Hi YaYa. Thanks for the Costco tip. I'm there several times a week -- in Utah, no less! I'll look for the bacon. I always hate cooking the stuff because it's such a mess. I found the precooked sausage there several months ago. Nice to be able to pop one in the MW and not have to cook a pound of the stuff. Thanks again. Diane

I was wondering if anyone knows if Crystal Lite and Decaf Coffee are acceptable??? Thanks

I'm also w/ sugar busters!....but I can't live without a diet soda a day(I need caffeine!!!!!) I tried to quit and what happen?? what a terrible headache

any ideas for me???

Hi JLee,

Decaf is fine, (in fact, its preferred over regular by Atkins),
Crystal Light has aspertame, which may contribute to stalls in some people. However, having said that, I have to say I'm drinking regular coffee and Crystal Light with no problems so far.

judy

Thanks Judy, that's good to know. After 7+ weeks and only a 4 lb. change, I'm investigating all aspects to find a happy medium. John

Hi John,

Are you recording at Fitday? It's a great way to keep track of what you're eating, particularly if you're getting enough
calories. You should be eating 10 x your current weight. There are several threads in "Hot Links" that will explain why, plus several on stalls and plateaus. Hang in there. This does work.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=28939

judy

i know it's frustrating to hear that "Maybe you can have Crystal Light, maybe you can't" .. but it's true....I drink the stuff religiously and it's never affected me but a friend who is LCing thinks that it stalls her

The terrible headache is the caffeine withdrawal. Try cutting down to half a drink a day for a week and then every other day. It's a killer to go cold-turkey off the blasted stuff.

As far as diet anything goes -- I don't want to put the chemicals into my body. I believe that artificial sweeteners make me hungry, plus they also give me headaches since I've been off them a couple of months. Tried a diet Pepsi this week and it about killed me. Not going to have to learn that lesson again. I'm really trying to stick to foods in their natural state. I feel better and it certainly is less expensive. Diane

thanxxxx a lot!!!!

I will try(and believe me is going to be very hard for me, but not imposible)

i have a question..since dr.atkins stated that during induction one msut take out "frakenfoods"stuff or those that might have fillers like hotdogs,bacon,meatloafsetc....i was wondering if its ok to eat spam which stated on its label that it has 0 carbs per serving..but under its ingr. i see some sugar in it(maybe they placed a minsicule only )...anyway, jsut wanna ask if its ok to eat them and if honey cured bacon is ok to eat too....since i cant seem to find a bacon that doesnt have a sugar listed on its ing....

I am making my shopping list for late next week so I thought I'd toss it on this thread with comments. My choices are limited by what my local super walmart carries. So some is what I choose and some is just based on what they have, or what they have in a brand that isn't sugary.

Beef Roasts*
Pork Roasts
Chicken**
Bacon ***
Sausage
Salami
Pepperoni ***
Canned Tuna
Canned Chicken***

* I split a 1/2 side of beef from a butcher shop with my parents. It is ultra-lean, and it is double wrapped for good storage, and has a variety of meats, from some filet mignon to T-bones and Sirloins, round steaks and roasts, to hamburger (lots of that). Cost me vastly less than buying all this stuff individually fresh at the market. Now and then if I've used up most of my meat though, I'll buy a roast. I recommend looking into a bulk-purchase -- even in cities you can do this, just find a butcher shop. If you live in a rural area, it's easier. Go into any farm-related store and ask the first person you see... they'll probably know. :-)

** pref boneless/skinless breast. Sometimes thighs. Sometimes frozen breasts. Someday when I grow up I'll actually buy an entire chicken or turkey and do something with it. At this point, throwing something in a crockpot seems like work.

*** ok, enough nitrates to kill you slowly, but it tastes awesome, and the Pepp makes a great 'crust' to Donald's Deep Dish Pizza Quiche http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=44087 Is also a good snack, or cooked till really crispy, is also yummy to drop in a salad or cold-salad for tangy crunch. For using many meats (choose a combo), try some in Chris's snack: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=61500

*** for desperate moments when I haven't anything to eat and limited time, canned white meat chicken (it's in the aisle with the tuna) can be dropped into a saute pan (er... minus the can :-)) with almost any spices or sauce. Really good w/curry.

Cheddar *
Swiss
Mozzarella
Parmesan (real cheese) **
Blue (crumbled) ***

For a cool way to use a couple variety of cheeses, try Harley's idea (I couldn't figure out how to paste a link to their message in here, instead of to the whole thread and it's quite a ways down in the thread, so here's the quote instead:

<blockquote><i>Alternate layers of chicken/turkey/whatever slices/pastrami type meat and cheese. Fry them then cut into small squares. Majorly yummy, not naughty, and filling. Also good for entertaining as they look nice with the different coloured layers. Put them on toothpicks, can add olives etc. I also have this as a meal (not cut into squares though) with a fried egg on top or between the layers. Sometimes a dab of cream cheese too.</i></blockquote>

* I was surprised to find the USDA shows cheddar as being lower-carb than colby. I used to consider them interchangeable.

** Real parmesan is awesome and it lasts quite awhile if grated finely. They now have graters that are much better than the old towers we used to use, based on woodshaving tools, quick and easy to clean and can shred parmesan (or any cheese, but parm's hard so you can use an even finer grater) delightfully. "Microplane" is my favorite grater, amazon.com has it but other sources do too. Try Shark's Bacon Fajita Salad with Edible Parmesan Bowl -- the green can crap can't compare! http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=54354

*** Karen posted the recipe for blue cheese dressing http://www.lowcarb.ca/karen/recipe015.html - WAY yummy. Thin it out with water and it mixes wonderfully into a super-big salad without having to use massive amounts. Much better than anything from a bottle IMO, it only takes a few minutes to make, and I'm guessing would store for at least several days in the fridge (maybe longer if you added in the SC or vinegar just before eating).

Whole Cream *
Half & Half
Cream Cheese **

* I only use this in recipes that call for it, which require the whipping-thicker nature of it. I don't drink coffee or tea now, as I figured a small fortune in supplements was kinda wasted drinking diuretics that would help me pee them out! Gee that wasn't a very ladylike way to put it, sorry...

** Of course, this can be used in 1001 awesome foods. But if you're not on induction or supersensitive to sweet, try Natrushka's to-die-for "Mock Danish" (add some s-f rasberry jam in the middle... oh. my. God!) http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...0435#post560435 that thread also has a TON of awesome variants, too, from chocolate to cinnamon to pecan to....

My store's plain yogurt has so many carbs, I can't figure out how people rave about plain yogurt. Same for the cottage cheese (and the dry-curd I once heart someone recommend has twice as many!). So I don't buy those. Maybe it's just the brands my store carries. I live in a 15K pop SuperWal-Mart city... they OWN this town. Not many other options, as refrigerated dairy stuff doesn't ship well for online buying.

Red Leaf Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach Leaves
Cabbage *
Cauliflower **
Broccoli
Bell Pepper
Jalapeno Peppers ***

I'm not a veggie fan really. Salads with multiple types of leaves taste much better to me.

Cabbage and cauliflower appear to be some of the lowest carb versatile-for-experiment veggies when you're feeling brave, and they seem to 'take on' the flavor of whatever you cook them with.

* a leaf of cabbage can go in my salad, small amounts elsewhere It's not my favorite food, but my bunny likes it a lot. :-)

** Try the chinese chicken fried 'rice' recipe in the kitchen section 'Cauli-Fried' Rice Karen's original: http://www.lowcarb.ca/karen/recipe052.html I hate cauliflower but I LOVE it in this. It will inspire you to the many other ways it could probably be used as well.

*** Try Paul's stuffed, wrapped & roasted japanenos (here's a pic, too!) -- http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=49553

Ginger Root
Garlic Bulbs
Sour Cream

If I'm out...

Helleman's Mayonnaise
Natural/lowest-carb Peanut Butter
Sugar-free or low-carb jam/jelly (rasberry)
Splenda in packages (not bulk)

I was searching desperately on the web for some low-carb-ish things my store didn't have, or didn't have in large bottles, and did find that netrition.com had some stuff (just one source of many I'm sure) like the davinci syrups for example.

I already have most the spices I need, but when I began LC I had to buy one or two spices every time I shopped.

PJ

Lets see

As far as bacon goes

I go to the institution size huge canned food Isle, and they
have precooked crumbled bacon, in a large can. I think its expensive, but
your not buying all the greese that you cook out of the uncooked
and it lasts a long time in the fridge. Handy for salads or whatever you want.

For some reason I crave soy, so I buy Trader joe's oragnic soy milk when I can. Only 8 per cup, so no worse than cream.
You really have to watch soy milk, there are lots of soy drinks,
and beverages out that that can go clear up to 27 a cup.

I also buy tofu, and julieane it in very fine threads, and use that for pasta. At kroger its like 3.00 a pack, at trader joes its only1.19
so I stock up if I can get there.

I bought the keto crisp cereal and all it basicly amounts to is
puffed tvp.
I just buy the tvp and pour cream on it, and a pack of splenda.
Really gets me though a cruchy sweet craving.
You can also soak it in a little water, warm it, and eat it warm.
The other thing that gets me though a craving is sf jello, blended with cream cheese. Sets up and a couple of spoons full tastes very nice when you want a goody.

I keep chicken thighs in the fridge, I usually barbicue them with a little splenda and a tomato mustard sauce.
Lots of mushrooms

I rarely eat fruit, but have added regular yougurt and a few berries to my plan, will see if its ok.

I have lots 26 pounds in 2 months so its working like gangbusters for me.

The only thing I have eliminated is EQUAL,
and I only eat a Atkins bar, a couple of times a month now.
They will stall me, if I eat to many. That peanut butter one is
awlful good though.

My reward meal, If I loose well the previous month, is some
pizza on the first, and a lc choclate bar. Thats one evening out
a month, and I just LOVE real pizza with crust.
I usualy make the crustless kind which even my husband will eat.

Good posts PJ and Sandy- I enjoyed them a lot. As a single guy I don't prepare any elaborate recepies or devise any solutions for repetitive meals. Meat, fish, chicken, salads, cheese, salami, heavy cream, decaf, crystal lite, and water are my mainstays. What I don't do is count carbs or calories or use ketosticks. Where am I going wrong?

Apparently you're not going wrong if it's working for you! :-)

What I learned from "not planning" and just "eating good foods" was that I wildly overate carbs (from my goal of sticking to 30 ecc or less, as recommended for engendering ketosis). For many people this might not be a big issue, but for me it apparently is, but that might vary depending on the person, genetics etc.

For some people, merely eating enough protein and eating well can take their weight down. But I'm heavily insulin-resistant, so being forced to plan a limited carb-set per-meal is good for me. I get swings of mood, cravings, etc. if I go overboard (like have 28 carbs in one meal, then none in two).

Once I get re-acquainted with everything it won't take so much conscious planning as I have now. I just need to get the general values of different kinds of food in my head, so I can make an educated guess about what I eat. Right now I'm having to look up every ingredient's values, and planning recipes and daily menus, but that will pass. :-)

PJ

This site has been God sent for me! Thanks soooo much to all of you! I am having to switch over to Protein Power LP due to some bad health findings and I have been gathering information! Wow! I now have lists that I can shop from without worrying. This is so difficult for a person who has tried every diet in the books plus making up a few diets of my own. They all worked, for a while, but then you could have guessed that, couldn't you?
Now I have so many things to 'un-learn'
I am praying that I can understand PPLP well enough so that I'm not 'thrown off' in food choices that I have to make. Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, fuzzy thinking and Chronic Pain Syndrome all 'get in the way' of 'good' planning. THIS THREAD IS AN ANSWER TO A PRAYER! (Yes, I was yelling but only because I'm happy and wanted to share that with you. Lower case just wouldn't have done it!
Now "I gotta go shopping!"

Thanks again,
Myrtih