FAQs, Useful links and info for Newbies

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Laura_beau
Laura_beau Posts: 1,029 Member
edited December 2014 in Social Groups
Hello :o)

here is a list of inormation/ links to useful websites regarding all things low carb. Please bear with me, this will be a work in progress. If there is anything I have missed off, or that you would like included please do not hesitate to ask!

WHICH LOW CARB DIET IS FOR ME?

Each person is different. Low carbing is not a 'one size fits all' lifestyle and what works for one person may not work for another. Please take your time to research the plans, and make your decision based on what you think is right for you. Please also read CramerNH's sticky thread on here called 'Low Carb Intakes Validated'- which is an excellent resource. Below are some useful links regarding the various diet plans, comparisons and how to get started:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/u/gettingstarted.htm

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/low-carb-diets

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/southbeachdiet/a/atkinssbd.htm

I also reccomend you buy the book relating to your chosen diet plan for a thorough read, search on Amazon or ebay for cheap deals on the books and recipe books that accompany them.

WHAT NEXT?...... MEAL PLANS AND SHOPPING LISTS.

Once you have decieded on your low carb diet plan the next step is preperation! Clear your fridge and cupboards of your 'old' diet where possible. Many of us have spouses/partners and family members who are not low carbing, so obviously don't throw away their food! I suggest grouping together all starches/grains/sugars into one section of the kitchen if you cannot throw them away.
Next, Planning! Weekly meal plans make shopping a lot easier, and keeps you on track. When you are first starting out, it may be useful to use the pre-made meal plans in your book until you get used to carb counts and planning. Below are also some links to pre-made meal plans:

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/menus/

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/menus.html

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-sample-menu/#axzz26usGoPnp

http://uk-mealplanner.atkins.com/atkins-recipes/search-recipes.html

SHOPPING LIST (S):

Below is an example of what I ususally buy/ keep stocked in my kitchen.

Meats

Bratwurst
Bacon
Gammon/ Ham/ Pork chops
Chicken breast fillets/ Turkey breast steaks
Whole chicken (for soups etc)
minced/ground meat (either beef/ pork/ turkey/ lamb)
Chorizo sausage
Burgers (or just make my own with the above ground/minced meat).
Stewing beef/Lamb (Or even goat)
Pork Shoulder (Pork Butt in US??)
Beef roasting cut
STEAK!
Venison (Deer)
Duck

Cooked meats- turkey slices, ham, corned beef, smoked sausage, pastrami etc.....

Fish/Seafood:

Salmon
White fish (Cod/ haddock/ pollack/ coley)
Whole fish (Trout, mackerel)
Prawns (shrimp)
Smoked fish (Salmon, mackerel)

Veggies/Salads:

Peppers
Spinach
Mushrooms
Courgettes (zuchinni)
Aubergine (Eggplant)
White & Purple Turnips (for chips/fries)
Swede (Rutabaga??) (For cauli/swede mash)
Radishes
Bean sprouts
Spaghetti Squash
French/Green beans
Asparagus (when available)
Sugar snap peas (Snow peas)
Chinese leaf (Cabbage)
Pak choi/ Bok Choi/ Choi Sum
Cucumbers
Spring (Green) Onions
Coleslaw mix
Cauliflower
Broccoli
salad leaves
fennel Bulb & Leaves
Coriander (Cilantro)
Basil
Mint
Parsley
Garlic
Red/Green chilli peppers
Ginger root
lemongrass
Avocado
Tomatoes

Store cupboard:

Coconut milk
Chopped tomatoes
Tinned Tuna/ Salmon/ Crab
Pesto (Green & red)
Harissa Paste
Olives (Black & Green)
Jalapenos
Unsweetened Flaked coconut
Nuts- Macadamia/ almonds/ pecans
Ground almonds (almond meal)
Ground Flax
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Splenda
Baking powder
Vanilla extract
Unsweetened nut butter (almond/ hazelnut)
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Lemon & Lime juice
Hot sauce
Tamari
Sesame oil
Red wine vinegar
Sesame seeds
Stock/Bouillon cubes (beef/ chicken/ lamb/ veg)
Worcestershire sauce
Mustard- English/ wholegrain/ american yellow/ French Dijon.
Thai Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)

Eggs

Dairy:

Butter
Double (Heavy) Cream
Soured Cream
Full Fat plain greek yoghurt (Occasionally)
Cheeses (Cheddar, edam, gouda, emmental, parmesan, smoked bavarian, stilton, yorkshire blue, mozzarella, feta, halloumi, babybel mini stack cheese, string cheese, manchego, brie, camambert, cambazola, dolcelatte)
Cream Cheese (Full Fat)
Mayonnaise (Full Fat)
Blue Cheese Dressing

Dried herbs & Spices:

Rosemary
Dill
Sage
Thyme
Oregano
Tarragon
Black pepper
Szechuan Peppercorns
Salt
Chinese 5 spice powder
Lemon Pepper
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ground Allspice
Cayenne pepper
Chilli Powder
Paprika
Sweet Smoked Paprika (pimenton)
Chilli Flakes
Cloves
Turmeric
Cardomom pods
Mustard seeds
Coriander (ground)
Coriander (seeds)
Cumin (Ground)
Cumin (seeds)
Fennel seeds
Juniper berries
Saffron

Other:

Shiritaki/Konnyaku/Konjac Noodles
Sugar free Jelly pots
Pork scratchings/ crunch (Rinds)
Pepperami sticks
Sugar free orange/lemon/blackcurrant squash (Dont think US people drink this..... its concentrate fruit juice diluted in water)
Coke Zero (to go with my rum.....)
Frozen forest fruits (Great as little frozen sorbert style treats)

Here are some other online Low carb shopping lists:

http://www.sugarfreesheila.com/GroceryList.html

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/low_carb_shopping_list.html

http://www.everythingatkins.net/atkinsshoppinglist.html


NEWBIE FAQS:

Here's a great link to many Frequently asked questions about low carbing, side effects, ketosis, water consumption, NET VS Actual carbs, UK/US carb counting...

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/newbies.shtml

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/faq/Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Low_Carb_Diets.htm

http://www.sugarfreesheila.com/FAQ.html

RECIPES

Keep an eye on the 'whats on your menu' sticky thread for meal inspiration & recipes. Here are some links to some great LC recipe sites:

http://www.sugarfreesheila.com/index.html

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/

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

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/recipereview/

http://yourlighterside.com/your-lighter-side-cookbook/

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/low_carb/

CARB COUNTERS

Got some food and you don't know how many carbs are in it? Check out one of these carb counters:

http://www.atkins.com/getattachment/Program/Carb-Counter/2012CarbCounterRev3_12.pdf.aspx

http://www.carb-counter.net/

http://www.carbohydrate-counter.org/

ONLINE STORES:

Here are the links to online stores that sell low carb baking ingredient, sweets, low carb bread/pasta products and things that arent readily available in regular stores:

http://www.lowcarbmegastore.com/

http://www.avidlite.co.uk/

http://www.low-carb.com/

http://www.sugarfreesuperstore.co.uk/

http://www.natural-low-carb-store.co.uk (UK Only)

http://locarbu.com/ (US)

http://lowcarbcentral.com.au/low-carb-shop.html (AUS)

http://www.thelowcarbgrocery.com/ (CAN)

To be continued.............................
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Replies

  • mstorvik
    mstorvik Posts: 356 Member
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  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    bump
  • SuzzetteMB
    SuzzetteMB Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for all the great info and resources!!:smile:
  • Unstoppable4
    Unstoppable4 Posts: 14 Member
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    This is awesome, thank you!
  • AnnaJo62
    AnnaJo62 Posts: 14 Member
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    I love this !! Thank You !!

    Great ideas for me !! :flowerforyou:
  • Junglejoyce
    Junglejoyce Posts: 49 Member
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    Thanks for all the web addresses...I'll have to look these up!!:smooched:
  • Kymmu
    Kymmu Posts: 1,650 Member
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    Can I ask a dumb question please??
    If I check my carb count total in my diary- and it's 15 g in the red, do I take the fibre count of 17 g off it to give me 2 grams ( in the green if it showed) ...
    I was advised to take fibre out if the gram total once for foods. Is this correct?
    I know I probably should know this but I never apply it.
    Thanks for your advice!
  • diinva
    diinva Posts: 57
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    Thanks
  • LauraDotts
    LauraDotts Posts: 732 Member
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    Can I ask a dumb question please??
    If I check my carb count total in my diary- and it's 15 g in the red, do I take the fibre count of 17 g off it to give me 2 grams ( in the green if it showed) ...
    I was advised to take fibre out if the gram total once for foods. Is this correct?
    I know I probably should know this but I never apply it.
    Thanks for your advice!
    Yes. You subtract your fiber intake from your carb intake.
    The second post in the following thread has a link to an add-on that will make your diary track net carbs for you. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/739608-daily-food-diary-how-can-i-convert-it-to-keto
  • Kymmu
    Kymmu Posts: 1,650 Member
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    Thanks Laura- I'll go there now!
  • praxisproject
    praxisproject Posts: 154 Member
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    If you get a minus number when subtracting your fibre, you may be in a country (using data from a country) that doesn't deduct fibre, like Australia.
  • ruthiejewell
    ruthiejewell Posts: 134 Member
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    An excellent, comprehensive list! And, like Australia the U.K. don't subract fibre for carb count. Confusing for newcomers to low carb!
  • AliBoBali79
    AliBoBali79 Posts: 8 Member
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    I'm new and appreciate this group being here. I've been checking out the site for a few weeks, but only been logging in for 1. Already, I see how helpful it can be to have the accountability! (I'm open to new friends, btw!)

    I do have a question, though. When I set up my profile, the daily caloric suggestion was set for 1200. So far I have not exceeded that (but lets be real, it's only the first week, lol!). I haven't lowballed it or anything, in fact, I'm more conscious of carbs than cals, but I have stayed under each day, which I thought was a good thing until I close out my daily entry and every day get the note that "I am consuming too few calories and my body will retaliate by lowering my metabolism." I understand that in theory, but for example, today I was less than 20 calories from 1200...and silly me, I thought the point was to stay at or below that 1200 goal.

    So what gives? I don't want to be unhealthy,or create unnecessary obstacles for myself to lose weight, but does that mean it would be better for me to go over my "goal"?

    Ideas? Clarification? Feedback?
  • ibunny77
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    This is great, thanks for posting :o)
  • trouble01_31
    trouble01_31 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for all the info!!! :smile:
  • kivaharper
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    Thank you! I am fairly new to the low carb thing. I'm being supervised by doctors. My first doc had me on a atkins type plan consuming no more than 50gms of carbs each day. I relocated and my new doc has me on a more southbeach kind of diet with no more than 35 gms of carbs each day and I am monitoring fat now. I've lost 17 lbs so far but know I can do even better. I am looking forward to the support of this community.
  • samgraceb
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    Thank you! I am fairly new to the low carb thing. I'm being supervised by doctors. My first doc had me on a atkins type plan consuming no more than 50gms of carbs each day. I relocated and my new doc has me on a more southbeach kind of diet with no more than 35 gms of carbs each day and I am monitoring fat now. I've lost 17 lbs so far but know I can do even better. I am looking forward to the support of this community.

    Hi!

    I'm new to dieting, and I heard that it's effective to do the low carb, high protein thing. How many grams of protein have you been doing while on the low carb diet(s)?
  • lckauffman
    lckauffman Posts: 15 Member
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    I have diabetes. high blood pressure, very high triglicerides, I am in need of some serious help. My doctors have said I need to lose weight and need to exercise now. I have not lived a healthy life style and now I have left it get completely out of hand. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has some ideas that worked for them. I do belong to a
    TOPS group, but I was told that it is imperative that I do the low carb diet. just looking for some helpful tips and support , I have purchased a pedometer, hoping that I can make it a competion with myself. Thank you for reading this. appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you again
  • afm64
    afm64 Posts: 1 Member
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    I am also in your shoes. I just signed up an looking forward to the group for support. My doctor has told me to stay below 40 carbs for 6 weeks and then start adding back in each week as long as I continue to lose. If I stop losing to go back to the 40 for 6 more weeks. I think I can handle this. I am shopping today and starting tomorrow.
  • Phx99
    Phx99 Posts: 69
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