a couple of questions

[donnamarie]

Hi All,

I'm new to this community and have read PP and am preparing myself to start this way of life soon. Having read the book and alot of what everyone has to say on the forum I have a couple of questions. First I am on a limited budget and cannot afford all organic and grass fed meats and poultry. Will I be harming my body by applying the PP guidelines with regular store bought items? If I can buy only one organic item what would you suggest? Thanks.

[maxlharris]

1- I don't buy organic anything. Program works fine. Think of it in terms of an 80-20 principle. You get 80+% of the benefit of the program from limiting carbs and increasing protein. If you tweak it, you get the rest of the result, but the key piece is carbs low, protein adequate, fat as lib.

2- Save your money. Actually, try out buying for low carb (which can be a bit pricier than shopping center aisles) before you commit to one organic item or the other. Failing that, I'd go with a fruit or veg that gets a lot of spray pesticide, like strawberries.

[Frank Hagan]

Hi All,

I'm new to this community and have read PP and am preparing myself to start this way of life soon. Having read the book and alot of what everyone has to say on the forum I have a couple of questions. First I am on a limited budget and cannot afford all organic and grass fed meats and poultry. Will I be harming my body by applying the PP guidelines with regular store bought items? If I can buy only one organic item what would you suggest? Thanks.

Like you, I started this new WOE by following much of the guidelines in PP. In their later book "Protein Power Lifeplan", the good doctors refine the PP plan to include people like Max and me ... called "hedonists" in the book. We don't worry about getting organic, grass fed beef, organic veggies, etc. but we do reduce our carb intake just like the "dilettantes" and "purists" do. We get most of the same benefit.

My basic rules are if it was an animal or grew above the ground and is dark green, I'll eat it. Colorful veggies (like carrots, etc.) I have to look up to see if they are "legal". After being on PP since 3/11/2009, I know that the things I'll increase in my diet in maintenance will be the colorful veggies like carrots. Other than the occasional dream, I don't have cravings for pies anymore.

We sometimes buy organic veggies from the local farmer's market on Sunday because the prices are the same as the supermarket "regular" produce. We have a slight advantage in that my wife works for the state Dept. of Agriculture, and she actually knows the farms the produce comes from. One alternative to the supermarket would be to look locally for a farmer's market; you can save some money on some wonderful fresh tasting produce.

We actually found our food spending decreased when I went on PP; those boxes of Wheat Thins, cartons of ice cream, boxes of breakfast cereal are pretty expensive. We kid that we shop on "two sides" of the supermarket now, hitting produce and the back wall where the meats and diary are, with only an occasional trip into the center aisles or to the bakery department. That probably won't be the case if you have a family that is still eating the "standard American diet", but it has worked out well for us.

[gitfiddle]

Donnamarie, I agree with the guys. Don't fret about free range and organic. The important thing is to bring down your insulin level with low carb eating. I'm glad you joined our community! :)

[johankrava]

My basic rules are if it was an animal or grew above the ground and is dark green, I'll eat it.

A very interesting filter. Until recently my rule was: If it tastes good, I'll eat.

Now I am trying to prepare myself to start a new way of life so I might use your "filter".

[amdawson]

i think it can seem expensive, and i'm undecided on whether it's actually more expensive or not. sometimes i think it is, but then i realize i'm not buying all that junk food, so maybe it's not.

side benefit is that i cook at home a lot more and eat out a lot less. so that saves money.

[cshelia]

It can seem very expensive, but if you think about it, it's really not. If I spend 15 dollars to make a pot of chili, that sounds expensive, but it last for several meals, like about 5 for my hubby and myself both. So that's about 1.50 for a meal. The same with chicken breast, I cut it into strips and bread it with Parmesan and it last a few meals also. It is more expensive than beans and potatoes, but a lot healthier.;)

[gitfiddle]

side benefit is that i cook at home a lot more and eat out a lot less. so that saves money.Adam, I think you've hit on an important factor. Along with that, when you cook it yourself you know what's in it! We eat better at home between my low carb requirements and my husband's food allergies.

Shelia, I agree with you also. My family still eat junk food, so I end up paying for both. (I make them shop for it, though. ;))

[jilly27]

Adam, I think you've hit on an important factor. Along with that, when you cook it yourself you know what's in it! We eat better at home between my low carb requirements and my husband's food allergies.

Shelia, I agree with you also. My family still eat junk food, so I end up paying for both. (I make them shop for it, though. ;))


Cooking yourself, while daunting to some people, really is the way to go with LC WOE. If you are going to make the effort to switch to LC you obviously care about your health so learning to cook a bit is a reasonable part of that.

As you say Carol, then you really know what's in your food. I find too that I can buy larger quantities of things like meat, thereby saving a bit of money, and prepare a bunch of meals and freeze them. This also makes rushed days easier to stick to LC as good healthy stuff is readily available in my freezer.

Another thing about organic and farm markets; in my area at least getting official organic certification is too expansive for a lot of the smaller farms to do. Their produce is being grown organically although they can't say so. So if you have a farm market available just ask the farmer about their growing practices, you may be getting organic without having to pay more for it.

My hubby is still a Dorito chip and icecream consumer, in vast quantities :rolleyes:, fortunately I am not interested in them.

[deirdra]

Take a look at http://www.foodnews.org/
You don't need to subscribe, just look at the Dirty and Clean (with respect to pesticides) lists on the home page. You can also download the full guide without registering. The only things on the "dirty dozen" list that I eat are lettuce and celery, so I buy organic versions of these when I can afford them and they look fresh, and regular versions of all the rest.