is Parma ham/ serrano ham a no no?

kikililly

Hi i am working on a bit of a low carb diet at the moment i'm finding it awfully hard to get into it. A year ago i was 2 stone lighter but had an accident and piled on the pounds so just back in health now and looking to drop at least 1.5stone over the next 2 months. whether that is doable or not i dont know but heres the problem....snacking!!

I love cooking, have no problem making great dinners and lunches aswell i suppose but i do need a nibble during the day and at night.

If i was to do myself a little anti pasto to nibble on like a couple of slices of parma and couple of pieces of parmesan and a couple of sundried tomatoes would it be very bad?

Any sweet treats anybody could recommend? I dont agree with 'low fat' food as such the like of pink and whites are dreadful but would like to have some alternative.

boogle

Stay away from the parmesan (or any cheese really) and make sure the sun-dried tomatoes aren't in oil. The ham would be ok if you had like a 20 - 30 gram piece to nibble on. I'd make it into a meal tho with a wholemeal pitta or something. Bulk it up with salad and crudites.

As for the sweet treats, I agree with you on the "diet" monstrosities. I love Nature Valley Crunchy Granola bars - they're not too sweet and really wholesome. Low in calories and not too sugary. I tend to have fruit for something sweet, but I know that doesn't always hit the spot!

oceanclub

Er, those granola bars have 29g of carbs each; they're not low-carb:

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-nature-valley-crunchy-granola-bars-i57486

P.

boogle

oceanclub wrote: »

Er, those granola bars have 29g of carbs each; they're not low-carb:

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-nature-valley-crunchy-granola-bars-i57486

P.

Yeah, I don't do low carb so I suppose I didn't figure that in. They're low calorie though as there are two bars per pack (90 cals each), and not just empty calories.
It's difficult to find a sweet treat, apart from fruit, that's low carb.

RGDATA!

I would have thought there are basically 0 carbs in parma ham?

Darkginger

There's no reason at all to stay away from cheese if you're low carbing - just remember to count the carbs in it - and Parmesan is one of the best because it's so strong you only need a tiny bit for flavour. Same goes with the ham - just watch your sodium levels if you worry about such things. I'd be more wary of the sundried tomatoes, because they concentrate their carbs, being dried - a whole fresh tomato might be a better choice (think they're around 4g carbs each). Artichoke hearts in oil work too (Sacla do them, in a jar).

My low carb snacks are usually hardboiled eggs with mayo and a dash of Frank's Hot Sauce, or a small tin of tuna mixed with mayo and some slices of cucumber, sprinkled with white pepper - or one of those John West tuna pouches (I like the lime one) eaten straight from the packet.

Sweet treats - try some sugar-free jelly (you have to remember to make it up beforehand of course), or full fat Greek yoghurt with berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries) mixed in. I avoid most things with polyols in them because they upset my tum. If you're happy to use Splenda you can make a great low carb cheesecake with a pack of cream cheese, a couple of eggs, a drop of vanilla flavouring and Splenda to taste - just mix it all together and bake it until it goes slightly brown on top and is set (no crumb base, but you could use crushed almonds and butter to make one if you needed to, it works, I've done it before).

On the whole, I avoid sweet treats 'cos I'm retraining my palate - but they can be a lifesaver if you get a craving!

oceanclub

boogle wrote: »

Yeah, I don't do low carb so I suppose I didn't figure that in. They're low calorie though as there are two bars per pack (90 cals each), and not just empty calories.
It's difficult to find a sweet treat, apart from fruit, that's low carb.

I suppose it depends on your definition and whether or not low-carb works for you. In my case, carbs would be considered empty calories. I only really lost weight when I stuck to a low-carb diet - in my case, ham and parmesan are fine (parmesan has very little carbs, and beside you only use a small amount anyway). Of course, too much ham (say, daily) in itself is also bad (recent link to bowel cancer), but moderation in all things I guess.

P.

kikililly

Thank you for all those replies.

Can i ask you low carbers how many grams of carbs you consider low carb? When i lost weight before i didn't count as such, just gave up bread except for maybe 2 slices of mccambridges here and there, rice, pasta and potatos and other starchy things.
I bought oat cakes today hinking they may be ok for an odd snack with peanut butter maybe but it says each one is 5.3g of carb and .1g of which is sugars. Which one should i worry about?

Darkginger

Well, strictly speaking, I suppose anything below 100g carbs a day would be low carb compared to the average diet, but I personally only lose weight when I cut my carbs to around 20g a day, and can maintain at around 60g. I follow the Atkins plan, which starts you off at 20g for the first couple of weeks, then you add 5g of a certain type of carb (not just any old carb, there's an order to do it in) each week until you stop losing - so you find out what your personal levels for weightloss and maintenance are.

Many people can lose weight whilst eating more carbs than I do - you could start at 40g a day and see if that works for you. It's the 5.3g you count, btw, although for me, oatcakes don't fit with my way of eating, which is based on meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, green leafy veg, some other salad veg, some cream, some full fat yoghurt, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and some berries. I also manage to include a few vodkas and red wine!

I've eaten this way for three years at a stretch before now (though had a couple of years of trying to go back to 'normal' eating - promptly put a load of weight on again, lesson learned!) - it IS sustainable long term, and I'd go so far as to say it's enjoyable. I certainly feel better in myself when low carbing - sleep better, have more energy, fewer everyday aches and pains that I'd put down to aging. But that's just me - everyone's different, and I suspect that I'm wheat intolerant, which would account for some of the 'ills' when eating off plan.

There are several different low carb plans for weightloss - Atkins is only one. I'd recommend doing a bit of research into the various plans available, and then trying to stick with it - it takes away a lot of the confusion!

RobAMerc

kikililly wrote: »

Thank you for all those replies.

Can i ask you low carbers how many grams of carbs you consider low carb? When i lost weight before i didn't count as such, just gave up bread except for maybe 2 slices of mccambridges here and there, rice, pasta and potatos and other starchy things.
I bought oat cakes today hinking they may be ok for an odd snack with peanut butter maybe but it says each one is 5.3g of carb and .1g of which is sugars. Which one should i worry about?

oat cakes are good - ( well better than most ) and peanut butter is good but you must buy the no sugar kind - peanuts & oil only, tesco do a nice one.

I think for serious and fast results you need to get seriously low for a few weeks - atkins suggests 20gsm, thats difficult not to fall off.

the diet Darkginger suggests is kinda like the Paleo diet bar the cheeses etc. It might be worth your while looking into it. there is shed loads of recipes out there for it, lots of plans and its less strict on the fruits and veg than Atkins as its more a way of living than a diet really, and we all need our fruits and veggies !

if its any good to you, my wife doesn't really follow any diet but as I do all of the cooking round here she eats what I eat, and she has noticeably lost weight ( although I'd never tell her )