Low-carb foods.

I've done low-carb for a while, and life was going good till I moved here. Living with the in-laws, you just tend to eat what they put in front of you and I ended up gaining a lot of the weight back.  Ugh.

So I was great at doing the low-carb thing in the states because of ALL the selection of food.  Unfortunately, as it hasn't taken off here, I'm feeling very restricted.  (Thank goodness they have Splenda, though.)

Poking around on the web, I found some really neat things.  Here are some addresses for companies that sell low-carb foods and one I found that does good recipes.  Sorry if this has already been passed around, but I thought it might help someone who didn't know.  :-)

http://www.sugarfreemegastore.com/
http://www.lowcarbinternational.com/
http://www.sugarlite.co.uk/

http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/lowcarb-recipes.html

Hope these help someone!

-Lisa-  

Ooooh, thank you Lisa...you must have been reading my mind...

I have seen so many new articles on low carb successes and also retracting statements that atkins is bad for you...  So, since I have not been able to get back on track the last several months...  I have decided to check out the low carb way...

my bigest problem is that I need to find an alternative for my potassium need (blood pressure meds) before I can start 100% on a low carb program...  

any suggestions?

normally I eat 1 banana a day for it...  but need to let go of bananas for a while.

I must get back on track...I must...

Someone on here said that they do low carb, but they also have to eat one banana a day.  (I THINK it was Marlespo??)  Technically, in the first two weeks of Atkins, you're not meant to have any fruit... but I'm sure if you NEED it, it's ok.  What about vitamins though? Or is potassium one of those things that your body doesn't like to absorb unnaturally?  I can't remember.  We just take a multi-vitamin. :-)

My mom sent me a care package today with Carbolite gummy bears and Ross chocolate bars.  I decided I couldn't keep having her send them over, so I did my research and found local companies... YAY!

Good luck on your new diet!!!!   I'm always here for support (cause sometimes I need it myself)

-Lisa-  

Thank you...again...that helps a lot...  think that is how I will try it...  

and yes, potassium is a toughy...  it can get stripped out of your body so easily... vitamins unfortunately do not have the right kind...

or, I have effervesent potassium tablets that I stopped using in replacement of a banana...  they taste yukky...  but wouldn't you know it, they are some where packed in a stack of boxes waiting for me to arrive and unpack in England...LOL! figures.

Hello!

I've been on Atkins since April and have lost 35 lbs.  It is amazing!  It really works.  Anyway...
Being on Atkins here has been really hard.  Luckily I only have one month left of dieting here in the UK!

I've been searching high and low for low-carb foods here and haven't found much.  I've really had to get creative with recipes.  I too have received care-packages from home with Atkins bars and stuff!!  Thank god for the many low-carb recipe websites out there!  

A good one is
http://www.low-carb.org.uk
There are a lot of good recipes and UK-specific info there!  
Good luck!

Thank you Jessica...  I guess I best enjoy low carbs while in the states as much as possible.

I know the UK is a starch fest...  and now in the states they have come out with info on Trans fats...  that are even worse than sat. fats...  the head spins with confusion on what is possible to eat anymore. [smiley=stars.gif]

Atkins is great. Ive been wanting to lose 10 "vanity" pounds and they came right off cutting out all carbs (but I can't eat my moms amazing pasta dishes or pizza, but I still have a slice every now and then!!)


http://atkins.com

I've been doing low-carb for 4 years. Not Atkins, but Protein Power. At the end of the day they are the same, but they start off differently. I suggest the PP book over Atkins because it explains WHY it works so you aren't worried about hearts clogging and stuff like that. Thanks for those links collington, by the way.

RE: potassium, starting off I took potassium & magnesium supplements, but not I seem to get all I need from the veggies I eat. My body has changed significantly. But bananas are SUPER carby and will definitely make you crave more sugar. I don't suggest it. One of the few things that even when I cheat, I avoid.

And oh, I lost 50 pounds. Feel great.

My best tip: plan cheats. I planned on, for a whole day, every 6 -7 weeks. Put it on my calendar. THat way when I looked at the muffin in front of me I didn't think "God I'll never have one again this sucks" I thought instead "Yep, *blank* number of days to go until I have one!"

I've found low-carb in England easier actually, not when it comes to specialty products like chocoates etc (a sad lack of it here, atkins makes gorgeous peanut butter cups in the US) ... a lot of ready meals are low-carb friendly. Meat, Veggie, & sauce. Of course, since I've already lost my weight I eat about 30 carbs a day, so I can have sauces like that - but you can't while you're losing weight. Slows it way down, but more importantly makes you crave a cheat like nobody's business.

Blah blah blah.

Good luck with that

I'm going to try to do the roux en Y surgery.
also going to see a dietician on monday..to help lose weight.

Good luck

Good luck with that

I'm going to try to do the roux en Y surgery.
also going to see a dietician on monday..to help lose weight.

Good luck

Pray tell Cynda...I must ask... what is the "roux en Y surgery" is that a term for like stomach stapling?  or something else all together?

Ohhhh -- I am so glad that I stumbled across this!
Low carb was easy for me in the states and I am allowing it to be challenging for me here :-/  
Can someone give me an idea of what they eat for breakfast and lunch

For breakfast I'd frequently have an English breakfast minus toast and with only a little beans. It's still fairly carby, but I had already lost most of my weight so it wasn't bad. When I was losing weight, I would eat bacon & eggs (the sausages here have a surprising amount of fillers & starches in them, most are too carby), or I'd buy a big thing of ham from Tescos and cut it up in the morning, fry it, and serve it with scrambled eggs. Had a lot of omelettes as well, with loads of cheese, ham, green pepper & onion. Or small homemade quiches. Lost the quich recipe, but there are great ones on www.lowcarbluxury.com and www.atkinsfriends.com .

As for lunch, I stuck with dinner's leftovers or would have a big salad. I got ranch dressing from Tescos (as I don't like bleu cheese dressing, or really any other dressing to be fair) - and it was alright. But I'd do salads basically the same way as in America, or I'd cook up chicken & put spices in it, the when still hot put some may in it to make a hot dressing and serve it over cold lettuce - that was always brilliant. My favorite was using Schwartz's Jamaican Jerk spice (can't use too much though, it's got loads of fillers in it too, but a little was fine). Yum. Oh, I'd also make homemade chicken or tuna salad and have that over lettuce as well.

I can't wait to get back on low-carb again ocne the baby's born. I'm having my mom bring me over a gigantic tub of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, proper Buffalo Wing Sauce, and other staples I can't get here, or atleast don't want to spend the money on here.

Also - a couple of products here that are low carb ENOUGH to do for dinners:

Chicken Tonight Country French Sauce (if it's 2 of you, it only ends up being about 8 or 10 carbs per person, which is fine depending on your tolerances, etc...)

And Campbells Chicken & White Wine Soup (which makes a great sauce to clow-cook chicken in)

You can also get Ryvita Dark Rye crackers here, which are like the Wasa crackers I ate in the States, they have 4 or 5 carbs per slice after you deduct fibre, and I'd love aving one in the morning w/peanut butter and pretend it was crunchy toast. Probably not a good thing to eat if you're just starting out, but if you're further along then it's a great treat.

Thank you so much for that! Great ideas for me!
Mmmmm Hidden Valley Ranch! I think I will be asking for that too!
Before you got pregnant (congratulations!) how much weight did you loose following a low carb eating plan
I have not read the Adkins book - I just tried to reduce my carb intake. I felt so much better doing that and lost weight too!

I went from 180 pounds to 128, so just over 50 pounds.

Personally, I didn't like the Atkins book. I preferred "Protein Power". And like you I started off without reading the book, but found that once I did (and understood why it works, etc) I lost weight WAY faster, as I was accidentally eating things I thought were ok but actually weren't.