A few from me:

1. - As much as possible, try to avoid processed meats (deli meats, packaged stuff with a bar code, bacon, ham, hot dogs etc.). Meat isn't supposed to have carbs in it, and if the meat you're eating has any carbs in it at all - then you're racking up unnecessary carbs - using up your allotment on something that shouldn't have carbs in it in the first place. This isn't to say you'd never eat hot dogs or deli meat - but save these for on-the-road emergencies or once-in-awhile meals. Cook up your own giant roasts for sliced roast beef, or roast up a whole chicken for lots of chicken slices etc.

2. - No matter what plan you're on, and no matter what your carb allotment is, make sure that most of the carbs you're getting are coming from low-carb vegetables. Don't waste your carbs on sauces, too much cheese or salad dressings.

3. - Speaking of salad dressings, one of the nice things about low-carb eating is that you can have stuff like creamy ranch dressing or blue cheese or any favourite, full-fat dressing. That said, most store-bought dressings do contain carbs - and a good trick is to make your salad, and put it into a large-ish mixing bowl. Measure out your tablespoon or whatever serving, and then stir up the salad like crazy with a wooden spoon or a spatula - this helps those wonderful dressings go a lot further, and reduces the chance of gooping on too much blue cheese dressing. The idea is to mix/toss the salad as if you're making a caesar salad. This will help you keep the carb count in check.

4. - There's going to be a lot more cooking than you're used to. To minimize the hassle factor, when you cook - cook way more than you'd need for any one particular meal. Make a whole pan of roasted chicken breasts and put the rest into the fridge for quick/handy food - you can dice it up and do a stir fry, toss it into a salad, make chicken salad etc. Also, consider doing this with cooked vegetables too. I didn't do this for a long time, and nowadays, if I'm going to make roasted broccoli florets for my dinner meal, I'll make extra and then toss those roasted veggies into a morning omelet or into a lunchtime salad. This saves a lot of time/prep/fuss.

5. - Don't head out to the mall or anything without eating something first. This'll minimize the chances of caving into the fast food at the food court or what have you. If you're going out, either bring some food, or eat something beforehand. This isn't to say you won't eat out, but you can head off potential problems by eating before going out. It's a heck of a lot easier to order the right thing in a restaurant or fast food place if you've already had a couple of eggs for breakfast. Don't let yourself get caught feeling hungry at the wrong place and wrong time.

6. - You'll likely eat way more food than you think is reasonable in the first several days of a lower carb eating plan. You'll feel really hungry and have lots of cravings. The way around this is to let yourself eat as much 'on plan' food as you need to get past this phase. Within a few days, the carbs will be out of your system, you'll have gotten past the withdrawal and the cravings - and your appetite will diminish quite a bit. In the meantime, eat as much as you need to stick to plan. It's not unheard of to have *two* bunless burgers, or need/want second helpings of roasted chicken or what have you. This is all ok - your appetite will normalize in just a few days. Whatever you do, do NOT cave into the cravings that are sure to be experienced in the first several days, and if it takes eating what seems like too much food (all low carb of course), then do it.

Good luck!