It was liberating and a little depressing clearing my pantry and refrigerator of high carbohydrate items and replacing them with low carbohydrate items. It was mostly liberating. It was only depressing because I saw $ going out the window and I had to spend more $ to buy the healthier stuff. It did, however, make me feel better that I could give my items to family members (or those in need) that could utilize them. I made little boxes and gifted them to several people.
What did I get rid of?
- Flour
- Cornmeal
- Pancake mixes
- Cake mixes
- Sugar
- Syrups
- Icings
- Jellies
- Ketchup
- Fruits (fresh and canned)
- Popcorn
- Cookies
- Crackers
- Pasta sauces
- Pasta
- Rice (That hurt!)
- Sugar drinks & mixes
- Juices
- Potatoes
- Rices
- Sweet Potatoes
- Carrots
- Pasta
- Rice (Groan!)
- ANYTHING that has a higher per serving NET carb count of over 5 and really a count of 3 is best. (I realized, you have to start reading labels and doing some simple addition and subtraction.)
What did I go buy?
I added suggested purchase sites. It is by no means a comprehensive list.
- Cheese – Anywhere (you can have 3 sticks or 3 oz. per day)
- Dill pickles, Hearts of Palm, Artichoke Hearts – Anywhere
- Pork rinds – Sam’s Club, Anywhere
- Parmesan cheese crackers – Costco or Sam’s Club
- Moon Cheese – Amazon, Cracker Barrel
- Bacon Jerky – Cracker Barrel, different groceries
- Turkey sausage snacks – Anywhere (Old Wisconsin, Butterball)
- Sausage stick snacks – Anywhere
- Toasted Seaweed – Costco
- 90% Cocoa dark chocolate – Anywhere
- Atkins Bars & Snacks – Anywhere
- Almond flour – Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, anywhere
- Coconut flour – Walmart, Whole Foods, Earth Fare, anywhere
- Soy flour – Amazon
- Flax seed meal – Amazon
- Atkins low carb baking mix – Amazon
- Vital Wheat Gluten – Walmart, Earth Fare, Whole Foods, anywhere
- Psyllium husk – Earth Fare, Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, Walmart
- Coconut Oil – Anywhere
- Hemp hearts, chia seeds, flaxseed – Earth Fare, Whole Foods, Walmart, Costco
- Stober Farms ground golden flax seed – Amazon
- Cream Cheese – Sam’s Club, anywhere
- Eggs – Anywhere
- Butter – Anywhere
- Heavy Cream – Anywhere
- Whole Milk – Anywhere
- Almond Milk – Anywhere
- Sweet Leaf brand powdered stevia – Publix, Walmart, Earth Fare, Whole Foods (in shaker jar)
- Swerve brand erythritol – Earth Fare, Whole Foods, Publix
- Truvia baking blend – Anywhere
- Coconut milk – Anywhere
- Coconut cream – Anywhere
- Cocoa Powder – Anywhere
- Condensed milk – Anywhere
- Stock your fridge or freezerwith prosciutto, summer sausage, sausage, hot dogs, smoked sausage… chicken, beef, pork, lamb and other meat products… zucchini, yellow squash, avocados, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, cabbage, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, lettuce and celery.
- Get Heinz Low Sugar Ketchup
- Try to do chicken sausage, turkey bacon or turkey sausage to lower cholesterol and fat.
- Try to make sure you have riced cauliflower (or broccoli) in both frozen and fresh form as much as possible as its possibilities are endless.
- When you can move from 20 Net carbs to a higher level you can add strawberries, blueberries, rasberries, blackberries and canteloupe. These along with a tablespoon or two of Cool Whip or Reddi Wip make an awesome dessert.
- Also, you can add bacon, bacon bits and deli meats but beware of hidden carbs. Check that there are no nitrates or nitrites.
- Stock your shelveswith canned tuna, canned chicken and other canned meats but check the carbs. Also, Mario Batelli’s or Rao’s Tomato Basil sauce. They have least amount of sugars. Heinz-1 low carb catsup or low-sugar catsup. Almond butter. Peanut butter. Mrs. Butterworth’s (or other’s) Sugar Free syrup. Sugar free jams or jellies.
- You can add low carb tortillas (Mission & Olé) as long as you stay within your daily Net carb counts. That discovery was a game changer for me! (I just can’t wrap everything in lettuce or put into avacado cups.) These should be NO MORE than 5 Net carbs! Take the Carbohydrates minus the fiber… that is the Net carb count.
Once I had done this… said goodbye to old foods… it was time to take on the exciting challenge of new foods… FOREVER!
If you are wanting an example of acceptable foods, a good source is the Atkins website. To learn more about acceptable foods, follow this link:
Atkins Acceptable Food List
One of the best one page infographics I have seen for a low carb list can be found on my Dee Smith Pinterest site. Low Carb Foods Infographic. You will definitely want to print that off and hang on your refrigerator or put in your binder!