Just Want to be Correct!

[MontanaRebel]

I bought a scale at wal-mart yesterday to start my program Induction phase today and am I correct to assume that 8oz equals a cup of salad on this scale. I cut up lettuce, cukes, radishes, green peppers and celery to make the salad.

I also cut up two boiled eggs and put them in to total 8 ounces for the salad but was I wrong to put the eggs in there?

I also used almost a tbls of fat free ranch dressing since 1 tbls was 3 carbs and you can only use 2 carbs worth.

I am drinking bottled spring water that is 1pt 9 fl ounces so won't need to many of them...Man it is hard drinking water. lol

Anyway what do you think? Did I mess up?

[not2late]

Re: Just Want to be Correct!

I bought a scale at wal-mart yesterday to start my program Induction phase today and am I correct to assume that 8oz equals a cup of salad on this scale. I cut up lettuce, cukes, radishes, green peppers and celery to make the salad.

I also cut up two boiled eggs and put them in to total 8 ounces for the salad but was I wrong to put the eggs in there?

I also used almost a tbls of fat free ranch dressing since 1 tbls was 3 carbs and you can only use 2 carbs worth.

I am drinking bottled spring water that is 1pt 9 fl ounces so won't need to many of them...Man it is hard drinking water. lol

Anyway what do you think? Did I mess up?

Whoa...I had to read your post twice because I thought that you bought a person scale to weigh your foods on.... my bad... Anyhow.

The ounces Dr. Atkins talks about for veggies is a volume measurement---fluid ounces. So you can measure your veggies in a standard cooking measuring cup.

Food scales can be used for weighing veggies too, but the conversion from fluid ounces to dry ounces isn't 1 to 1 (with the exception of water and butter). If you want to use the food scales to measure your foods, I suggest you use the USDA's website because it gives the cup measurement and it's gram equivalent.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

You can also use the food scales to weigh out nuts (when you get to that phase of Atkins) and meat. You can even use them for weighing out grains (when you get to that phase of Atkins).

The veggies are limited to 2 or 3 cups daily. The toppings like hard boiled eggs, bacon, chicken or turkey slices aren't counted toward the 2-3 cup veggie limit because they aren't veggies.

Don't use fat free dressing! Fat free dressings have more carbs in them than the regular full fat dressings. Besides you need the fat to help blunt your insulin response and stabilize your blood sugar. So toss that fat-free stuff out. Eat the full fat.

Good work on your water. You'll get used to drinking it.

[MontanaRebel]

Now I am totally confused and frustrated. lol

I used the food scale and put in enough salad to measure 8 ozs(1 cup) and that is way to much then? Probably got enough salad for today then right?

I know my fat free ranch dressing says 2 tlbs equals 6 carbs so I only used not quite a tbls for the topping...Is this wrong to do as well. I do understand the fat part so probably will go to regular then.

I don't want to screw this up completely because if I get to frustrated the program is history because I know how I am in situations like this. :yikes

[Effie]

You're not screwing up, you're learning

not2late is right -- throw out that fat free dressing. Even if you're only eating a certain amount of it, it's still mostly sugar. Check out the ingredients. Usually "high fructose corn syrup" is the first or second ingredient in fat free dressings.

Don't measure your salad by weight, measure it by volume instead. If you have measuring cups, just chop up your veggies and fill up a 1-cup measuring cup. This could equal 8 oz, but I'm not sure. You could check it once, and if 8oz on your scale is about 1 cup, then you can keep doing it the way you've done it. (Although, 8 oz. would be half a pound, so that seems like a lot). After you have your veggies, you can still add your eggs or meat or cheeses or whatever else you like on top. My husband jokes with me that I make "meat salads" because I end up with more meat than lettuce!

Don't get frustrated! You've been psyching yourself up for this, it's too early to call it quits!

[Tara35]

Montano,
Not2Late is correct! I actually did the same exact thing you did. Went to Walmart and bought a scale. I was using it for a couple of days until the knowledge filled folks on this board clued me in that I should be measuring by volume not weight. I went back to Walmart bought measuring cups for $2.98 corrected my mistake and didn't miss a beat because I continued to loose. My day 14 is actually tomorrow.

[Tara35]

I said all that to say this.......................... Don't give up!

[MontanaRebel]

Yeah I agree with you I did it wrong but was my first day so I should be ok. lol I am sure I had enough salad for day 1 of the program. :yes

Also what do you all put on your salad? I can't stand to eat it plain. Is ranch regular dressing ok to use or what do you recommend?

Here is a pic of the scale I bought at Wal-Mart:


And here is what I should be using:

[Effie]

ha! Great pics

I use regular, full-fat ranch. There is a small amount of sugar in the ingredients, but it's way down on the list, and there is just 1g of carb per serving. They also sell full-fat, carb-free ranch. Only reason I don't buy this is because it costs more, and I don't want to be the victim of high-priced propaganda just to save myself 1g of carbs!

Keep up the good work!

[MontanaRebel]

Thanks everyone for all your help! Your the greatest! :hug

[Tara35]

LOL! That is EXACTLY the same weight scale I bought! Great minds think alike. As far as dressing, I use Caesar dressing. (Hope it's ok) I use the full fat kind as well and I think it has <1 carb per tablespoon. I have to look wjen I get home.

[Moochiecat]

I use caesar dressing, or ranch dressing, or blue cheese dressing....all full fat, or I'll make my own with oil and different vinegars (except balsamic of course)

Making your own is really quite easy and you know for sure what's in them...the only drawback is that I don't usually measure(little bit of dis, little bit of dat), and sometimes I'll make an especially good one but can't duplicate it!! :anger