Lunchbox 

The 4 Benefits of Slow-Carb Lunches

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First of all, if you want the recipe for the picture you’ll find it at the bottom.

Secondly,what is ‘slow-carb’?  Slow Carb is a term given to foods which release carbohydrate slowly. They tend to be whole foods, unprocessed and mostly made up of meat, vegetables, nuts and grains.

We often think sugar is the bad boy of the pantry, but it’s often easy to forget that bread, potatoes, rice etc are turned into sugar in the body also even though they are not sweet when we eat them.

By choosing to leave out the carbs and sticking to say the Slow-cooked lamb in lettuce wraps means you can eat more and still be healthy.

The benefits of making some small changes to eating more slow carb meals are:

  • You will lose belly fat (exposing those abs you know you have!)
  • You will lower your visceral fat which is the bad type that tends to stick around your organs and cause heart disease and diabetes.
  • You will save money. Taking leftovers from last night for lunch is cheaper and gives you more control over what is in it.
  • You won’t feel like sleeping after eating so much as it’s not so taxing on your body, plus refined carbs (white bread for example) is turned into sugar giving you a spike then a sharp drop in energy.

Here are the rules:

Rule #1: Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means all bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and grains. If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. You already do this; you’re just picking new default meals.
Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Fruit juice, sugary drinks are the worst. Go for home made ice tea, sparkling water, etc. Exception: 2 – 3 beers or 1-2 glasses of dry red wine per night is allowed.
Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. (Fructose –> glycerol phosphate –> more bodyfat, more or less.) Avocado and tomatoes are ok. Yes they are technically fruits.
Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts. I choose and recommend Saturday.

Slow Cooked Lamb Recipe

Have it for dinner the night before, maybe with kumara, roast veges, etc. Then for lunch pack the lamb separately from the lettuce cups so they don’t go soggy and simply make them up when it’s time for lunch. Too easy!  PS you could also add some greek yoghurt, lemon and salt for a dressing.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

  • 1 lamb leg, whole (~ 2 kg / 4.4 lb / 70 oz), this will yield about 50% meat
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (60 ml / 2 fl oz)
  • 4 cloves black aged garlic (or fresh white garlic)
  • 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 heads small lettuce (400 g / 14.2 oz)
  • ½ tsp salt or to taste
  • 2-3 cups water

Note: Weight of the lamb leg includes bones. A 2 kg leg will yield about 1 kg of meat.