Philippines

[matawguro]

Not sure how many locals in the Philippines read these boards so I might as well start a thread.

I live in Quezon City so my sightings of Atkins friendly products are limited to the Metro Manila area.

Sightings:

The Blue Kitchen at the Power Plant mall in Rockwell sells granulated Splenda as well a low-carb cheesecake. (Edit: They only sell the cheesecake on Fridays)

Certain Starbucks branches have started offering soy milk as a milk substitute. So far I've only seen Starbucks at Power Plant and Pacific Star (Corner Makati Ave. and Sen. Gil Puyat formerly Buendia) that have it. There might be others but I have't encountered them.

[Anonymous]

Just thought I'd check in to say Hi. :wave

I lived for a year as a student in Cebu City and very much enjoyed your country. Although that was over 25 years ago now.

I think my biggest weakness would be to have to over-look the street venders selling fried bananas but at least I could find freshly fried porc rinds everywhere.

[matawguro]

Yup, the street food here is a main part of Filipino cuisine. Good news is even if a lot of street foods are Atkins friendly. The bad news is that they were featured in Fear Factor.

As for another sighting, I just picked up a 500ml bottle of Summit Clear Sparkling Water Beverage - White Grape Flavor, bottled by Asia Brewery. Picked it up at the local gas station convenience store. Ingredients listed are Carbonated water, citric acid, nature identical flavors, sodium benzoate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose.

The following note on the bottle made me smile...

"Recommended for carbohydrate calorie reduced diets."

[matawguro]

Thanks to Luis for the info.

I came across the Healthy Options store next to Rustan's Supermarket in Makati, which now has a low carb section. They have low-carb bars, shakes, microwavable pasta, and bread mixes. The prices wil burn a hole in your wallet as they are about 50% higher than the listed prices at the store link above.

My suggestion, buy a few samples to see what you like then ask a friend or relative in the US to send you some. Refer them to this board.

[matawguro]

Rustan's Supermarket now carries Atkins Endulge Low-Carb Ice Cream. A pint will set you back around P240. The Atkins Ice Cream is stored in the same freezer as Ben and Jerry's Ice cream. Some of the Rustan's employees seem to be clueless about Atkins products as I was directed to the powdered milk section when I first asked about "Atkins products".

The Atkins Ice cream seems to have been stored well based on the pint I got at Rustan's at Edsa Shangri-la Plaza. I found little to no heat shock (ice crystals forming after ice cream melts and is re-frozen) which sometimes occurs ti imported ice cream brands.

The following favors are available in pints: Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl.

(Edit) Strawberry flavor is available a box of 4 - 4oz cups. Around P100 more expensive than pints.

Atkins Endulge Super Premium Ice Cream Bars are available in Chocolate Fudge

Edit: Rustan's at Power Plant Mall has a slightly different selection. They have Butter Pecan instead of Choco Peanutbutter Swirl. Also, they're stored in upright freezers you tend o se in convenience store which does a poorer job of keeping the temperature stable. The result is that the ice cream is softer than the one I purchased at EDSA Shangri-la.

[pinaypie]

hello i've just started atkins and today is my second day. was really glad when i saw messages from the philippines so i thought i'd post a note. i'm still on my induction phase and i do get hungry 3-4 hours after every meal (since i'm so accustomed to eating rice already), was wondering if this is normal? what were your experiences and how did you deal with it? any comments will be appreciated :wave

[matawguro]

In my experience, premature hunger is usually a result of food weight. Chances are that your body is used to eating a certain amount of food. Let's say rice takes up 50% of your diet. If you just cut out the rice, you just cut your food intake by half. I suggest upping the amount of the induction safe foods to replace the lost carbs. Meats with natural animal fat go a long way in satiating hunger.

Also, don't forget to drink lots of water.

[pinaypie]

hey thanks...will do :yes

[matawguro]

I just discovered that Rustan's in Glorietta also sell Russell Stover Low Carb candies. They have peanut butter cups ans pecan cups as well as a few others. Like other low carb products, they're quite pricey, around P120 for a pack 9 pcs.

Edit: The low carb candies are found in the health foods section.

[Desertthorn]

Help. Robbie, I just found some whipping cream in a box by Nestley but it doesn't list the ingredients. Have you ever used it. Do you know what I'm taking about. It said that its imported from the Phillapeans. I am afraid to try it without knowing whats in it.