Hello. I've been talking to my parents aged 74 and 75 about various symptoms they have, especially fluctuations in mood, and think their high carb low fat eat well diet may not be helping.
However I am realising they really struggle without swaps for the usual carb item, and feel things are not a meal without these items. They are also on a tight budget.
Could anyone suggest any tips please? My mum also struggles with a number of textures.
I can only think of the usual suspects: courgettes for spaghetti, cauliflower for rice, mash and pizza base, chopped cabbage also as base for bolognese-type meals or curries, mixed lower carb root veg for mash. Home made low carb bread (but I don’t know if the ingredients are expensive, or if it is nice).
Aubergines in lasagne instead of pasta of sliced and dry fried with an egg on top or as a pizza base.
Large Portobello(?) mushrooms stuffed. I’ve seen them suggested as a replacement for a burger bun.
I make “sandwiches” for myself using lettuce leaves of varying types as the wrapper. Thin omelettes can also make good wraps and can be eaten cold. These are for me as I know my husband wouldn’t touch them with the proverbial barge pole.
Maybe they could try reducing something one meal at a time over a few days with, say, potatoes but extra veg. My husband loves potatoes but only gets them occasionally these days. He says he still misses them (not enough to make him cook them though 😂) but then I make sure I get to the kitchen first.
Maybe they could look around the internet with you (to gee up some excitement on new things)? Could you find some recipes you think they might like and lead them to that page?
Hi Stoozie a few questions before I answer:
What kinds of textures does your mum avoid?
Do they eat most things - i.e. most veggies, most seafood and most meats?
And what would some typical meals be for them?
Thanks. Mum avoids white pasta and rice (courgetti would also be too 'soggy' for her). Porridge, butternut squash, lentils.
Rather than completely swapping items out, could they reduce portion sizes, such as moving to thin sliced bread, smaller portions of potatoes and rice etc whilst increasing vegetables such as cabbage which are economical to buy? I must say I’m with your mum on the courgetti-not a fan.
Are they on board with making some changes?
Turn the question around. What do they really like that's low-carb? Surely there must be things that they have banned themselves from eating for years (like full English breakfast) but that they would love to eat. What is it? Hone in on that to get them started.
Not sure about cost though!
Personally, I don't think "carb substitutes" work very well. LCHF does involve a fairly radical change of mindset. On the budget issue, though, the supermarkets often have whole cartloads of vegetables being sold off cheap around closing time. Nobody's interested in vegetables - everybody's clustered around the freezer section looking for marked-down ready meals. That means a veg bonanza for the LCHF skinflint 
Same applies to (eg) marked-down meat and dairy. Nobody wants the pork shoulder or the lamb or the full-fat cream because they think it's unhealthy.
An excellent observation. 😎
Thank everyone, lots for me to go away and discuss with them there.
I'm an unhelpful LCHF daughter, as I'm quite happy with a meal not being a 'meal meal'. My mum asked me what to have her cheese on at lunchtime.
Me: 'a plate?'
😂
I almost fell off my chair when my mum announced she and my dad were following me into the LCHF way of eating!... and am amazed that months on, they’re still committed to it, in their own way. Even their simple changes like having cauliflower (or something else) instead of potatoes with the evening meal, and one slice of homemade bread instead of bread throughout the day, and starting to eat things like eggs and bacon that they’d been avoiding for years... even the simple stuff has really positive results. I’m really happy for them. Hope your parents can find their mojo too!
Celeriac mash is lovely. 75p. It doesn't look like an attractive vegetable. Just peel it. Quite tough almost like a turnip. Cut into chunks and boil in salt water for 20mins until soft. Mash with butter and cream( not too much as it could become too runny. Maybe add nutmeg too. It goes come out best in a food processor though.
Sometimes substituting carbs isn't always the answer as it can fall short of the actual carb they are looking for.
If they arent really onboard with the changes I think they may struggle. But if they have always avoided things like butter cream bacon and the fattier meats then it would be good to concentrate on enjoying those.
Another think to consider is keto flu. Maybe to avoid this a gradual reduction in carbs would be a better option.
If you could let us know how they are getting on in a few weeks that would be great.
Good luck to you all x
Probably when they realise they can have real food it will make it easier. Also without the carbs they won’t forever be looking for the next meal.
It also helps fasting without the effort.
Our last meal of the day is between 5 pm and 7 pm. Our next meal is between 10.30 and 11.30.
And our portion size has gone down too I think if our children knew how little we eat they could be concerned. However if they looked in our fridge it would be a different case.
We have cream and full fat milk, an assortment of cheeses, bacon, sausages, minced beef with extra fat, belly pork joints (roasted delicious), lamb chops and our latest fad is lambs liver, which is very inexpensive, some may pull a face at that one but it is delicious. All served with fresh green vegetables I even have spinach with my cooked breakfast and mushrooms cooked in butter. We have fish twice a week. And very rarely do we buy chicken.
All of the above had gradually over years vanished from our diet, replaced by low fat and high carb foods.
Cutting carbs really does change how you feel. It’s not expensive either as a treat we buy the best butter we could find at a cost of £2.30 for a 250 gram block, expensive but delicious and well worth making the change for.
Cheese is great with coffee and a splash of cream no need for bread or crackers, walnuts is good too.
Hope they enjoy their new life, I’m sure they will and it will bring back memories of days before cereals 😀😀😀
Awesome ideas there, many thanks
We slice cucumber into rounds about quarter of an inch thick put on a dollop of full fat cream cheese then smoked salmon on the top, so delicious and so decadent. I use the off cuts of salmon as they are cheaper ....
Also sliced gherkins with cheese and ham on top....
Burgers with cheese and a few fried onions on a slice of tomato .... oh my life, so delicious specially with a slice of gherkin and full fat mayo .....
And like the burgers, with these great ideas, you're on a roll!
Geddit? Sorry I'll get my coat
We put grated parmesan cheese in our cauliflower mash, just gives it a bit more oomph, the other day I had some leftover and I fried it like bubble and squeak..... Heavenly with bacon and a runny egg on top. The cheese made the outsides very crispy ♥️
I don’t have breakfast but I make a batch of low carb pancakes at the weekend and my husband pops one in the toaster each morning and has it with a few cooked blueberries and some extra thick double cream last weekend I made spinach savoury pancakes as well ....
Are You Struggling?
Chia seeds
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Fish and no chips