The Perfect Low Carb Plate
Introduction
Nutrition has such an important influence on our health because it's a decision we are making multiple times every single day. You're probably eating at least 25 times per week, even if you're going to the gym every day. That's seven times at the gym versus 25 to 30 times you are eating. Knowing what to put on your plate, depending on your goal, is knowledge that is going to set you up for massive success. And that's what I'm going to share with you today in the Why Wait Start Now podcast.
Welcome to the Why Wait podcast. I'm your host, Cheryl Takayama, qualified nutritionist, emotional eater and weight loss coach who walks the talk. I've maintained my 30 kilo weight loss for the past 23 years following a low carb plan, and now I coach other women online so they can be the same. It's my mission to help women get off this crazy diet wagon and find a way of eating and a way of thinking that works. So you too can lose your weight for life. Join me each week for lots of practical advice, tips and motivation. So you can start now.
As a coach when I'm working with someone on their weight loss journey, my goal is always to make things as simple as possible, focusing on those daily actions that, when done properly, are going to make a big difference. I always say to people, let's just focus one week at a time, one day at a time, and one meal at a time.
This is so powerful because when you know exactly what to put on your plate, when you have a template so you know, okay, I should be getting this much protein, this much fat, this much carbs, and you have a little template like that. That is the knowledge that you are going to take with you no matter where you go, whether you're at home, whether you've gone to someone's house for dinner, you might be overseas, you might be at a restaurant. Food takes place in every area of our life, every day. We have to know how to do it right. Especially when the goal is weight loss.
So what I'm going to share with you today is a super simple template for the perfect low carb plate. Now this is the template that you can use to get started in weight loss, and it's going to help you in every situation to make sure your bases are covered.
The Four Components of a Perfect Low Carb Plate
There's four main things that I'm going to be talking about today:
1. Protein
2. Healthy fats
3. Low carb vegetables
4. Low carb substitutes
There are some really great alternative options that are available now that you can add to a meal to give yourself crunch and variety, so you feel like you're not missing out. And that is really helpful as well because we need our food to be yummy, especially if you're an emotional eater and you're someone who gets a lot of pleasure from food, which of course, a lot of us do. We have to eat food that's delicious, and we never want to feel like we are missing out. Because if you feel like you're missing out, you're not going to be able to sustain this way of eating.
1. Protein
One of my golden rules with my meal plan is always that you must have protein with every meal. If it doesn't have protein, it's a snack. It's definitely not a meal. Protein is essential. That is what's going to keep you satiated. Protein is the building blocks for your cells and it's really important for your immune system.
Think of protein like your metabolic alarm clock, because when you're getting protein, it is fueling your metabolism regularly. It's waking it up, especially for breakfast. It's so important that you get a really good dose of protein to wake your system up and get your metabolism firing.
When I talk about protein, I'm talking about high quality foods. We want yummy organic chicken, salmon, eggs, meat. If you're a vegetarian, there are the options like tempeh or tofu. It doesn't matter how you get your protein. What matters is that you're getting it with every meal.
I recommend about 20 to 30g of protein per meal, which is around about the size of your palm. Now, if you are measuring the cooked weight of your protein, it's important to realize that if your chicken is, say, 100g, only about a quarter of that is actually going to be pure protein. So don't think if you're having 100g of chicken, you're getting 100g of protein. It's far from that. You're actually only getting about a quarter to a third. Depends on the type of protein. But roughly that's how much you're getting.
So if you're getting about the size of your palm and this is if you're a woman, then you will be fine. If you're a man, you want to increase that. And I'd be recommending the size of your whole hand in terms of protein with your meals.
The great thing about protein is that, as I've said, it fuels your metabolism, it keeps you full, and it takes your body quite a lot of energy to digest protein. And what that does is it burns calories. Now this is called the thermic effect of food. And what it means is that when you're eating protein and your body's burning more calories just to digest it and process it. Well, that's going to help in your weight loss. It's going to be thermogenic because it's going to increase your metabolism simply by the act of your body having to digest it. So it's a real win, especially when your goal is weight loss.
Protein also preserves your muscle mass, so it keeps your metabolism strong and it helps keep your energy stable. People not eating enough protein is one of the biggest red flags that I see when people come to see me and I look at their food diaries, so increasing protein can make such a huge difference.
2. Healthy Fats
You must include healthy fats with every meal. Think of fats like your hormone hero, because when you add a portion of healthy fats to your meal, it really helps keep your hormones balanced. And fats are also really important to help your body absorb vitamins and minerals.
Think of vitamins A, D, E, and K. They're actually fat soluble vitamins, so you've got to have fat coming in through your diet in order to be able to metabolize these vitamins.
The really important thing with fat is that it helps us stay full. So if protein helps keep our metabolism going, what fat does is that it keeps you satiated for a long time between meals. This keeps your blood sugar levels really stable.
Think of fat like a log that's burning, that's given really beautiful long term energy into your body, rather than carbs that are like an instant energy source, like you throwing gasoline onto a fire. Fat's not like that at all. Fat is like that slow burning log, so it's just going to keep you really full between meals, which is exactly what you want.
If I have a client who says that they're really hungry within about three hours of eating, I will always increase their fats first before I suggest they eat more protein. Because fat's role is to keep us full.
Now, what I'm talking about in terms of a portion size, roughly, would be about 2 to 3 servings of fat with each meal, and those servings are 100 calories. So you're looking at about 200 or 300 calories of fat with each meal. That would be about:
* Half an avocado
* A tablespoon of oil (olive oil or coconut oil)
* About 14 small nuts in a serving (almonds, cashews, or pistachio nuts)
* About 12 olives
* High fat dairy: a tablespoon of butter, a couple tablespoons of sour cream
The other wonderful source of fat that I have to admit is probably my favorite is mayonnaise, mayonnaise and aioli and pesto. I love things with a lot of flavor, so in my fridge, I've often got about five different kinds of mayonnaise, all flavored ones. And that's what I love adding to a simple meat. So I'm getting lots of flavor and feeling really satisfied with my meal.
3. Low Carb Vegetables
On this way of eating, you want to be getting most of your carbohydrates and glucose from vegetables, nutrient dense veggies, leafy greens. You want to be including lots of cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower. Lots of color like capsicum and beetroot.
Vegetables are brilliant as a source of fiber. They have lots of antioxidants and they're going to also really help with reducing inflammation.
Often with low carb, I find people are nervous that they can't eat fruit because they like fruit, especially for those of us who like sugar, because it's quite a good way of getting your sweet fix. But people say to me that they're worried that if they don't eat fruit, they're going to be missing out on nutrients. But the truth is, vegetables are absolute kings when it comes to vitamins and minerals. In many areas, it's way higher than fruit. The highest food of all when it comes to vitamin C are red capsicums (red bell peppers).
So if you're eating a good amount of vegetables, you will not be missing out on anything. Vegetables are high in lots of goodness and low in sugar. And that's exactly what you want, especially when weight loss is your goal.
4. Low Carb Substitutes
What I'm talking about here are low carb wraps. You can get those at the supermarket. Here in New Zealand we have the local brand Farmers. And there's also Jerries that do low carb wraps. And you can also get low carb bread.
Now this is an absolute game changer, especially when you want eggs on toast for breakfast. Or maybe you want a toasted sandwich for lunch. Let's face it. We love our carbs. So if you can substitute that in a really easy way, it is a massive win.
On a lot of my food plans, I'll have things like burgers with a low carb bun, pizzas made with a low carb base, ham and cheese toasted sandwich, peanut butter on toast. It's all of that comfort food that is just really yummy. Does not feel like you're on a diet. It means that if you're making pizza for the family, you can make a pizza for you. Your food looks the same and it makes it so easy and delicious.
On my meal plans, I would usually include one of those low carb substitutes per day. A lot of my clients are eating substitutes and they are getting fantastic results. So I'm a big fan of adding that into people's plans when they want a bit of variety. And again, they want yummy food that can keep them going all week long.
The Perfect Low Carb Plate - Summary
So that is your perfect low carb plate:
* About 20 to 30g of protein (the size of your palm)
* About 200 or 300 calories of fat in the form of oils, mayonnaise, avocado, nuts and seeds, or olives
* Fill up your plate with low carb vegetables (as many as you want - vegetables on my plans are always unlimited)
* Optionally add in low carb substitutes, especially when you want those yummy comfort meals
The only vegetables you need to limit are the ones that are high in starch, which are potato, kumara, pumpkin, sweet corn, peas, parsnip, and yams. So you don't want to go eating those when weight loss is your goal, but every other vegetable is absolutely fine.
Action Step to START NOW
My action for you, if you want to get started today, is to create one perfect plate today. Get your protein, get your fats and I want you to notice how you feel. Do you feel fuller than you would normally? How long can you go before you feel hungry again? I would love you to give this a try and see what a difference it can make for you.
And ultimately, after listening to today's episode, I just really encourage you to take control of your health, one plate at a time, because small changes that you're making now can lead up to a big transformation with your health.
To make this easy, I've created a little handout which shows the perfect plate and gives all of the information on protein and fats and vegetables. If you click on the website link in the show notes, it'll take you to my website and you can get that little freebie to help you create your perfect plate.
Thanks so much for listening. And if you want support on your weight loss journey, I would love to help. You'll see the links in the show notes for my socials, as well as my fab freebie, a five day low carb meal plan, and five delicious dinner recipes. You'll also see the link for my four week Foundations of Fat Loss program. This is the program I've designed specifically for the fat burning needs of women over 35.
Remember, the only thing that's going to stop you reaching your goal is if you quit. Never, ever give up.
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