U.K. LC store/restaurant database

[tamarian]

O.K. folks,

Our new local shopping database is open, with a section for U.K. listings of stores, supermarket chains and restaurants.

Help your fellow country folks find the secret low-carb spots you know about :) in a few weeks we may be surprised to find locations in your town that you didn't know about, suppleid by others who want to share the information.

The database currently has all Canadian listings from before, but now it's open for submission of entreis for any country.

So please add all your entreis, and low-carbers in your area will be grateful.

To browse and add entreis, click:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/store/local_shopping.html

I only added province/state information for Canada & U.S. If any of our members would like us to add the same regional data for their country, just send me the info on official regions in your country and I'll add it asap.

Wa'il

[Andy Davies]

Well done Wa'il, good idea. Practical, and sure to help people.

[tamarian]

Glad you liked it Andy, I hope mmembers will start entering the data for stores, restaurants, supermarkets in their cities. Canada is well covered so far, Australia is the only other country that has any entry so far :(

What stores in the U.K. can people find things like flax seed, essential fatty oils, stevia, or any products that maybe of interest to low-carbers in the U.K.? If anyone has any information, please use the link above to enter the information, this should encourage others to help and post more details.

Wa'il

[Andy Davies]

In the UK, this kind of product is generally sold by "Health Food" Shops, which are usually run by vegetarians and vegans, so their focus is not the same as ours. Products are often a little pricey, and there is a tendency for such shops to concentrate on organic foods. On the plus side, "organic" foods have to pass stringest tests to retain their status.

[fiona]

It is a little difficult to find specific low-carb products in the UK.

I searched high and low for macademia nuts and quite surprisingly found them in one of the larger Sainsbury's Supermarket Chainstores.

Holland & Barratt (a Health Food Store) has Pure Soya Protein Isolate Powder and Whey Protein in various different flavours.

At £22 I found the Whey Protein very expensive but they do have regular sales and I got the same pack for £10 recently. It tastes pretty good too mixed in just plain water. The expiry date is 2004 - I'm sure mine will be gone long before. At 2.2g carb per serving it is good to have in my cupboard.

Holland and Barratt also have a very large selection of nuts albeit NOT macademia nuts

I hope this helps. I have posted it (slightly incomplete as to phone number and precise address) in the UK lowcarb site Wail mentioned above.

Take care.

[tamarian]

Thanks for the entreis Fiona, they're now available on line.

I'm sure things will get easier as the demand increase from low-carbers.

Wa'il

[fiona]

Hi Wa'l :D

My pleasure. You've altered my thinking now. From now on I will be shopping not just for myself but for any would-be/wannabe/ struggling UK low-carbers too !

And when I get a chance I'll get together a list of UK provinces for you to enter on that site. One of the reasons I found it difficult to put in an address was 'cos I could not assign it to a region.

Sainsbury's, Safeway, Iceland are thre chainstores fairly evenly spread throughout the UK but others are limited to local regions.

Anyway signing off now so I can go collect info.
Take care.

[fiona]

Hi Tamarian

As promised full list of UK provinces / districts ... call it what u like. As there will be some entries that apply to the whole country e.g. Sainsbury I put in a Countrywide at the beginning but I'll leave it to you for what goes on the board.
UK Counties

Countrywide
Alderney
County Antrim
County Armagh
Avon

Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Borders
Buckshire

Cambridgeshire
Central
Cheshire
Cleveland
Clwyd
Cornwall
Cumbria

Derbyshire
Devon
Dorset
County Down
Dumfries and Galloway
County Durham
Dyfed

Essex
Co Fermanagh
Fife
Glamorgan – Mid
Glamorgan – South
Glamorgan – West
Gloucester
Guernsey
Gwent
Gwynedd
Hampshire
Hereford & Worcestershire
Hertfordshire
Highlands
Humberside
Isle of Man
Isle of Wight
Jersey
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincshire
Greater London
County Londonderry
Lothian
Greather Manchester
Merseyside
Norfolk
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Orkney
Oxfordshire
Powys
Shropshire
Sark
Shetland
Somerset
Staffordshire
Strathclyde
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex – East
Sussex – West
Tayside
Tyne & Wear
County Tyrone
Warwickshire
Western Isles
West Midlands
Wiltshire
Yorkshire – North
Yorkshire – South
Yorkshire – West

Take care.

[tamarian]

Thanks Fiona, I really appreciate it.

I couldn't tell which ones are the country wide regions. Would you please cut and paste those into a reply. I feel embarressed, as my first 6 years in life where in the U.K. :( I should know better!

Wa'il

[fiona]

Hi Tamarian

It's okay. I feel exactly the same when I look at the US regions.

I've confused you. Only one Countrywide. Right at the top. The rest are all single regions of the UK. So for example if there is a store that isn't limited to a particular region (say Sainsburys) then that could be entered in the Countrywide. There are only a handfull of stores that are countrywide.

<I should know better! > U r being too hard on yourself. Come on. U do a wonderful job on the board from what I've seen. Nobody knows everything.

It's great that there is a collection of worldwide information. It means I don't have to worry wherever I go I just have to logon to find out. I'm glad to do my teeny weeny bit to help.

Take care.

[cupiedoll]

a great selection to be found at:

www.thelowcarbshop.co.uk

[Andy Davies]

One specific recommendation for you: Bacon sold at Tesco in Britain (a countrywide chain) sold in their "Value" range and described as "Cooking Bacon" (not sure what other kind there is!) which is sold at 99p for 450g.

[fiona]

99p for 450g is good value Andy. Must admit I don't often make the effort to go to my local Tesco for the simple reason that I have to take a bus there and struggling back on the bus loaded with bags just doesn't appeal.
I could check out their website. Thanks.

[Andy Davies]

Not only good value, but good quality too.

Contents are like a lucky dip, though - some smoked, some not; some streaky, some bacon steaks. Appears to be a collection of offcuts from many sources, but taste always guaranteed. Sorry about your problems of access. We can walk to our branch, but in our last 3 houses had the problems you describe, so we understand. There are other bargains too.

[fiona]

When I first moved here there was a TESCO, WOOLWORTHS, a SAINSBURY and a HALIFAX BS and a LLOYDS - wow hadn't realised myself so many closures. Anyway Tesco opened a huge big superstore (a bus ride away) and closed the little branch. Of course more people started going to the superstore and one by one all the others moved away. Then an ICELAND opened. That's pretty good and I can walk there and back everyday so I don't need to carry bags of stuff. And I get special discounts on the day so it works out pretty okay.

It has sent me into a bit of a slump as far as exploring other options is concerned. Thanks for opening my eyes to that.

{can walk to our branch} Don't get too complacent. Things change - she says pessimistically :D

Take care

[Andy Davies]

A salutary warning, well taken. Thanks. Incidentally my home town was Guildford, so I originated in your area, but we moved to East Anglia about 3 years ago.

[cupiedoll]

Fiona

Does the Tesco in your town deliver? You can shop online. It's worth the fiver if you get heaps of stuff--especially heavy things. As well, if you email Tesco, they will send you a list of foods "low in sugar" (i.e. all meats, dairy, etc) which also has carb counts! So this gets around the problem of not being able to read labels in the shop.

Hope this helps.

Karen

[Andy Davies]

Fiona,

Stop Press - My local branch of Tesco is selling a set of 3 Teflon-coated frying pans for £10.00, special offer while stocks last.

[fiona]

Andy dear

Fiona is a collectomaniac and just plain maniac where BARGAINS are concerned. ;) It is very kind of you but information like that is guaranteed to get me on the bus to Tesco's regardless of the fact that my kitchen cupboards are spilling over into my sitting and bed rooms with pots and pans and kitchen gadgets collected during such bargain hunts. :D

By the way do you ever have any problems with this site in the evenings? Some evenings (yesterday was one such) it is so slowww. :confused:

[Andy Davies]

Whoops! But solution easy - don't go this time. Yes, sometimes experience slow reactions, thought it was my equipment. Usually clear out all temporary internet files, cookies and Temp files, which usually recovers about 6.5 MB of memory, then defragment C drive. By the next evening, things working more quickly and smoothly. Didn't realise my "remedies" were nothing to do with improved performance next day. Will take more notice in future, and post up times when I experience sluggishness.

[tamarian]

If you continute to experience a slow connection, please do the following:

1. Open a DOS window (or the equivilant tool in your system), and type:

tracert forum.lowcarber.org

2. Email me the results. You may post the result in the comments box, but for most be people this is not advisable, since it will reveal your IP address to the public.

This will help me determine if the problem is related to our website/server, or to your ISP, or possibly to cross-pond net congestion. :)

Wa'il

[fiona]

Will do Wa'il. I don't do anything. It gets better by itself - usually the next morning.

I'm glad I mentioned it Andy. It would be helpful to find out why.

BTW would you be interested/able to come to the UK Get-Together next month Andy? I thought of the drive back for you when I put 4pm as the time.

Take care.

[Andy Davies]

Wa'il - Not sure how to open a DOS Window. I do know some basic DOS commands, but usually operate in Windows 98 now. Will try to oblige. I think Fiona and I tend to use this site at different times, so your results would be interesting.

Fiona - I am not optimistic about being able to attend a meeting. I wasn't ignoring you - just did not see the post about it. Will contact you privately.

[fiona]

Andy It's okay ... just putting out feelers. I reckoned people needed time to check their diaries and commitments.

I had noticed about us using the site at different times. I am one of those people for whom an hour's sleep before midnight is worth three after and you seem to do a lot of your posting after 2am! LOL

Take care.

[Andy Davies]

Bad management of time on my part, something (else) I have to work at.

[fiona]

Went to Tesco yesterday. I saw that Frying Pan Set and was VERY tempted but walked swiftly away from it and distracted myself with some celery at only 34p - I usually pay nearer to £1 for it ! LOL

Discipline and control getting better eh? ;)

[Andy Davies]

I'm impressed - you faced temptation and turned away from it. Not easy. Progress indeed.

[fiona]

{Andy: My local branch of Tesco is selling a set of 3 Teflon-coated frying pans for £10.00, special offer while stocks last}

I just noticed your original message again. Well the set of 3 Teflon-coated pans (I'm sure its the same ones) was only £4.99 in the Tesco I went to ... unless the price has gone down still further since you posted your message?

Not that this has ANYTHING to do with LCing . LOL. ;)

Take care

[Andy Davies]

Ouch! We bought a set at £10.00. Still good value though. Nothing to do with LC diets? What do you fry your Bacon and Eggs in? It's at least as relevant as PMS is to my journal! LOL.

[fiona]

Hi Andy

{Still good value though} It is indeed. Moral - next time wait a few weeks and see what happens. Who knows if I go back in another month it might be down to £2.50 - then I certainly wouldn't be able to walk past ! LOL

{What do you fry your Bacon and Eggs in} Surprisingly I found a new use for my "Tavva". I find it's much better and easier than a frying pan. U r right of course - totally relevant. :)

Take care.

[Andy Davies]

Not totally relevant, and I was being rather unkind; my apologies. But as I believe we have both learnt something from both digressions, perhaps the cost to the server is justified! Next time I post something on this thread, I intend it to be strictly about the database. This one could be stripped down to about 5 directly relevant posts, so as a guilty party in this I suppose I ought to volunteer for the task, but it will have to be when I've finished my re-writes. Too busy right now.

[fiona]

{we have both learnt something from both digressions, perhaps the cost to the server is justified}

More than justified. I believe it is these little "human" ramblings which can veer off in totally unexpected directions that are the inspiring, fun aspect of this website.

They do serve a purpose. I remember one such ramble in Doreen's journal that decided me to ACT NOW and start work on the UK Get Together.

{Next time I post something on this thread, I intend it to be strictly about the database. } Believe me ... I've been trying - not as easy as it would seem ROFL. Don't worry about it. Be natural.

Take care.

[madpiano]

I searched high and low for macademia nuts and quite surprisingly found them in one of the larger Sainsbury's Supermarket Chainstores.

I have found them in Sainsbury's and Safeways. You find them with the baking Products, not in the nut section :)

[Andy Davies]

Thanks, madpiano. I was wondering where to try. On the whole I am a little wary of nuts, but I keep reading about them so much in Atkins, and on this forum, that I thought I'd give them a try myself.

[fiona]

I love nuts. It makes such a convenient easy snack especially as I am now keeping off cheese. A couple will usually be enough to make me feel I have satisfied that little craving for food.

However you are quite right to be wary. It is very easy to lose track and not realise how many I am consuming. Especially when it comes to Sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Strict rationing on a daily allowance basis is called for.

Take care.

[Suzien]

O.K. folks,

Our new local shopping database is open, with a section for U.K. listings of stores, supermarket chains and restaurants.

Help your fellow country folks find the secret low-carb spots you know about :) in a few weeks we may be surprised to find locations in your town that you didn't know about, suppleid by others who want to share the information.

The database currently has all Canadian listings from before, but now it's open for submission of entreis for any country.

So please add all your entreis, and low-carbers in your area will be grateful.

To browse and add entreis, click:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/store/local_shopping.html

I only added province/state information for Canada & U.S. If any of our members would like us to add the same regional data for their country, just send me the info on official regions in your country and I'll add it asap.

Wa'il

I can't find this, where's it moved to?

Suz