Stephen, all processed meats are rather tricky, and Dr. Atkins advised avoiding them because of the nitrates. However, there are just times when a little processed meat comes in real handy.

Check the different brands when you're shopping and try to find brands with 0 carbs and no sugar(s) listed in the ingredients. I don't know what brands your stores carry, but one of ours carries Foster Farms. Some of their cold cuts and their Turkey Franks have no sugar. We don't eat the franks often, but when we do I boil them first so that some of the salt and nitrates are removed. These particular franks are also really high in fat.

Both John Morrell and Gwaltney have bacons with no sugars. I buy Gwaltney at WalMart and John Morrell seems to be a pretty wide-spread brand. Just make sure to check the labels because some have sugars, some don't.

Even though we're actually buying a lot less groceries than before, our grocery trips still take quite a while as we're doing our label reading and sorting which brands are better picks than others. This is just something that goes with the territory.