I just have a question. I've been reading everyones post on how low carbing is so expenisive but what did you all eat before? I know, I know...pasta and rice but I hardly think anyone ate that by itself? Chicken in your pasta, or ground beef? Plain rice? Really I'm just curious. I found that when I was eating low fat I was spending a lot more because I was buying pure crap. Low-fat sugar free stuff...that stuff was expenisve. I don't know..like i said, i'm just curious.

chinese and pizza hut pizza's every weekend and of course we made nacho's and had all the good stuff - sniff - well that was in my past anyway HA HA

The list is shorter what I didn't eat. LOL
Pizza, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, We ate out a lot.
Bread bread and more bread, tortillia chips, Ice cream, chocolate, late's and on and on........

How true - How true

I ate lots and lots of potatoes. I loved potates fixed any old way. (Oddly, I really don't miss them at all now.) I also loved things like macaroni salad, mac & cheese, and on and on. I ate a lot of snack foods (ahh! Crunchy Cheetoes!), and candy was a big part of my diet, too. I was extremely active, however, and didn't gain weight until my lifestyle slowed down.

Sandwiches, one or two at most every meal-- anything that would go between two slices of whole wheat or French bread, sliced ham, Velveeta slices, hot dogs peanut butter & banana etc. I was a firm believer in the recommended 11 servings a day of the bread and cereals group.

The biggest problem other than weight and blood pressure was bad heartburn almost everyday.

OMG, lets see...

Tacos, enchiladas, pizzas (stuffed crust, deep dish, thin crust, whatever!), pizza subs, mac n cheese, cakes, pies, salt n vinegar chips, just about any pasta with tomato cream sauce, pesto, etc. If it's got carbs, I'd take it! I could eat a pint of Ben & Jerrys while watching my evening programs. I ate healthy stuff to like Mueslix (until I found out the carb count).

OMG, anything with tortillas. Oh yea! Cheetos, cookies cookies cookies, birthday cake was my favorite with that awesome crisco/store-bought icing. YUMMY!

But I don't miss it...

Sandwiches on white bread--cheese sandwiches--lots of cheese sandwiches--bologna, P&P Loaf, tomato sandwiches, lots of noodles with butter and parmesan cheese, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, lots of bananas, bunches of peanut butter, whole bags of baby carrots at one time, grapes by the pound and so on. I never did like to eat out and I never liked junk food like chips, Doritoes, pretzels, etc., and I don't like sweets, so I didn't have that expense. It was expensive starting out, but it isn't now. Even if it was, it would be worth every penny I spend.

Sunny!

My list of what I didn't eat was pretty short too.

The thing is, I used to eat what I'd call "Atkins-friendly meals" or something close...always loved a good steak dinner, with salad and broccoli. It's just when I wasn't LCing I'd enjoy potatoes on the side...baked (as a vehicle for butter and sour cream, heh) and mashed (same idea).

Of course I adored pizza and used to eat pasta and cheese together especially when I needed comfort food. I ate wings and beer (still do but I don't indulge in the cheese fries anymore). I guess my biggest change was pasta - I was addicted to that more than anything.

But yeah, I have found my budgeting is just fine now - I search for deals and my menu is very simple. I make LC meats and veggies and then just add a LITTLE carb of some kind for DH (texas toast or fries).

you just gave me an idea... the next time i'm at a steakhouse and they offer a loaded baked potato, i'm going to say "yes please, just hold the potato." i'd love to see them bring me a bowl of sour cream, butter, cheese, chives, and bacon!

i ate a LOT of pasta... absolutely loved the stuff drenched in basil, olive oil, and parmesan, stuffed-crust pizza, rice, lasagna, i adored pancakes and muffins, the only chocolate chip cookie i ever met that i didn't like was the white chocolate with macadamia nut kinds, and i was an ice cream connoisseur. don't even get me started on the cheesecake.

thing is, it wasn't that i ONLY liked those foods... i've always loved meat and veggies too. it's just that those foods made up the bulk of my eating and my body was suffering for it. now that those foods are gone, my body's happier.

I did a lot of baking...sweets, breads, candy...much cheaper if made at home.. but very expensive in terms of health.

I lived on pasta, and chocolate and almost NOTHING else...sometimes for weeks at a time!

Tea with sugar and skim milk - maybe 10 cups a day, bananas (5+ a day easily), kids cereal, some chicken or salmon, polenta porridge with sugar and margarine, sorghum porridge with sugar, assorted fruit with sugar. And then, more sugar, straight. Yes, I would eat it by the teaspoon full, especially packed brown sugar.

I justified all this sugar because - LOL - it was fat free, after all. I was going through 2.5 kg of refined sugar per week (that's over 5 lbs of sugar), on my own. Eeks...

I thought I was eating healthy, because I got 5-7 servings of fresh fruit daily, and consumed less than 35 grams of fat per day, plus a normal amount of calories (1800 per day - at least 900 of that was pure sugar). However, I could never lose weight.

Gee whiz! I wonder why? Very perplexing... Glad you found low carb!

Sunny!

I ate quite alot of baked goods. I'm not much of a snacker as far as potato and nacho chips and things go. I love cooking, especially baking and I think I miss baking more than I miss eating the product. My favorite is homemade "cat head" drop biscuits with chocolate syrup (a family tradition). I also ate lots of fried potatoes and onions with hamburger covered in voluminous amounts of Heinz ketchup. I also loved sandwiches: tuna, thick bologna or peanut butter & jelly. Cornbread and beans. Stove top cooked old-fashioned oatmeal. Krystal's little square burgers. Tons of ramen blocks cooked and uncooked (yum crunchy) and homemade pasta salad. Yeast rolls, cinnamon rolls, casseroles, brownies....M&M's.

I've had to adjust a bit to conform things to the LC path. I miss all these things, but then I remember the constant acid reflux and heartburn that went with them...the rollercoaster of too high and then way too low blood sugar. I don't miss them so much after I consider those.