Broccolini & Bacon Salad recipe here.
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You know the most surprising thing when I look in my pantry since I’ve been Low Carb?
At first glance, it doesn’t seem that different to my pre-Low Carb days. There are still cans of tuna, salmon and sardines. Still two different types of olive oil. Still way more vinegar than any one household should reasonably contain.
And there’s still peanut butter. We love peanut butter.
But on closer inspection there are a lot of differences too.
My jars and canisters, which used to hold grains, flours and different types of sugar, are now filled with nuts, seeds and low-carb flours like almond meal and coconut flour. Apart from a couple of jars of Thai curry paste, there aren’t any packets of food with more than a few ingredients on the ingredients list.
It took me years to get to this point. And it’s still a work in progress.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY:
- How to Low Carb your pantry in 3 easy steps.
- A Low Carb Pantry ‘Cheat Sheet’.
- How to avoid ‘carb creep’.
- 4-step pantry spring cleaning guide.
EASY 3-STEP LOW CARB PANTRY MAKEOVER
Here’s a rough framework of how I approached my own pantry ‘makeover’…
STEP 1.
Stop buying processed food & carbs.
There’s nothing worse than deciding to change your way of eating and throwing out a heap of ‘forbidden’ foods, only to fall off the wagon and buy them again. I’ve been there and it’s such a waste.
So instead of getting you to purge and waste, I recommend starting with a slower, more gentle approach. Allow yourself an adjustment period where you stop buying new High Carb ingredients but continue to ‘eat up’ the food that’s already in the house.
Of course, if you would prefer to just jump in to eating Low Carb, you can throw out and start a fresh.
It’s up to you!
STEP 2.
Decide which carbs you’re not willing to let go of.
My husband is Irish, so if I said I wasn’t ever going to cook potatoes ever again, it would be grounds for divorce.
So I’ve found a much better approach is to keep the spuds to about once a week (more for our boys) and stop serving other carbs which aren’t so well loved.
It’s been years since I cooked couscous, buckwheat or quinoa and there haven’t been any complaints!
The important thing to remember with Low Carb is that 100% compliance all the time isn’t necessary. It’s about finding the balance that works to keep you and your waistline happy and keeps your blood sugar in a healthy range.
Apart from potatoes, there are a number of carb-heavy ingredients I keep in the house because I have two little men (3.5 years and 6 years) I’m also feeding. These include sweet potatoes, low GI rice, pita bread, pasta, corn tortillas and canned lentils.
I do indulge in these every now and then (like once a month) but I always keep my portions small AND, more importantly, make sure I really enjoy myself.
No guilt!
STEP 3.
Start experimenting with alternatives.
The first thing I found really helpful was deciding that there is always a healthier alternative that can taste just as good (or almost as good) AND make you feel better afterwards.
By keeping this open mind I’ve discovered some really delicious combinations.
And the best bit is there genuinely aren’t any high-carb foods I miss these days.
A Low Carb Pantry ‘Cheat Sheet’.
Here’s a ‘Cheat Sheet’ of Low Carb alternatives
and ideas to get you thinking…
*Note: To download a printable version of the cheat sheet, click HERE.
NOTE: This cheat sheet was created when this program was under the Deliciously Diabetic brand – so just ignore the references to Deliciously Diabetic and focus on the lessons.
How to Avoid ‘Carb Creep’.
As I mentioned, 100% compliance isn’t essential to achieving your goals, but it’s important to keep an eye on your progress.
We live in a world where an incredibly high carb diet is the ‘norm’.
It can be easy to start allowing more and more little indulgences into every day life.
Even though I’m pretty disciplined, I find I go through phases of being more or less strict with my carb intake.
There’s no need to be paranoid, but having some awareness that ‘carb creep’ happens is key.
As I shared on Day 1, testing my fasting blood sugar every morning helps me stay on track.
For you it might be just getting your HBA1C tested every 6 months, measuring your waist circumference, weighing yourself or keeping a food diary for 2-3 days once every few months.
The important thing is to have some way of keeping yourself accountable, without causing stress. Just a reminder to keep you focused.
OPTIONAL BONUS
How to ‘Spring Clean’ Your Pantry.
It’s up to you to choose the format. Sometimes I take on the whole pantry at once, but mostly I just clean one shelf at a time.
Here’s how I do it…
1. Remove everything from the shelf.
2. Throw out anything that you no longer want to eat, smells funny, is well past the ‘best before’ date, you have no idea what you’d use it in OR anything you don’t really like.
3. Wipe down the shelf.
4. Put the ‘keepers’ back in some sort of order.
I try to keep ‘like’ items together. So I have the bottles together with things like vinegars and sauces and oils. Spices live in my ‘spice box’. The canned goods live together and so on.
SUMMARY
Here’s what we’ve covered:
- To Low Carb your pantry you need to stop buying processed food, decide what to keep and experiment with alternatives.
- A downloadable Low Carb Pantry ‘Cheat Sheet’.
- To avoid of ‘carb creep’, be aware it happens and use your testing method (daily blood glucose, waist circumference, weight etc) or a food diary to stay on track.
- 4-step pantry spring cleaning guide.
ACTIVITY
1. Follow the 3 steps above to conduct your own pantry makeover!
2. Reconnect with your preferred tracking method from Day 1. and make sure you’re still measuring. If not, no problem. Just start again!
Tomorrow we’ll be expanding your concept of your pantry into your fridge and freezer!
Cheers,
Jules x
ps. If you have any questions or comments from today’s lesson definitely head over to the Ask Jules or comment below.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Low Carb Love 28-Day Program is where I share my personal journey of managing my blood sugar eating (mostly) Low Carb. I am not a doctor and this information is not intended as specific advice. Please discuss with your doctor or dietician before changing your food intake. Especially if you’re on medication or have any special medical concerns.
I really like your cheat sheet for lower carb choices. One thing I just realized in reading it, is I that when I do the magic sausage supper I could do rutabagas in place of sweet potatoes and I don’t think my husband would notice – is really strong on the belief that carbs are a very important part of every meal. There are a number of your meals I’ve been making that he sometimes doesn’t even notice the absence of carbs. Clearly you design good meals…
🙂
So glad to hear your husband hasn’t been noticing Susan!
I find as long as you include enough fat + protein to make it filling and enough veggies to provide bulk everyone is happy.
The other thing to consider is adding some higher carb veg for your husband and lower carb veg for you. I do this all the time and just serve myself the low carb veg and leave the boys to the sweet potatoes and potatoes!
Jx