Low Carb Dieting Solutions

Low-Carb Dieting Solutions by Sarah Parr

As competition dates roll ever closer, it's that time of the year when bodybuilders far and wide find themselves chewing through predictable plate-loads of vegetables with some form of bland protein alongside.

Although it's possible to find recipes for meals that are both interesting and diet-friendly, often they require laborious preparation or an excessive number of (often expensive) ingredients.

Below are a few very easy, delicious and economical  recipes I've used at home that are all low-carb, high protein and ridiculously easy to cook- try them out for yourself and enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Patties
Serves 2

Ingredients:   
Go Figure Carb Less Pasta
Chopped chicken (pre-cooked)  
Red onion
6-7 eggs (2 yolks)  
garlic
salt & pepper          
vegetable of your choice

Method:     
Chop vegetables (I used finely chopped broccoli in this example), garlic and cooked chicken. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together. Pop into a preheated medium fry pan with your oil of choosing-It's that simple.
Top with a dollop of cottage cheese or add vegetables and you're good to go!

Off season: add cheese (as in this example)

The great thing about this recipe is it's  very filling, low-carb, easily serves two or does you more than one meal and is handy for any chicken (or other meat, tuna works also) leftovers. The ingredients can be adjusted to suit your preferences or protein requirements and there's very little preparation time.

Broccoli Salad & Salmon Mash

Serves 2

Ingredients:    
broccoli (approx half a head)   
red onion (1 large)     2 tomatoes    vinegar
olive oil    tinned salmon        lite cottage cheese    salt & pepper   

Method:    Shave the raw broccoli finely (including a little stalk) and combine with finely chopped red onion and tomato. Drizzle a little olive oil and vinegar/salt/pepper to taste and place on plate. Mash salmon and cottage cheese together and place on top of broccoli salad. Done!

This recipe is a favorite of mine and is very easy, fresh, crunchy and tasty- you don't even have to cook the broccoli so it can't get easier. It's over to you whether you use white, brown or balsamic vinegar and of course you could easily use tuna or tinned chicken in place of salmon.

Again it's very low-carb and stays in your stomach a decent time. For convenience you can also combine all the ingredients into one large, satisfying munch.

Basic Omelette with Mushroom & Tomato

Serves 1-2

Ingredients: brown onion    mushrooms (chopped)    red onion   garlic    tomatoes (chopped)        6 eggs (1 yolk)  
Garlic (optional)      
parsley      
a little water or milk

Method:  Mix eggs, diced brown onion, garlic and herbs  with a little water or milk. Heat two pans and add a little oil to each, add seasoned mushrooms and diced red onions to one pan, the omelette mix to the other (they'll take a similar amount of time to cook). Stir the mushrooms and onions occasionally until cooked to your liking.
Serve with chopped tomato wedges- done and dusted!

Off season: add avocado and cheese

I use this recipe in a variety of ways as it's so convenient, which I'll give examples of in articles to come. It's a bodybuilding basic that you can't go wrong on!
My kids love to eat this with cheese on top, so if you're cooking for more than yourself simply add more eggs.

Don't forget to “double-cook”- why cook for one meal when you can just as easily cook two and be prepared for your next mealtime?

Get creative with recipes and add a slice of avocado or top with cottage cheese. You'd be surprised how many vegetables actually taste good raw, especially if prepared and combined with other complimentary vegetables and the  basic olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Using freshly ground rock salt and black pepper does make a difference to the taste. I also must confess that  I'm a big fan of Tabasco sauce, so that goes on most dishes.

Experiment with flavours and try different herbs and spices, see what they do and develop your own cooking style- as long as it's palatable and meets your dietary requirements is the main priority, but  getting some variation and flavour in there definitely goes a long way towards keeping you on-track and actually enjoying the cutting up phase of dieting.
Delicious diet equals a happy bodybuilder!

Sarah Parr
February 2013