How do you plan for success?

[Tina7234]

Hi all; I'm new and glad this forum is here. Thanks to all for sharing your stories and comments.

I wanted to share what I'm doing to help me stick with the low-carb life. I'm married with one child. Hubbie and I work, a lot. Any time not spent on work is spent on each other and our child. Pre-low carbing that meant lots of stops at the store for "quickie" meals. That also helps me stay fat.

Thinking it over I came up with this ideas. I've done this two weeks in a row and it's been a life saver!

On Sundays - I take three crock pots (got 2 on sale for $15/ea):
1 whole chicken
1 pot roast
1 pork tenderloin

I also make a dozen quiche muffins:
Fill 12 muffin cups with whatever I'm interested in (pre-cook the meat)
8 eggs + 1 cup cream
Fill muffins
375F/30 mins

Doing this has been wonderful - we now have a weeks worth of foods ready when we come home and I have easy to go breakfasts! Plus it helps us save money, woot!

So, do you have tips on how to stay on the low-carb lifestyle?

[Nelle Belle]

Wow! No ideas here but your house must smell wonderful on Sunday.
Good ideas.

[Tina7234]

Nelle Belle, yes, the house does smell good on Sundays! LOL

In case people wonder, why not do the crock pot the day of?, well, sounds good in theory but I can wake up and be working at 6 am in the morning before my son wakes. Depends on the projects at work. Pathetic, I know, but I'm grateful to be employed.

Oh, one more thing just got added to the Sunday cook-fest - Fat Bombs! O M G!

Kept mine simple:
1 cup Co / 1 cup PB / 1 stick butter / 4 tbsp cocoa powder / stevia (eye balled it)
mini-muffins lined with papers

LOVE it in my coffee (1/2 a mini).

[LiterateGriffin]

"Bullet-proof" coffee has been a lifesaver for me. (Coconut oil (CO), cream, and -- in my case -- egg, whipped with immersion blender and added to coffee.) I could live on the stuff, but need to watch I don't over-do the CO in a given day. (Though I'll "over-do" on purpose if I'm feeling "backed up")

We do "shepherd's pie", too, with mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. (Make sure to stir in lots of butter, cream, and parmasean... Mmmmm) Speaking of which, it's been a while -- need to make it again! Love it, and it's a quick re-heat the next day.

I've always got CO, cream (HWC), and cream cheese in the house. And yummie snacking-cheeses, like some artisan cheese I found (and bought in bulk) recently.

[mspartytime]

I haven't been to the grocery store yet since I started induction yesterday but I am lurking the boards, getting great recipes and ideas so that when I go to the store this evening I can plan my first full week of induction. Thanks for the great ideas!

[Laurel]

I took the month of december off from low-carb and am dying to get back into it. I'm planning out my next week right now and am pumped for all of the tasty food I'll be eating. I try to pre-package meals for myself so all I have to do is grab and go. Makes things safer and easier than trying to come up with something last minute.

[mspartytime]

Tried the bullet proof coffee this morning with just one egg (was a little scared). It wasn't bad at all. I still struggled getting it down for the thought of the raw egg. Mind over matter lol I am hoping it helps me get things moving. I am on my 3rd day and have already lost 4.5lbs so I am so excited. Thank you guys for this forum.

[unna]

I wish I had a crockpot!

mspartytime: Marilyn Monroe used to eat raw eggs everyday!

My plan for success:

I always have coconut milk in a glass in the fridge, so that I can just take a big swig to get rid of sweets cravings or if I am super busy without time to make anything. I also have organic summer sausage or thinly sliced roasted pork loin and french blue cheese that I nibble on in case I don't have time to cook.

My favorite meal right now is a loaded cobb salad - it is my go-to. I'm also really loving meatzzas. Both are super fast to prepare.

Additionally, I do one hour of exercise a day, and I always mix it up. No excuses. I think doing exercise is key to keeping optimistic about health. It makes me want to keep eating nutritiously.

[mspartytime]

Originally Posted by unna

I wish I had a crockpot!

mspartytime: Marilyn Monroe used to eat raw eggs everyday!

My plan for success:

I always have coconut milk in a glass in the fridge, so that I can just take a big swig to get rid of sweets cravings or if I am super busy without time to make anything. I also have organic summer sausage or thinly sliced roasted pork loin and french blue cheese that I nibble on in case I don't have time to cook.

My favorite meal right now is a loaded cobb salad - it is my go-to. I'm also really loving meatzzas. Both are super fast to prepare.

Additionally, I do one hour of exercise a day, and I always mix it up. No excuses. I think doing exercise is key to keeping optimistic about health. It makes me want to keep eating nutritiously.

haha, I will try to keep that in mind when I drink another tomorrow morning. Maybe if I hold my coffee mug just right and stick up my pinky.....lol

[Tina7234]

I love the other ideas! Stayed true to low-carb during the holidays but it was more of a challenge due to holiday schedule and not doing the Sunday preps. For one week didn't do my "preps" and it was a lot harder to stay focused.

Glad to be back on routine. Those little quiche muffins really help me out for on the go!

Going to try the meatzzas, sounds delish.

Oh, and LOVE the fat bombs in my coffee, it is very much part of my daily routine now.

[mspartytime]

from Tina7234: Oh, and LOVE the fat bombs in my coffee, it is very much part of my daily routine now.

I Need the fat bomb recipe please

JEnnifer

[Tina7234]

This thread has everything you could want to know about fat bombs and tons of recipes:

Fat Bombs, Where Have You Been All My Life?

enjoy!

[shelby'snana]

Well, sounds like you have such a wonderful plan already !! Good for you .

I need to try the fat bombs in my coffee...... I make the co bark , but I have never made a full blown set of fat bombs. Will do that today...... thanks !

[mspartytime]

Thanks for the link to the thread.

[50by60]

Often I cook multiple staple items on the weekend. I could not work in my classroom and my husband is out of town this rainy weekend so I cooked yesterday. Several hours later I stocked the refrigerator with cooked Angus beef patties, baked center-cut ham steaks, roasted chicken thighs, steamed cabbage, yellow squash and onions, chopped cucumber and celery for salads, hard boiled eggs, and cooked a pound package of breakfast sausage. I will be cooking bacon today and making a friendly soup- 2 cartons of chicken broth and a small can of tomato juice...great to sip from a mug. I will be measuring and weighing everything because my portion sizes grow when I am mindlessly eating. Often I find that I eat everything I pile on my plate even when I know the extra veggies and meat may cause a stall or gain.

[sya_unit]

Great ideas. I too crock pot weekly. This week it was a package of chicken breasts, some ranch (the make your own kind and just the dry ingredients), some taco seasoning (same not store bought), and then some salsa (just about 1 cup). I let it cook long and slow. I shred it and put it back into the crock pot (soaking up the juice- breasts are soo dry). I will use it on eggs, in a bowl with some toppings, as a topping for taco salad, etc. DH and son eat it in tortilla. Easy, simple, always a hit. Also, DS requested taco soup (not crock pot - but yummy). DS is 5, so if you got little guys, try that for a change. I have about 5 or 6 things I rotate out for the crock. I need to change things up a bit, but DH and son are creatures of habit.

[hluxe]

I make a meal plan, prep snacks and cut up veggies in advance, I make sure we don't have to order in because I have prepared us for success!

I spend Sunday afternoon making all our dressing and ranch from scratch. I also have thinks like tomato puree and paste portioned in the freezer to make controlling the carbs easier. It's working for us the last few weeks.

[Tina7234]

Glad to see others have weekend cooking blitzs. To me it makes all the difference in sticking to my food plan or not.

[mspartytime]

I have been making some kind of casserole every week (this week is spinach and mushroom lasagna). I make 2- 9x9 square casserole dishes and after baking I put them in the fridge to be reheated all week in a pinch. I have done the quiche's and the mexican meat pies but my favorite is a noodleless- lasagna I made up with spinach, cream cheese, mushrooms, italian cheese blend, parmesian, egg and pepperoni seasoned with italian seasoning and garlic. I can eat it everyday and I never get tired of it. Sometimes I will use zucchini, eggplant or portabella mushrooms instead of the spinach. I scramble 2 eggs and pour it in the bottom then microwave for a little over 1 minute before layering the other ingredients. It serves as sort of a base once it is all baked together. LOVE IT!

I also chop veggies ahead of time and mix up cream cheese/sour cream type dips for the veggies. And I make fat bombs for the freezer. This is the first meal plan where I haven't felt deprived or that I am starving. And I have tons of energy to burn

[mspartytime]

Originally Posted by sya_unit

Great ideas. I too crock pot weekly. This week it was a package of chicken breasts, some ranch (the make your own kind and just the dry ingredients), some taco seasoning (same not store bought), and then some salsa (just about 1 cup). I let it cook long and slow. I shred it and put it back into the crock pot (soaking up the juice- breasts are soo dry). I will use it on eggs, in a bowl with some toppings, as a topping for taco salad, etc. DH and son eat it in tortilla. Easy, simple, always a hit. Also, DS requested taco soup (not crock pot - but yummy). DS is 5, so if you got little guys, try that for a change. I have about 5 or 6 things I rotate out for the crock. I need to change things up a bit, but DH and son are creatures of habit.

I do this with chicken too. Have you tried those "microwave cheese chips" as a taco shell substitute. I made these chicken tostadas this week. They were fantastic.

[imamamax3]

i mix together the dry ingredients for MIM's and put in small air tight bowls. I usually do a batch of 6 or 8. that way when i'm wanting some "bread" its just a matter of pulling them out and throwing an egg in and micro-ing.

also, i always cook up a whole package of sausage or bacon on the weekend and store in a ziploc in the fridge. makes for a good bfast on the go. i've come to love cold bacon

[Tina7234]

mspartytime - that looks delish!

imamamax3; I'm not doing the MIM's yet, but when I do, that's a great idea!

[mspartytime]

mmm Bacon. I need to fry some today.