Menu planning

[PrinceJeff]

I am planning my Induction menu for when I restart Atkins, and the only hard part for me portioning out the veggies through the day. My day 1 menu for breakfast is 4 scrambled eggs with 1 oz. cheese and 1 cup raw spinach drizzled with olive oil. Not too hard, but then I found a nice recipe for Beef Burgers w/ Feta and Tomato, which would be lunch. Following the recipe isn't tough, but figuring the chopped green onion, tomato, and other stuff confuses me on the veggie count for the day. Any ideas?

[sallyseachange]

Re: Menu planning

Do you use Fitday? It's invaluable www.fitday.com . You can slot in whatever you eat and it tells you the nutrition counts. There are some stickies about using fitday on ADBB too.
Sal

[PrinceJeff]

Re: Menu planning

It just seems alot easier to me to count the carb totals from recipes than to adhere to "2 or 3 cups of this and 1 of that if X isn't more than 2 cups". The cheese is alot easier to keep track of than veggies.

[RunAwayMichelle]

Re: Menu planning

To figure out your veggies put them all in a measuring cup. You need to count the veggies too.

[PrinceJeff]

Re: Menu planning

Fair enough.

The recipe for those burgers calls for:

1 green onion (chopped)
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1/4 cup chopped tomato

That is for 2 servings at 2 carbs each. Since those veggies are in the "1 cup per day" list, how would I count it? Seems to me like it would make about 1 cup or so.

[cleochatra]

Re: Menu planning

A green onion isn't much more than 2 Tbsp, chopped. You also want to pack your veg loosely in a cup to measure properly.

Even still, if you eat both burgers during the day, you still have 2 extra cups of salad veg at your disposal for the rest of your meals.

[PrinceJeff]

Re: Menu planning

Thanks for the help thus far. I know I can have so many cups of this or that per day, but counting that and the numbers is racking my brain. Do you even count numbers or is the cups count a good indicator. I've looked at FitDay's counter, but it doesn't have an option for 2 tbsp chopped green onion 1/4 cup tomato I think.

[Elizellen]

Re: Menu planning

Thanks for the help thus far. I know I can have so many cups of this or that per day, but counting that and the numbers is racking my brain. Do you even count numbers or is the cups count a good indicator. I've looked at FitDay's counter, but it doesn't have an option for 2 tbsp chopped green onion 1/4 cup tomato I think.

2 Tablespoon is 1/8th of a cup (.125)

[PrinceJeff]

Re: Menu planning

Thanks for the info! This is going to help me immensely.......whenever I can plan my two-week menu completely I will post it here.

[BabyDreamer]

Re: Menu planning

Jeff,

I don't think you should plan the whole two weeks. There are too many variables in the week and the veggies may not work for you one day and they might the next. It is best to just stock the house and eat the good, wholesome food your body craves each day. However, I would advice cooking some bacon, sausage, chicken, eggs and things like that to have on hand to grab and go. Just my opinion though.

Deb

Thanks for the info! This is going to help me immensely.......whenever I can plan my two-week menu completely I will post it here.

[PrinceJeff]

Re: Menu planning

True. It also is good to buy produce in two or three day quantities so it stays fresh. One last question (I hope).....if you just don't feel like vegetables one day, is it going to hurt not to eat them?

[sallyseachange]

Re: Menu planning

Well it won't kill you to skip the veggies one day...but it isn't at all advisable and not something to do regularly. Atkins is not only about losing weight, but also about good, healthful eating. Those veggies are pretty vital in that respect. You'll probably find that your taste for veggies changes gradually and you may end up craving them. That's happened to more than one person posting on this board.

Happy Atkinsing!
Sal

[cleochatra]

Re: Menu planning

Elizellen is--as usual-- spot on. I go with decimal points once I start using a Tablespoon of something that only allows for cup measurements in fitday. It's a bit of a pain, but once you get to the point where it's second nature, it becomes pretty routine to plug in those numbers to the hundredths.

You should eat vegetables everyday, yes. Think of it as air. You don't always feel like breathing, but you do it because if you stop, you keel over and turn blue, and blue doesn't match your outfit. I look at all the years fo abuse we've doled out on our bodies and eating vegetables as phytonutrients, etc, are like medicating a body that needs it, even if it doesn't recognize or register 'want' at the moment.

[PrinceJeff]

Re: Menu planning

I guess a more accurate way to say it is if I don't eat all 20g during induction, am I really that bad off? I love veggies actually.

[Chris]

Re: Menu planning

I guess a more accurate way to say it is if I don't eat all 20g during induction, am I really that bad off? I love veggies actually.

No, you don't HAVE to eat 20 carb grams of veggies. You're supposed to eat UP TO that amount. If you eat 3 cups of a simple salad as your only veggies, the chances are that you won't make it to 20 grams. Don't expect any weight loss benefits, however, from eating less than 20. It doesn't work that way.

Cleo's right, though. Although there are documented cases of people going for very long periods on a virtually zero carb diet, with no apparent ill effects, the vitamins and phytonutrients, as well as the fiber, in those veggies are important to our good health.