If you're low carbing, here is some useful stuff. More to come/ask any questions you have and I'll try to help!
- Fruit is really problematic, as it is so full of sugar. In the induction stage of Atkins, when you're only supposed to have 20g of carbs a day, no fruit is allowed. Once you move on from this phase, berries are allowed - e.g. strawberries, blueberries, raspberries - but you need to weigh them and restrict your consumption of them.
Rhubarb is a very good choice, but only if sweetened with an artificial sweetener such as Splenda.
- Fat is allowed/encouraged! According to Atkins, you need to eat fat to burn fat. Therefore you are allowed to eat fatty meat, cream, eggs, cheese and nuts. This will be very difficult to get your head round if you have spent the last 20/30 years of your life being told that fat is the enemy.
- You don't need to calorie count. This may not be true if you only have half a stone or so to lose. But for most of us, you will find that the amount of calories that you can consume on a low carb diet seems ridiculously high. Just enjoy it!
- You cannot eat:
- bread
- pasta
- rice
- potatoes
- sugar
- flour (which means pastry/white sauces)
- Other veg that are problematic:
- carrots
- parsnips
- sweet potatoes
- Things to include as substitutes:
- celeriac makes a fabulous dauphinois or mash
- swede is lovely either pureed or baked as wedges/chips
- thinly sliced, boiled green/white cabbage can be a really good substitute for spaghetti
- Alcohol is not a great idea, as it is sugar-based. However, being as we are in the real world:
- dry white wine, champagne and red wine are all OK in moderation
- vodka/gin with diet mixers are fine
Just be aware that when you are low carbing, your tolerance for alcohol may change, so you may get drunk more quickly/have more hangovers. If you can avoid drinking, all the better (I fail on this count regularly 
)
- Eating out is easier then if you're trying to calorie count, but you do need to know what you're doing to navigate the menu.
Avoid things in sauces unless you can establish that they are not thickened with flour/cornflour.
Go for grilled meat/fish with veg/salad.
Thai is very difficult as most dishes include sugar.
Chinese is also hard - but you can navigate around this. Lettuce wraps are good (just don't use the hoisin sauce), and substitute rice with fried bean sprouts, or waterchestnuts and celery.
With Indian, just leave out the rice (and the naan and poppadoms). Cauliflower and mushroom bhajis are relatively low in carbs.
- Eating on-the-go is really difficult. Everything is based on carbs - sandwiches, cakes, crisps, chocolate ...
If you're travelling and know you'll need to eat, make sure you take something with you to snack on.
More and more railway/service stations have a M&S Food - so you can buy a salad, cooked meat/fish or small portions of cheese. If you don't have access to these, then take some ham with you, or a couple of hard boiled eggs. John West also make sachets of tuna that don't need to be chilled, which are useful.
-
Make sure that you drink plenty of water. This will help to stave off any hunger pangs - although, to be honest, after the first couple of days of low carbing you will find that your appetite is drastically suppressed.
-
There is some suggestion that diet drinks can cause weight loss to stall. I haven't been able to find any data to support this, but it is reported on often enough to make me say that it's worth being aaware of this at the very least - and if you can, avoiding them.