I am looking to cut sugar more and more from my diet. Due to a problem with my stomach 5 years ago, my doc took it out and I have no holding tank down there. Which means I graze most of the day. I’m looking to find some things to snack on during the day that do not contain sugar.
Please note that this is not specifically an Atkins diet - this recommendation comes straight from my doctor and his associated nutritionist. Eat less carbs (and sugar specifically.) Eat more protein.
Beef jerky and/or sausage (check the ingredients, some have sugar/carbs but it’s not too hard to find some without)
Hard-boiled eggs
Cheese
Sardines
Tuna
Shrimp
For things normally eaten with crackers (cheese, tuna, etc) you can use slices of cucumber instead. Or if you’re not entirely against carbs, I’m sure you could find/make sugar-free low-carb crackers.
You can make roll-ups with slices of deli meat and soft cheese (cream cheese or boursin or whatever): pull out a slice of meat, spread cheese on top. If you want, add green onions/chives/herbs/whatever. Roll into a log, slice into discs. Yum.
Once again, if you don’t mind a few carbs, you can find low-carb tortilla like things with 5-10 carbs each and make sandwiches with those.
Sardines are surprisingly mild & good. If you like tuna, sardines are less fishy and milder. Very good on a variety of things.
Hard-boiled eggs are my go-to snack. Not tons of protein, but delicious and next to no carbs.
Peanut Butter (you’ll need something to put it on, but crackers have no sugar (though they do have carbs), and I doubt your nutrionist would complain about apples or carrots).
Yogurt (just not too disgustingly sweetened)
Tofu – there are various marinated & baked tofu variants that are snackable right out of the package; or on a hot day, fresh cold tofu with a splash of soy sauce (and sesame oil) is a great high-protein snack (really, even if you’re not a hippie. Though you might want to try and have some at a sushi place first to get an idea of how it is when done well)
Check out the spiced almonds, wasabi and soy, lime chile, smoked roasted. And I’ve had jerky from a local farm source. Was not dried out at all, might’ve been fresher? was moister easier to chew more flavorful than most packaged brands. Might compare to the jerky nuggets in the stores.
I could live on jerky, nuts, cheese and tins of sardines/anchovies. Throw in some dark greens and beer/wine water. Im good to go.
If you want something you don’t have to prepare, I personally like EAS bars. They make a low carb variety. Atkins also has some tasty bars. I may have one or two of those a week if I’m out a lot. They’re good for sweet cravings but also have that protein boost.
If you don’t mind prep work you can make crackers out of ground nuts and flax meal. Eat them with tuna or egg salad. Or you can nuke pepperonis until they’re crispy. That makes a good dipper and they make them in low salt and low fat turkey varieties.
If you can avoid it, stay away from deli meats and cook your own if you plan to eat a lot. It’s cheaper in the long run and has less stuff you don’t need. I will cook a full bag of chicken breasts in different ways so there’s different flavors and textures. I slice it up and bag it so if I want teriyaki I get that, or if I’m just in the mood for roasted I grab that. If I want a little texture without flavor I have that too. I do the same with beef. I will make some taco meat, something to add to some soup or veggies, and something I can just snack on by itself. Some people make jerky themselves. It’s supposedly easy and better for you. I don’t like jerky so I couldn’t say.
Get a couple cans of chickpeas, rinse all the gross bean juice off them, toss them in a couple teaspoons of olive oil, and season them with whatever you like. I use Cajun seasoning and a little sea salt. Spread them on a baking sheet and bake until they are crunchy on the outside. I bake them at a lowish temp (about 300) for around an hour.
Cottage cheese has a lot of protein and little sugar. Blueberries and blackberries are low in sugar and calories for fruits and are very nutritious. As far as nuts go, almonds are a good choice.
Protein shakes are yummy. Just make them with milk instead of water. I gagged once when I made it only with water. They also make a good base for everything from smoothies to pancakes.
Yeah, I only like casein with water (it’s thick, almost like pudding, and not half bad really). For whey, I mix with milk. Fitrx.com has frequent sales and I recommend the Optimum Nutrition brand for competitive price and flavor selection. I strongly recommend vanilla chai flavor.
My parents were doing Atkins for awhile when I was living there and doing a lot of the cooking, and this was one of my fav snacks. I made it frequently, and you can do it in a hundred different combinations. Turkey Pastrami was my fav meat to use for this.
Also, I want to add that a lot of people are suggesting Jerky. I eat a lot of Jerky when camping, and getting a dehydrator was one of the best investments I made - I can make three pounds’ worth of Jerky for the price of buying one. I have my dehydrator running several days a week with Jerky, apples, and strawberries.
When I was ‘low-carbing’, I had a recipe I’d go to again and again, because my family kept requesting it: We called it “Those Chicken Things”
5 boneless/skinless chicken thighs, pounded to 1/4" thick
Salt and Pepper
1/2 bar of cream cheese, softened
10 scallions, finely minced
1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
After chicken thighs are pounded as thin as you want them (between two sheets of wax paper, with a meat mallet), salt and pepper them.
Lay them out flat on a plate.
Mix scallions in with cream cheese.
Fill center of each chicken thigh with cream cheese mixture, roll up and secure with tooth picks.
Place all rolled-up thighs in bottom of Crock Pot and pour soup over top. Cook for 4 hours on low or 6 hours on high.