I have what I call my "kit" its things that I make sure I always have around and seem to help me in my LC life and my weight goals.

1. Green tea. I just love the stuff I brew it
2. B-complex liquid (under tounge) very important IMO
3. Multi Vitamins
4. Agave (I am sure a lot of folks will challenge sweetners but I've never had issue with agave)
5. cream cheese
6. Vienna Sausages (I prefer to stay awy from processed stuff but in case of emergency they have a lot of fat.
7. eggs

8. 64 oz jug. I fill it 3 to 4 times a day
9. ketosticks (i use them in the beginning. if I have to tinkle constantly and with urgentcy they I know Im good. But I like to be assured every few days. cut them in half to lower cost. I just got a 2pack at CVS for 15 bucks that 100 sticks. 200 if you cut them. that will likly last a year.

I have to add a caution to that list on agave.
Depending on the process, it has more fructose than HFCS, causing more insulin resistance and liver damage. Most LCers with any blood sugar disregulation consider it worse than sugar or HFCS, and there are other natural sweeteners that are not high in fructose. https://authoritynutrition.com/agav...rse-than-sugar/

I was just going to post what Janet did. Agave is a truly awful sweetener. More fructose in it than HFCS.

Would you like some suggestions on better sweeteners?

I'd suggest, roughly in this order based on taste/naturalness.

Erythritol
Stevia/Erythritol blend
Lo Han/Monk Fruit
Sucralose -- tastes the best, but not natural at all
Stevia -- tastes awful sometimes, but very natural

I wish I liked sweeteners but to me they all taste terrible!

My 'tool kit' is

- I literally have a jar of coconut oil on me at all times. I get some interesting looks when it's sitting on my desk at work!

- I buy nuts in bulk and make up my own little baggies of mixed nuts which I take with me most places

- My freezer is full of portioned out meals - a huge variety for me to take to work or have anytime

- Of course my bottle of water is permanently attached to me

Tim, check out the Canadian site for Sweet and Low. I'm with you on most sweeteners, including any and all that contain stevia. It tastes of licorice to me. Which is fine, unless you don't want licorice flavored tea!

In Canada, it's legal to sell cyclamate, which was banned here, for political reasons, but the rest of the world still sells it.

Cyclamate tastes like sweet. Not aftertaste, not cloying ickiness, sweet.

You can order it from there, and use that instead of blood sugar raising agave. I'm so glad that another poster here commented on her stash of it!

in addition to the strain on the liver from the fructose in agave, i found it always spiked my BG (type I diabetic).
i do love splenda, truvia, and erithyritol!

for my always have on hands:

cheese- especially grab and go varities like babybel, jarlesburg rounds, string cheese, etc.... thy help me keep an eye on portion control

dips- guacomole, baba gnoiush, hummus (once you hit legumes rung on atkins), tzatkiki, greek yogurt based dips, etc...

eggs- i ALWAYS have steamed eggs on hand. if hungry, eat an egg. if i don;t want an egg, i'm not really hungry.....

nuts and seeds- lots of varieties- for instance right now I have siracha cashews, salted peanuts, roasted almonds, italian spiced pumpkin seeds, etc.....

seaweed snacks- i am addicted.....

VT turkey pepperoni sticks- these are basically fancy/healthy meat sticks. epic bars are good, too but $$$

shrimp in the freezer, chicken in fridge, lettuce, bell peppers- all the other proteins and veggies rotate- but we have to have these 4 at all times!

sf jello- i know some people don't like AS, but i love jello

a food scale!!!!!!!

a set of 1/4 cup measuring cups ("pinch cups")- they are perfect for measuring an ounce of cheese, 2 servings of most dips, or an ounce nuts

Great list, Robin...I love that comment about eggs, very true.

At home:

• Cold brew green tea
• Pre-made frozen green smoothie packs
• MCT oil
• Good dry salami and a variety of cheeses
• Ghee for cooking
• Coconut oil to add to stirfry meals
• Freezer full of meat options
• Chicken or beef broth
• Sodastream for making fizzy water
• Sea salt, black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and a good curry powder blend

Things I throw in my bag when I suspect I'll need a boost while I'm out (or am going for a swim, hike, workout):

• Artisana Organics packets of raw cashew or coconut butter
• Olive snack pack (two brands I've used: Oloves and Mario Camacho)
• Epic bars
• Homemade pemmican (saved for multi-day backpacking trips)

Things I find easy to grab at grocery or convenience stores if I find myself in need:

• cheese sticks
• hardboiled eggs
• Oscar Meyer P3 snack packs

Dex, can you post a recipe for your homemade pemmican?

Oh! Pickles! I forgot pickles. How could I forget pickles? At home or on-the-go. I ❤️ pickles.

My recipe is super simple:
50/50 by weight of fine-ground plain dried beef and melted tallow. Mix together. Weigh out and portion in muffin tins or Ziplock storage bags.

To be fair, it can be a bit of an acquired taste, but I find it delicious. I rarely render my own tallow these days, unless I happen to have collected a lot of beef fat trimmings for some reason. I order it by the bucket from US Wellness Meats, for the most part.

I dry my beef (bottom round or eye of round that I slice thinly while still slightly frozen) in a regular plastic tray food dehydrator on a low temp setting. For grinding it up, I've used both a Oster beehive blender and a Ninja blender. I like the Ninja slightly better, but that's just personal preference.

Here's a link to an excellent PDF manual for making traditional pemmican: http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdf

WOW I never looked that much into the Agave I am using.

Post surgery I can have a really odd time with sweetners. Saccharin and equal my body tolerates from a digestive front but I know they are not healthy. Sugar Alcohols make me very ill. Due to my shortened intesting my insulin response is very high to any sugars and can make me feel very ill (low blood sugar)

All that said a friend gave me some to try as they have the same issues i have and it worked for them and was sold as less harmful than the pink and blue.

after the responses above I I went into the label to see why I am not reacting to it. Well I think I am being dupped as it has stevia. Its main ingredient is water with a bit of agave and stevia and thickened with som gum.

Im going back to stevia when I need to sweeten stuff

See my reply. I was going off how my body reacts to this product I am using. But after further research its not truly agave. Its more like water with a bit of agave and stevia.

I am going back to stevia

Thanks for the note

I like the erythritol based sweeteners. Erythritol is absorbed in the upper intestines, so it shouldn't cause problems. Lots of Ery./Stevia blends like Walmart has one called "Great Value". Cheap too. Erythritol is also found naturally in foods and fermenting things, so I rank it high on the naturalness scale.

For most low carbersthat I know the sugar alcohols are great and prior to surgery I did well with them. Unfortunately for me post op. I don't handle them well. but thats just me. I don;t remember the brand but in my original LC journey there was an ice cream that was all cream with some sugar alcohol in it and I could eat it and lose weight. Now i eat two bites and I go into a really bad state.