First Week of Induction and already a problem

[Miss31]

Things have being going along nicely for me on my first week, however tonight my BF parent's are in town and they would like to take us to dinner at an Italien Restaurant, I can't say no, I can't tell them I'm dieting and I don't know what to do, any suggesstions of what I could eat? Maybe a Salad?

[not2late]

If this is an authentic Italian restaurant, you're in luck. Stick with the basics. Go for the grilled foods, no sauce. Steammed veggies and/or salad will be fine and of course, skip dessert.

If this is one of those McItalian chain restaurants, like Olive Garden, then do the best you can. you might want to eat something before going too, so then you won't be hungry when you get there and make bad food choices.

[Checkers]

It's so hard to say not seeing that restaurant's menu. I can only suggest something that has alot of meat and veg and just ignore the pasta. I've done it once but I couldn't tell you what the dish was.

[Miss31]

Thank you thank you so much, I was seriously stressing about the whole thing, It didn't even occur to me that there could be grilled fish or something there, I'm still learning the Atkins diet, thanks so much for the help. If I may be so bold as to ask one more question, what do you all eat for breakfast, I like eggs but I can't eat eggs every morning, do you have any other suggestions?

[not2late]

Thank you thank you so much, I was seriously stressing about the whole thing, It didn't even occur to me that there could be grilled fish or something there, I'm still learning the Atkins diet, thanks so much for the help. If I may be so bold as to ask one more question, what do you all eat for breakfast, I like eggs but I can't eat eggs every morning, do you have any other suggestions?

If this restaurant serves Bisteca a la Florentina (steak Florentine style), you can have that. Most "authentic" have some seafood dishes like grilled fish. They even have chicken dishes too.

As for breakfast, I eat leftovers frequently: chicken, turkey, etc.

[Effie]

When in doubt-- Chicken Caesar Salad. I think this is on every menu everywhere.

[Moochiecat]

I want to know what you ended up eating!! :joy

There's always something on the menu, and most places are more than happy to change it a bit to suit your needs. As you get more confident with Atkins and the Acceptable Foods list, you'll look forward to eating out.

I once had this amazing chicken thing with mushrooms and sundried tomato, broccoli and cauliflower on the side...oh man...SO good!

[tickletussler]

Missy, have a look in DANDR - I think there is a chapter towards the end of the book on eating out?

also, on the www.atkins.com website, there is a section on eating out at different cuisines eg italian, chinese, indian, japanese etc - it gives you a list of possible foods you can eat at each type of cuisine - it is pretty useful! I think I have also seen this same list in one of the other books... maybe Atkins for Life urplequ: I can't remember, but the point is, these lists are pretty good reference to help you out.

[Miss31]

I ended up having Shish Kabob's, we couldn't get into the Italien restaurant they were packed, so we ended up at another restaurant that had a full menu, I nearly wept when they all had pizza but I stuck to my guns and ate the beef shish kabob and veggies, I didn't even touch the rice, I was quite pleased with myself. Thanks so much for all your help!!!

[not2late]

I ended up having Shish Kabob's, we couldn't get into the Italien restaurant they were packed, so we ended up at another restaurant that had a full menu, I nearly wept when they all had pizza but I stuck to my guns and ate the beef shish kabob and veggies, I didn't even touch the rice, I was quite pleased with myself. Thanks so much for all your help!!!

Good for you! Sticking with the "basics" is the best thing to do.

You know, pizza is okay to have---as long as you don't eat the crust and scrap off most of the sauce. The sauce tends to contain alot of sugar.

[Miss31]

Even if I'm still on Induction? I'm a little confused as to what you can and cannot eat on Induction, my friend ate nuts but it says no nuts in the book, on the other posts people have been eating low carb breads and such but in the book it says I can have nothing. I've had such good luck the first week, I really don't want to ruin my second week and while we're on the topic how long can I stay on Induction? Do I have to switch over at the end of 2 weeks or can I stay? What do people recommend? I know I have a lot of questions sorry!

[not2late]

Even if I'm still on Induction? I'm a little confused as to what you can and cannot eat on Induction, my friend ate nuts but it says no nuts in the book, on the other posts people have been eating low carb breads and such but in the book it says I can have nothing. I've had such good luck the first week, I really don't want to ruin my second week and while we're on the topic how long can I stay on Induction? Do I have to switch over at the end of 2 weeks or can I stay? What do people recommend? I know I have a lot of questions sorry!

Everything you can eat is in the book. Follow the book and you're guaranteed weight loss.

Pizza toppings are allowed because they are cheese (limit 4 ounces daily), veggies (most pizza veggies are on the acceptable foods list), meats (depends on the meat, but most are okay for Induction). If you scrape off most of the sauce and not eat the crust, you have an "acceptable" pizza.

The minimum amount of time on Induction is 2 weeks. There really is no set time to move off Induction, BUT according to the book, you must lose the last 5-10 pounds in Pre-Maintenance.

OWL (On-Going Weight Loss) phase gets a bad rap around the forums because folks are under the mistaken idea that you stop losing weight during OWL. Not so. In fact, you still lose weight PLUS you get to add more foods to your menu, which makes eating out much, much easier. For example, I'm at the point where I can eat fruits like peaches, grapes, apples. So if I want to bring along a few grapes for a snack, I can. I can also eat some starchier veggies like carrots, peas, potatoes, etc. So, if I want I can have a bite or two of a potato dish, etc.

It's really up to you and your degree of metabolic resistance. I stayed on Induction for 4 months, but moved on because I had to attend a work-related symposium. It was 4 days and I knew would have a hard time staying on the plan. I organized my OWL so that I was on the berry rung when I went to the symposium. I had no problems finding things to eat for my Atkins phase.