The following products do not have affiliate links. I do not recommend products based on financial return. Instead, I only recommend products that I buy and love and help me be as efficient as possible with my calorie intake, whilst retaining all the taste and keeping me full. They are for residents in Portugal though if you follow the links, you will find suitable alternatives in your local market.

From Amazon:

From Prozis:

Do not eat protein bars, processed foods, bread, rice or pasta during the shredding phase. You have plenty of alternatives within the Konjac range.

From Your Local Supermarket (I use Continente – your choice)

During the shredding phase, my main protein is chicken. I buy them in packs of up to 2kgs and they come vacuum packed so they will last longer. Oonce you open them, ensure you cook it.

Frozen vegetables:

It is obviously better to use natural vegetables instead of frozen ones but I try to keep my shopping to once a week and want my meal preparation to be as efficient as possible. My go to vegetables for every meal:

Quick meals with some preparation.

  1. Place in a wok diced garlic https://www.continente.pt/produto/alho-picado-continente-2907529.html and cut your 2kg of chicken breasts into small cubes. Put it on high heat and keep stirring as there is no fat yet in the wok. You can add a spray of virgin oil though I now cook with no extra fat. It will begin to stick in the beginning so make sure to keep mixing. Usually, the chicken starts to release water which makes it easier – keep stirring as it is on high heat. Add the seasoning you want. Normally, I add the above bag of herbs and seaason with salt and pepper. You are cooking the base of your meals so do not add any sauces.
  2. Keep stirring until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. If you have a lot of liquid with the chicken, just keep it on high heat, keep stirring and the water will evaporate – leave some liquid so the chicken isn’t completely dry.
  3. Alternatively, cover the chicken breasts in the herbs and place them in the oven or in an air fryer. I normally use the wok because of the quantity of chicken. I can now portion it the cooked chicken into small boxes ensuring that the weight is logged and they are all the same.

I also make a tomato and basil sauce that will be the base for chicken with tomato sauce or to add for the base of a curry.

  1. Place in a wok diced garlic https://www.continente.pt/produto/alho-picado-continente-2907529.html and cut your large tomatoes into smaller pieces – around 8 per tomato so that you have substance in your sauce. Add seasoning – salt and pepper. No other sauces. Add basil at the end for a more mediterranean taste. No need to use any olive oil or others cooking oils.
  2. Portion out too or just keep in a box in your fridge.

Your meal:

  1. In a saucepan, add frozen vegetables with no fat or oil. Keep stirring. If anything starts to stick to a pan, I always add a tiny bit of water. This will have no impact on your food as the heat will evaporate the water.
  2. Another option is to add sliced mushrooms on their own.
  3. Once you have the vegetable base, add your chicken or other protein. I use boiled prawns, octopus (high in protein) or other suitable protein meats.
  4. I then add some tomato sauce and either curry powder for a curry or just leave it as is.
  5. You can then add the konjac noodles or rice and voila – 8 minutes and you are ready to eat.

If you prefer a more oriental meal, do not add tomato but do the exact same thing adding the Teriyaki sauce.

Dessert or Snacks

  • Frozen strawberry ice cream or shake depending on the amount of water: https://www.continente.pt/produto/morangos-continente-6531811.html.I add frozen strawberries to my nutribullet, water (I do not use milk, almond milk or any other pretend milk – no need and a waste of your calorie allocation), add 3 scoops of vanilla protein powder (+/-40g) and if I am low on my calorie count for the day, I add a YoPro Vanilla protein yogurt – though I don’t really need to. I only use strawberries – stay away from banana and other higher calorie frozen fruits.
  • Also eat YoPro Vanilla High Protein yogurts (https://www.continente.pt/produto/iogurte-proteina-baunilha-yopro-danone-7918196.html) and often add vanilla protein powder to them, especially in the beginning, when I was struggling to get up to the 160-200g of protein per day. Do not consume protein drinks – you should not be getting your calories from liquid foods. It won’t be bad for you, but it is also inefficient use of calories as you quickly digest liquids as opposed to solids.

Note: the above is my routine for shredding and my go to when I need to recover from a weekend with the parents or from a dinner with friends. It is not meant to be your diet for the rest of your life. Once you pass the shredding stage, you can start mixing in some of your favourite foods as you will have learnt to count calories without weighing food. I also weigh myself every day which means that any changes in weight and body fat can easily be recovered by resorting to your safe go to meals.

I hope you enjoy this process as much as I did and continue to. Have any recommendations? Ideas? Let me know and I’ll add them to this list.

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