Low carb bargains in supermarkets ?

Edwardia

I am wondering whether there are other people out there, who, like me, low carb either for health reasons or as part of a weight loss plan ?

If so, maybe we could help each other find low carb products on special offer in supermarkets, discount and convenience stores, health food shops and online.

If interested please post and then we can have a go.

For curious non-low carbers, the generally accepted definition of a low carbohydrate food product is 10g carbs or less per 100g.

Generally this diet will exclude sugar, bread, pasta, pastry, rice, cakes, biscuits, sweets (unless sugar free), milk chocolate, crisps, crackers, whole/processed grains (eg quinoa, couscous, semolina, polenta) beans (baked, butter etc not runner), pulses such as lentils, and potatoes - but there are exceptions.

As you can imagine, navigating the 21st century supermarket is a nightmare.

That's why some help would be great !

Oh and if anyone knows if Young's haddock fish fingers are on sale anywhere please post - three cooked ones are only 10.2g :j

Hoping I'm not the sole low carber..

sideshow_matt

A healthy diet is much better for you than low carb fad diets. Maybe some exercise as well. You don't need expensive gym's, just try going for a walk and eating more fruit and veg.

Edwardia

sideshow_matt wrote: »

A healthy diet is much better for you than low carb fad diets. Maybe some exercise as well. You don't need expensive gym's, just try going for a walk and eating more fruit and veg.

There you go again, assuming rather than reading. Personally I low carb because it means I can reduce the amount of medication I have to take.

mum26

I did a low G.I diet a while ago (am I remembering right that it is the kind of eating plan advised for diabetics too as it helps stabilise blood sugar levels?) and seem to remember sweet potatoes are ok? If so they are often a good price in Aldi x

LondonDreamer

I don't low carb but I do try and stay low GI (including wholegrains) for the bulk of my meals, although I do allow myself some starches a few times a week. But same as you, this is for health reasons rather than weight loss.

My best tip is just avoid the middle of the supermarket completely! You don't really need any of the packet stuff. Shop the edges were the fresh items are. I tend to buy seasonal fruit and veg which is pretty cheap, more so if you can get to a discount supermarket like A!di. Then keep an eye out for reduced meats, either through decent offers or even better if they're on the clearance shelf. Our last roast was a 2kg organic chicken marked down from over £11 to a fiver. Made a good three meals for three adults plus stock for soup, and could have stretched it further if I'd really wanted to.

Try My Supermarket to find where the deals are on products you like, the fish fingers you mentioned are on 2 for £3 in Mr A at the moment so a small saving.

nuttybabe

Hiya


I am also low carbing due to health. I have found high carb food sets off my asthma so I have cut it out. Although I do miss the roasties and yorkie pud when i make a roast on sunday especially when i have to watch everyone else eating them!


I shop in aldi and lidl and always look at lidl's weekend half price offers and stock up when they have meat and cheese. I also find aldi and lidl much better value for salad and veg. And poundstretcher do picked onions for 19p

Edwardia

mum26 low carb tends to be recommended more now yes. I'm not sure about sweet potatoes, I'll check. I've tended to avoid them because of the name !

LondonDreamer I do buy lots of veg etc but sometimes I want to feel like a normal person Thanks for the fish finger tip.

Can't help with the roast nuttybabe, but if you like mashed potato, you can make mash with celeriac. We do celeriac & fennel mash. Also, home-made swede oven chips

cherrypies

I low carb, for many reasons. (sideshow Matt, a low carb diet can be a very healthy one with plenty of vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish, lean meat) I most certainly wouldnt call it a 'fad' diet, in fact low carb is how the whole human race used to eat before the advent of commercial farming, food processing, convenience foods and erm, obesity!! The perception that people on low carb diets sit around eating piles of bacon, cheese, sausages and steak is completely incorrect, if you low carb like that, you're doing it wrong!!) Edwardia, I do my best to stay away from any kind of processed, specifically low carb diet foods but I know what you mean about wanting to feel human and I will sometimes have the odd Atkins chocolate nut bar etc (currently 25% off in boots) but resent being ripped off for these foods and I think it is best to try and train yourself away from having low carb copies of junk food and instead just go for healthy wholefoods that are permissable on the diet.

Years back I used to use a website called, i think the lowcarbmegastore? And I'd buy cereal, treats and low carb pasta from them but I found that not only was the cost HUGE but I didn't feel particularly good when I was eating these carb replacement type foods and they seemed to increase my cravings for regular junk foods, so I knocked it on the head.

To answer your question though, apart from the Atkins bars mentioned above, M&S sell sugar free boiled sweets in little boxes at the tills, if I have a mega sweet craving I'll sometimes buy a box of the butterscotch flavour which are delicious. Holland and Barrett sell Brittania sugar free chocolate which is quite nice and they also do protein bars and powders which some people enjoy. You can get 'shirataki' noodles from Amazon which are no carb (made from yam starch) and they take on flavours well in asian dishes and are quite satisfying when you get used to them.

Not my favourites but a friend who also low carbs loves pork scratchings (the puffed up kind, not the mangled hairy things!) and beef jerky and says they work wonders when she's craving crunchy things.

Last week I saw low carb 'shakes' in the H&B aisle in Tesco but at £2 a pop, a little pricey.

I make low carb soups a lot, especially when the weather is cold, I find these comforting and a break from the meat/salad/fish/eggs/steamed veg rut that I sometimes get into. Brocc / celery / lettuce / cabbage / leeks etc simmered in veg or chicken stock and then either add herbs/spices or I add a little cream and blitz. I cook a lot of asian food too, loads of garlic, ginger, chillies to stop meals becoming boring, I find most recipes easy enough to adapt, I just take out the sugar and thickener.

Have you tried stevia yet? Its a low carb, calorie free natural sweetener. Where I live is a little remote and I haven't been able to find any in local shops but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some soon. Sorry I've ranted on, hopefully some of my ramblings are of use!!!

Edwardia

Very useful post cherrypies, not a rant at all !

I agree with you about low carb pasta etc and haven't even tried it for fear of inducing a pasta craving. I subbed home-made swede oven chips for chips and nuts in small quantities for crisps. I'm lucky in that I am not fussed about giving up bread, cakes and biscuits. I did mourn chocolate, but then I discovered that 90% cocoa solids Lindt chocolate is 14g per 100g and red wine has zero carbs.

I haven't tried stevia myself, I use Hermesetas as I worry about aspartame. OH is en route to Morrisons to buy fish and something called Truvia is on trial offer there, so I've asked him to get it.

ETA: he couldn't find any

beanrua

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=atkins+carb+counter&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.atkins.com%2Fprogram%2Finteractive-tools%2Fcarb-counter%2F&ei=2VEtT-C5JaKh0QWxj8WtCA&usg=AFQjCNE7Apuc5XIbOTozBqgcySC2rBbBxA

When I first started low carbing I printed this out and and made my shopping listed from it.

narabanekeater

Hi - come and join us all on the health and beauty board theres a whole thread of us low carbers on there we would love to chat with you. I low carb for health reasons and its also healped me loose a lot of weight