Homemade trail mix with nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate
- Fruit and nut bar
- Vegetables with hummus
- String cheese stick
- Baby carrots with ranch or dill dip
- Hardboiled egg
- Cottage cheese with chives
- Dry roasted or boiled edamame
- Greek yogurt with flax seeds
- Raw or roasted almonds
- Whole or speared pickles
- Raw sugar snap peas
- Kale chips
- Beef or turkey jerky
- Cucumber slices with sugar free cream cheese
Lunch
Here is a list of low carb lunch items choose any one item from them
- Tuna salad lettuce wrap with bell peppers and red onion
- Turkey, cheese, and honey mustard lettuce roll-ups
- Southwest chicken salad with salsa, cumin, cheese, and black beans
- Romaine and cabbage salad with sliced turkey, goat cheese, pecans, chopped strawberries, and strawberry vinaigrette
- Greek salad with feta and kalamata olives
- Cubed chicken with cheesy spinach and artichoke dip
- Tomato basil soup with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt
- Low sodium chicken and vegetable soup
- Chicken or beef stir fry
- Cobb salad
- Deli meat roll-ups with cream cheese, dill, and pickle spears
Complete Dinners
Pick From
- Spaghetti squash “pasta” with primavera sauce, grilled chicken, and vegetables
- Ratatouille with grilled chicken
- Gumbo with cauliflower rice
- Shrimp scampi over spaghetti squash
- Low carb chili topped with plain Greek yogurt and shredded cheese
Low Carb Menu Sides
Choose From
- Mashed cauliflower with roasted garlic
- Green beans with sliced almonds and bacon
- Sautéed spinach with chopped nuts
- Pickled cucumber salad with red onion
- Asparagus wrapped in honey ham
- Buffalo cauliflower with dipping sauce
- Cauliflower rice
- Boiled spaghetti squash
- Balsamic grilled peppers and sugar snap peas
Low Carb Menu Main Dishes
Choose From
- No bun cheeseburger with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, and sautéed mushrooms
- Grilled, baked, or broiled salmon
- Meatballs
- Curried coconut chicken with kale
- Chicken piccata
- Grilled chicken wings
- Turkey meatloaf with oats
- Pork tenderloin with oregano, cumin, coriander, and thyme dry rub
- Lamb with yogurt sauce
- Fried egg with chunky roasted tomato sauce
- Chicken teriyaki with mixed vegetables
- Steak with savory creamy mushroom sauce
Low Carb Diet Menu: Foods To Avoid
If you are trying to loose weight using this diet than you should avoid or eat in moderation the following set of foods: dark chocolates, wine, potatoes as well as cheese and nuts. Along with this also try to eat only one piece of fruit per day
Sample Low Carb Vegetarian Meal Plan for One Week
This is a sample menu from Sunday to Saturday on a low carb diet plan.
Sunday
Breakfast: asparagus, ham, and cheese frittata; black tea
Lunch: cubed chicken with cheesy spinach and artichoke dip
Snack 1: kale chips
Dinner: spaghetti squash “pasta” with primavera sauce, grilled chicken, and vegetables
Snack 2: stevia sweetened Greek yogurt with flax seeds
Monday
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with green peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese; black coffee.
Snack 1: cucumber slices topped with sour cream and chive cream cheese spread.
Lunch: tomato basil soup with plain Greek yogurt, top with shredded cheese before heating if desired; sparkling water with lime
Snack 2: ants on a log made from celery sticks, almond butter, and raisins; green tea with lemon
Dinner: broiled salmon and pickled cucumber salad
Tuesday
Breakfast: chia pudding made with milk, nuts, and berries, sweetened with stevia; black coffee
Snack 1: hard boiled egg, milk
Lunch: romaine and cabbage salad with sliced turkey, goat cheese, pecans, chopped strawberries, and strawberry vinaigrette
Snack 2: one handful of raw almonds
Dinner: curried coconut chicken with kale over cauliflower rice
Wednesday
Breakfast: cottage cheese with raspberries, flax seeds, and stevia, black tea
Snack 1: vegetables with hummus
Lunch: tuna salad lettuce wrap with bell peppers and red onion
Snack 2: fruit and nut bar
Dinner: gumbo with cauliflower rice
Thursday
Breakfast: omelet with vegetables and caramelized onions, milk
Snack 1: Greek yogurt with flax seeds; coffee with milk
Lunch: southwest chicken salad with salsa, cumin, cheese, and black beans; sparkling water
Snack 2: sugar snap peas
Dinner: low carb chili topped with plain Greek yogurt and shredded cheese
Friday
Breakfast: low carb protein powder pancakes, coffee with milk
Snack 1: dry roasted or boiled edamame
Lunch: cobb salad
Snack 2: baby dill pickles, tea
Dinner: pork tenderloin with oregano, cumin, coriander, and thyme dry rub; mashed cauliflower with roasted garlic
Saturday
Breakfast: Low carb zucchini muffins, tea
Snack 1: sugar free beef jerky
Lunch: low sodium chicken and vegetable soup
Snack 2: cottage cheese with chives, coffee
Dinner: no bun cheeseburger with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, and sautéed mushrooms; sautéed spinach with chopped nuts.
Make sure to drink plenty of water and get in at least 45 minutes of moderate exercise every day. Even a brisk walk will get your heart pumping and boost your metabolism. This delicious variety of meals combined with regular exercise will have you feeling happier and healthier in no time.
Low Carb Vegetarian Diet Plan
Most individuals out there do not get when they hear the words low carb vegetarian diet plan . Often this is because of the misunderstanding when it comes to vegetarian-assuming that since a certain individual does not eat meat, he or she only eats incredibly healthy, but this is not so.
How to eat a Low Carb Diet as a vegetarian
The low carb vegetarian diet plan is considered one, which contains less than 130 g of the carbs each day. Vegetarians who follow the low carb plan must heed the three basic principles.
They must cut the carbs, eat even more protein, and increase the fat intake.
They should also limit the carbs especially to those from the vegetables as dairy products and fruits, while the fat could come in some form of healthy seeds and nuts, dairy and butter. Low fat cottage cheese as well as yogurt, eggs, tempeh, nuts, as well as tofu are high in proteins and low in carbs
Making a Low Carb Vegetarian Diet Plan
Understanding what the nutrients your own body needs the most as well as the proper way to attempt a low carb vegetarian diet is the main key in order to lose excess weight without consuming any kind of meat. The low-carb as well as vegetarian diets do not mainly go together. Eating the Low Carb Diet often constitutes of eating moderate to large amounts of fats and proteins that are animal-based, while the vegetarian version of the diet is full of the carb-containing vegetable and fruits, beans and grains but we will tell you how to make this work.
Kick Start Right at Your Low Carb Breakfast
Keep in mind that Eggs are very versatile option that primarily fits both vegetarian and low-carb parameters as long as they are the kind of vegetarian who mainly eat eggs. In a low carb vegetarian diet, you can combine the eggs in the frittata or omelet with the vegetables as well as cheese that is low fat or even eat scrambled or boiled eggs. For those vegetarians who do not eat eggs, there is other option and that is the plain Greek yogurt that is mixed with berries. While the fruit primarily contains carbohydrates, the berries tend to have lower carbs, with the raspberries as well as strawberries containing just 12 up to 15 g of carbs per cup.
Move on to your Low Carb Vegan Lunch
A soup or salad is among the simplest ways in order to keep your own lunch low-carb. This is also an excellent low carb vegetarian diet you can try. For the salad, most of the items in salad as well as green vegetables are generally low in carbs. Because of this, you can now load up on spinach, lettuce, scallions, radishes, bell pepper, zucchini, radishes, and cucumber. Top salads with the cottage cheese for protein hit and then dress it with olives, olive oil, pine nuts, or even silvered almonds for little extra healthy fats.
If you want your low carb vegetarian diet to include soup, you can combine the vegetables with small serving of either beans or lentils. It is important to know that these are slightly higher in the carbs, but you should be measured carefully in which they should not exceed 130 g limit. Legumes on the other hand would definitely give you great dose of fiber and protein.
Stay Right on Track until Dinner
You can prepare some meat substitutes that are made from soy having plenty of vegetables for your dinner. According to the Dietitian Virginia Messina, it is good to have half cup of the seitan along with the half cup of green beans, kale, and sweet potato, which are all cooked with the olive oil. This will give you a great low carb vegetarian diet. If you want, you can also prepare tofu with asparagus, mushrooms, and butternut squash that are sautéed in coconut oil.
Do not forget your Vegan Low Carb Snacks
If the hunger strikes mainly between your meals, you can choose among the different vegetarian and low carb snacks. Seeds and nuts are great bet as the slices of boiled eggs and low fat cheese. The cottage cheese, Greek yogurt as well as low fat cream cheese that is mixed with chopped nuts or nut butter also fit the bill. In your low carb vegetarian diet, you can also do the vegetable sticks along with the homemade hummus or salsa. Provided that your own total intake of carbohydrate for each day does not mainly exceed 130 g, you are still strictly following the low carb diet.
I however the main goal for low card diet is to limit the total carbs for 30 to 40 g each day than this only means, limiting the starches as well as grains to not more than one small serving a day. It is important to become aware that animal proteins have little or no carbohydrates at all. This is the main reason why you should plan your low carb vegetarian diet properly. You must know what and what not to eat. With this in mind, you can be certain to get countless of benefits more than what you have ever imagined. Lots of nutritious foods are there to include in your own diet. All you have to do is to have some time in finding what the most nutritious are to get the desired results you are aiming for.
Conclusion
Getting in shape is just one of the many trends that never go away. If you are now ready to acknowledge that you really need to lose your excess weight, you can consider doing low carb vegetarian diet. This is considered as a healthier alternative to any other popular diets, which let you consume great amount of unhealthy foods that are full of cholesterol and fat. At first, it may seem very difficult, but the long-term result that it will bring will surely make you even slimmer and most of all healthier as you change own eating habits and kick start incorporating your diet into your own daily meals.
In case you are facing issues loosing weight on low carb diet than do read 11 Reasons Why You Are Not Losing Weight with a Low Carb Diet
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