New to this board, but not to low carb...
 

Hi,

I am contemplating trying low-carb again, but since we are on a tight budget, I am wondering if I can even swing this? When I did lowcarb in the past, I had to purchase lots of extra little "goodies" to help me stay on the diet, such as, sugar free candy, low carb bars, soda and all that type of stuff.

It seems that to eat cheap, you have to eat lots of carbs in the form of breads, hot/cold cereals, pasta....I am normally not a big bread eater, but sheesh, it's such an easy way to fill your tummy.

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone does a lowcarb diet on a small budget? *of to search for a thread covering this topic*

Anyway, glad to be here.
Quasi

hi there Quasimodo, I to have been on the low carb diet with my daughter about a couple years ago, and yes I also had to get little extras like you, those low carb bars, special carb foods, and that adds up to some $$$ bucks I to am looking for some really good low carb foods that are cheap. I also am on a small budget, it seems like all the "good stuff " (the stuff you aint supose to have) is the cheap stuff. I am new here to the site, just sign on today actually, and today is day 1 for the second round of the low carb diet. But it worked when we were on it a couple years ago, my daughter went from 240 to 195 and me from 184 to 154. But now she back were she was and me almost back. If you find any low carb cheap foods please pass it on to me if ya will. Thanks

Hello, and welcome! :wave:

I once read something along the lines of "What you pay for quality food today you will save in managed care later." Of course this isn't true all of the time, but you get my drift.

That said, here are some ideas:

1. Eggs. They're very nutritious, cheap and easy to prepare. Plus there's a lot of ways to vary them.

2. Fattier cuts of meat. If you are doing Atkins, the extra fat shouldn't be a problem, plus it tastes good.

3. Sales and bulk-shopping.

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure others will have more tips.

As far as low-carb "frankenfoods" go, they can be good sometimes. But if used as a large part of your diet, they can reinforce the bad habits you're trying to get away from. Try the "Sweet Treats" part of the recipe section, and you can make your own goodies, often at a fraction of the cost of the packaged stuff plus you can control quality.

I'm glad you've made it here! Regardless of what plan you chose or what your budget allows, just keep moving forward in the right direction.

Welcome, Quasi. :)

Yes, there have been many threads about low carbing on a budget. If you click here, and scroll down to "How to shop the low carb way," you'll find links to several threads.

Rosebud:rose:

Welcome, friend, so glad you're here now! As far as shopping, I have decided not to buy those low-carb bars anymore, and sugar free chocolate only occasionally. (They are on sale at Rite Aid right now, 2 for $3.00 for the Russel Stover chocolates!) I buy them, but forget they are there, and so I don't eat them much. Plus, they are kind of hard on the digestion:-( The one thing I do buy now is Diet Coke (sweetened with Splenda, you can find it at Winco.) I only allow myself one can per day, however, because I find that the sodium makes me retain water, and so I have to drink even more water! I already have a hard time trying to get 100 ounces of water in as it is. So one a day for me;-)

I have started baking bread with flax seed meal. It's great to throw tuna or egg salad on. I have also learned a few new ways to make eggs, and we go through a lot of those! I bake with eggs a lot now, and use them in sugar free desserts. I have been buying a lot more veggies, especially salad green, cream and half and half, real butter, and Splenda, so those things are new to my shopping list (and more expensive than the counter parts I used to use.) However, I think I am actually eating less and have needed less groceries, so I guess it's a wash;-) Our bill has stayed about the same, actually.

I think if you search through the recipes and make some convenience foods ahead of time, you will find that you don't need the shakes and bars at all. I have pumpkin-flax seed muffins in the freezer that are great with cream cheese or butter! Yum! I have also started eating string cheese for a snack, because it's so darn handy;-)

Wow, I've really gotten some warm welcomes! Thanks everyone! I'm glad to be here! I will address each person, so this is going to be long. Sorry bout that. :)



Will do, Tenika! Maybe we can keep in touch on the boards and share ideas!



Good point, only I'm thinking that all bars and shakes are not necessarily the "quality" that I am looking for. Tho they may make me thin like last time I was on Atkins, I think I would prefer to eat real food. :) I was on Atkins a few years ago and I did it on those bars and shakes, and lo and behold, my body forgot how to digest real food. On top of that, it was so expensive for me to get to that place. This time, I would like to do it correctly, with real food, so I'm looking for any ideas that will help me tame my cravings besides sugar free chocolate and low carb bars.:)



Thanks for the ideas. I'm interested in the different ways to vary eggs. I know of omelettes (with my fave low carb veggies of course, OH and lots of cheese), hard boiled, scrambled, over easy....but that's about it. LOL I would love to hear of more creative ideas!

Sales and bulk shopping. I can do that! :) But besides meat, cheeses and veggies, what else can I buy in bulk that will help me along?



I absolutely LOVE your word, "frankenfoods"! That is hilarious and my sentiments exactly about the bars and stuff like that. Not that I have a problem with them (I'm starting to sound like a snob--I don't mean to), I just really prefer fresh veggies, as well as really needing a lower-budget diet. I will definitely get over to the sweet treats section and see what I can find! Thanks for that!



Thanks for the encouragement and for the welcome! I only have about 20lb to lose, but be that as it may, I will probably not lose it that fast. I hope I do tho! :D

Blondie, if that is a pic of you in your avi, you are absolutely beautiful, btw. Way to go on your weight loss!



Thanks Rosebud! Exactly what I was looking for! *happy dance*



Thanks! Glad to find you on this huge forum!! Glad to be here too!



Mmmm I like the Russell Stover chocolates...the toffee ones are my fave. I might have to get some of those. LOL I actually haven't really been in the mood for soda lately, but I've been having iced tea with lemonade. Will have to make the lemonade with splenda and drink it that way, I think. :) The Diet Coke with splenda tastes funny to me, but perhaps since I haven't really had much diet soda lately, it will taste better once I do. :)



I would like to have your flax seed bread recipes, if you don't mind. One gets tired of only salad and lettuce wrapped sandwiches! LOL I love heavy cream...do you use it in your coffee? Do you use half and half in your coffee? I'm hoping my bill will stay low...I'm really struggling to spend only $500/month on groceries, which seems like a lot, but it includes all my cleaning supplies and any extra stuff I need for potlucks or whatever, so it's all good. I would love to spend less tho and be able to do Atkins!



That's encouraging. Now to find some convenience food recipes. OH..how did the beef jerky turn out? Your flax seed muffins sound wonderful with cream cheese. Gotta try that!

I had to give up lemonade:-( I had no idea that lemon juice had so many carbs!



It's not my recipe, but I'm happy to share! Flax Seed Bread Recipe

Personally, I don't like heavy cream in my coffee, it's too... heavy. I like half and half;-)

I have made two batches of jerky so far, and hubby likes the really greasy fatty meats... Actually, I do, too, but they are harder to run through the meat cutter;-) Still, it's 0 carbs, much better than the stuff in the stores!

Cool thanks for the recipe!

Are there less carbs in half and half by chance?

Yep, lemon juice does have carbs. I'll have to count them up when I use it. When I make my lemonade and iced tea drink, I usually do 3 parts iced tea, one part lemonade, so that's only a quarter of a glass.....should be better, but I may still need to adjust. I hadn't even thought of that. :)

What type of meats are you using for jerky? *thinks she might need to borrow her meat cutter back* LOL

Half & Half 2 T = 1g Carbs
Heavy Cream 1 T = 1g Carbs

So you get half the carbs with half & half;-)
Lemon juice is 1.3g carbs per tablespoon.

LOL, I dunno, whatever I can get cheaply at Costco! I think last time I did it with roast beef, and he didn't like it as much. Before I did it with rib eye or something like that, had LOTS of marbling, which made it harder to cut, but the jerky was more tender and chewy while also being crisp. It was oily when it was done, though:-P Both were $2.99 per pound.

Welcome...

I used to purchase all that junk food too.. but honestly... that is partially the reason why I ended up diving off into a nice life of carbage.... This time I'm keeping it clean with whole foods... And honestly you don't have to buy expensive stuff.

I shop at Costco/Sams and buy the big bag of frozen chicken breasts and cook them up.. very inexpensive.... There's lots of good ideas for doing this on a tight budget.. It's not about steaks all the time.

T-man

Thanks Kitty and WH.

~WH: That is just so good to know, WH, that others do this in an inexpensive way. All that sugar alcohol I used to consume caused me the worst gas, and practically ruined me for chocolate for about a year after I went off the diet. I really would love to just eat regular food and lose the weight I need to. :)

~Kitty: Thanks for the breakdown. I think I will use half and half for my coffee. Hmm...I wonder how many tbsp are in the lemonade I use in my tea? Will need to figure that out. I wonder if you could use london broil for beef jerky? That used to be cheap pretty often. Or maybe Top Sirloin. Less fat tho, so the consistency might be different.

I'll price them at Costoc and try them if they are in my budget! Thanks for the suggestions:-)

And ... doing it clean is the most healthy.. honestly.


t-man

I completely agree, t-man.

Sorry, but this is just not true. Heavy cream has less carbs than half and half.

1 fluid oz of heavy cream: 11.03 grams of fat and 0.83 grams of carb
1 fluid oz of half & half: 3.47 grams of fat and 1.3 grams of carb

jtp