Snack Help page

[SimplyComplex85]

I hope this is ok to post here. I'm still not on the diet because I just can't figure out what to eat... My biggest issues are lunch and snacks. Lunch I just have to figure out what to pack (no idea other than salad with some meat in it), but snacks I have no clue. I can't make my own beef jerky right now. I normally eat nuts and dried fruit but those are high carb. I can't eat any dairy (allergic) so can't do things like carrots and ranch like a lot of people. And aren't carrots high carb? Or cheese cubes. I could have hummus but can't do the pita chips. I can't do a peanut butter sandwich... I seriously can't find a food that I like that isn't high carb. I want to limit myself to 75 a day. I have found when I crave pop or sugar most is when I'm hungry so I think snacks are an important thing.... Does anyone have any ideas?

[Pamsc]

Hard boiled egg? Lots of people will probably tell you just to eat more for meals and you won't be hungry. But it may take you a while to trust that. I would keep nuts on hand--you can probably get enough calories without blowing your carb goal. Do you have access to a microwave at lunchtime? I mostly take leftover dinner for lunch (or salad with meat).

[longing2bfit]

we don't do snacks anymore but we did in the beginning.. We used hard boiled eggs, salsa with veggies..meat wraopped in lettuce or pickle slices wrapped in meat!! Jalepenos stuufed with cheese and wrapped in bacon and broiled. sausage patties..chicken legs seasoned up like wings.. sweet poatato fries.. Dont be afraid of carbs!! It takes a lot more than you think with veggies to get 75 g!! I almost never hit 75 g and I have sweet potatoes and/or carrots everyday. Just not a ton of them

[SimplyComplex85]

I don't eat a big dinner since lunch is usually when I'm starving. Plus I get home late and don't feel like cooking anything. I can't eat a lot when I first wake up but I try to eat a decent amount - usually 2 eggs, some sausage and a little hash browns. Then I'm STARVING two hours later. If I eat a big lunch I go about 4 or 5 hours before I'm hungry. I just seem to process food fast no matter how much I eat.

I was going to make hard boiled eggs... I forgot about that. Although I normally eat them with triscuits lol. gah! so many food changes to make!

[Meegads]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about carbs at first, as long as you stick to primal foods - you have to train your body to eat a certain way, and to crave things that are good for it, and staying low-carb right off the bat is VERY difficult. I'm convinced that it's why a lot of people give up after the first week or two - they focus too much on keeping their carbs LOW and not on teaching their body to burn fat instead of carbs.

Eat fruit, if you want it - don't go overboard, but have several helpings throughout the day. Fruit was a LIFESAVER for me when I first went primal - it curbed the cravings and kept me sane. Later on, I was able to reduce my amounts and keep my carbs lower. (Though I will mention that even when I was eating fruit 3 times a day, my carbs were still under 100g per day.) Eat as much protein as you can, and if you cover your bases with protein and carbs, and you're STILL starving, up your fat. Coconut milk coconut oil, almond butter...the possibilities are endless.

I've cut way back on snacking after the first few weeks of being primal, but some of the things I ate back then were hard-boiled eggs, nuts, berries, apple slices or celery sticks with almond butter, bacon (I'd cook extra with my breakfast, then save it for a snack later - that is if you don't mind cold bacon - same with chicken), veggies with homemade ranch dip. It's a little extra work, but if you make your own mayo, you can make your own ranch - it's basically mayo, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, parsley, and dill. I add buttermilk to mine, but being that you're allergic to dairy, you probably want to leave that out. It's ALMOST as good as regular ranch, minus all the bad things that commercial dressings have in them.

The biggest thing for me was cutting out all grains, processed foods, and soda. Just doing that had me feeling GREAT after the first week! (Though be prepared for carb flu, anywhere from the first week to three weeks after going primal.) Once your body gets accustomed to eating this way, then you can worry about cutting your carbs and tweaking your weight loss. Good luck! You can do this!

[Kinnell]

I'm probably missing something here because I wasn't on a particularly sugar heavy diet before I went primal, but after about a week I stopped having cravings for sweet stuff. I assume the cravings are because your blood sugar level is always high and once it starts dropping your body thinks it's going to run out of energy and makes you want to eat more. Once you get into the diet this will no longer be the case, so not dieting because you don't know how to deal with the cravings is pretty counterproductive. Just dive in! Even if you have to cheat and eat something sugary every so often, you'll still be making much better progress than sticking to a sugar rich diet, but try and stick to good stuff like fruit.

As for snack recommendations, my favourite is chorizo, although a bag of nuts is often more practical and surprisingly filling.

[Leida]

Have you tried all natural ham? Like rolling a slice of ham around a cucumber or a celery stick? Did you try any quick pickles (basically your veggies soaked overnight in coarse salt and vinegar and some spices? Did you try eggs with freshly made mayo? Did you try shrimps in home-made marinara sauce or with freshly made salsa (or eggs for that matter)? Did you try to give a whirl to gazpacho? Did you try eggs poached in broth or just broth? Broth with seaweed? Smoked fish? Canned sardines with aragula? Chilled cocnut milk with salt? Plain butter? Coconut cream? Just try to think of what sounds appealing and you can come up with some cool new ideas for snacks!

[Buffdv]

lost 48 lbs in 30ish weeks, snacked a LOT the first couple of months. Don't snack at all now. I never eat breakfast and rarely eat lunch. Eat lots of fat and protein at dinner. your best friend is a fork. Use a fork instead of chips, tortillas, crackers, etc. Guacamole, fork. Hummus, fork. Salsa, spoon. Peanut butter, spoon.

snacks for work:
Almonds, macadamias, pistachios
cheese
lunch meats
bacon
hard boiled eggs
jerky
peanut butter with carrots/ apples/celery
pickles
tuna salad and a fork
apples
oranges
grapefruit
pears
sausage
put half and half and coconut oil in your coffee

[DaisyEater]

Hummus is made of legumes, by the way, so not technically primal. Doesn't mean you can't eat it, of course.

[CarinNunnery]

I mostly take leftover dinner for lunch