Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

[meena-beena]

Ok, so today was my first full day on Atkins. (Oh, btw I'm a newbie here and posted in the intro forum in case you addicts are wondering who I am--lol)

I get the basic idea of 3 cups of salad (does that mean ONLY lettuce?) and 1 cup of approved veggies.

But let's say, if I want to have a small snack in between say lunch and breakfast (I'm hypoglycemic and need to eat every few hours or I get REALLY tired and dizzy) could I make myself a chicken breast?

Since this whole way of eating is new, I've just been picking a little at the cheese. Is that ok? I had 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella for a snack which, according to the package is 3 carbs.

Was that ok? Do I have to keep the total number of the day under 20--even if I eat more portions of cheese? And when I make eggs, do I count those carbs--and seriously, can I eat as many as I want (not that I could eat more than say 3 a day, YIKES)?

I'm a little lost--can anyone set me up in layman's terms that I can understand and put together for everyday practical use? I'm basically going alone here cause no one I know has ever done Atkins and the dr. is no help. So far it seems like the stuff I am doing is logical and a little too easy--so I'm thinking I must be doing SOMETHING wrong.

<--please!!

[dotsamantha]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

The best thing you can do is buy the book- Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, published in 2002. You can go through the link down at the bottom of the forum and help support the site, or your local bokstore. In the meantime, check out the stickies in the induction and phases forum areas regaridng induction. All the rules are laid out, as well as foods and tips.

You do not have to eat lettuce only. As a matter of fact, there's a huge list of veggies. It's 3 cups off the first list of veggies, or 2 cups of fthe first list, and 1 cup off the second list. All of the rules are put out very friendly-like in the threads, good luck and don't stop asking questions!
rules http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=6781
foods http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=6782
faq http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...splay.php?f=79

[Jobu1977]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

Yeah, I was thinking that too.. gotta buy the book!! At the very least read the faqs all over this board... Its amazing the wealth of information that is here.

Dont be afraid to snack. Eat when you are hungry. The worst thing you could do deprive yourself when you want food and risk just going nuts later on food that isnt on the acceptable list.

And yes.. under 20 carbs a day on induction.

Also.. IT IS THAT EASY.... There's not a lot of worries on Induction. There is a clear list of food and simple rules to follow.

[omnimomma]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

Welcome! This is a great place to be.

This is my first try at responding to dietary questions, so here goes.

First: Salad veggies are not only lettuce. You can use spinach, mushrooms, cucumber, green peppers, anything you'd put in a salad except the "forbidden" veggies like carrots. Just be sure to count the carbs. You can have up to 3 cups of these a day. If you only have two cups, you can have 1 cup of other vegetables. Don't forget to count the carbs in the dressing, also.

An easy way to keep track is to use fitday. You can go to www.fitday.com and set up a diary that will keep track of all your carbs, protein, etc. By the way, if you use fitday, you will notice that it doesn't keep track of net carbs where you list your foods, but you can calculate net carbs easily by looking next to the pie graph at the top of the page. Simply subtract fiber from the carbs. That is the number that needs to be below 20.

Second: Snacks in-between are fine. Many people on Atkins eat six meals a day rather than 3. Just be sure to count your carbs, and remember that cheese and eggs have carbs, and most of your carbs should come from veggies. A lot of things that are used to prepare other foods also have carbs, so read labels carefully.

Another good tip -- one that I didn't follow the last time I was on Atkins -- was to make sure to include fat, carbs and protein at each meal and snack to avoid sugar spikes. Smear some mayo on your chicken and wrap it in a lettuce leaf and you have the majic combo. Hypoglycemic people like we are need to watch this. Try to get the ratio on fitday to be 65% fat / 5% carbs / 30% protein. Excess protein can be turned into fat.

For the real scoop, get a copy of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR on this board), 2002 edition. It will explain it completely. You can get them very cheap at Amazon.
Until you get your copy, here's a link that will take you to the Induction section of the Atkins site.

http://www.atkins.com/articles/atkins-phases/phase-one

And here's a link to cards that you can carry with you listing acceptable foods for induction.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=3286

I hope this helps.

For those of you who are experienced at this stuff, how did I do?

[tabekat]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

It is easy, once you get used to it. Be sure to read all the stickies at the top of this forum. Clean your house of all carbage and make sure you only have induction friendly choices available. Eat regular meals and stay full.

You only count the carbs, keep it around 20, and you will do fine.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

Omnimomma, good job!!

Since this whole way of eating is new, I've just been picking a little at the cheese. Is that ok? I had 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella for a snack which, according to the package is 3 carbs.

Was that ok? Do I have to keep the total number of the day under 20--even if I eat more portions of cheese? And when I make eggs, do I count those carbs--and seriously, can I eat as many as I want (not that I could eat more than say 3 a day, YIKES)?

Since the others addressed your veggies, I'm going to address the cheese and eggs. You can have 3-4 servings of cheese in a day. 1 oz is 1 serving. So, you're okay there. You'll want to spread those out through the day. Put some on your eggs, on your salad etc. You don't want to overeat your cheese. Some people find that the cheese hinders their success. I never had problems, but I keep it at 3-4 oz per day.

Eggs. Eggs are almost a perfectly portioned food (65/30/5 ratios they talked about earlier). There are no limits on eggs except that you have to count them as 1 carb each. You can boil them, fry them, poach them, devil them, whatever you want.

It will be pretty easy to stay under 20 grams of carbs as long as you stick to the 3 cup of veggie rule and the 3-4oz cheese rule.

The other thing you want to do is make sure that if you are hungry, you EAT. If you are not hungry, don't eat unless you've gone six waking hours without eating. Then you'll want to eat something like an egg, or piece of cheese or meat. If you eat a veggie (like bell pepper) make sure you put some sort of fat with it (like cream cheese or something--mayo, ranch dressing).

One of the things you are doing during induction is retraining your body and mind to eat only when you are hungry. You'll want to only eat as much food as makes you satisfied, not STUFFED. With Atkins, there is a natural appetite suppression that will kick in...and you'll not want to eat as much. This is NORMAL and helps you to learn portion control!!

Congratulations on your first day!!

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

And don't forget to drink your water!

[meena-beena]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

Thanks guys for all the info. When the dr. said I should go on the Atkins plan I went to the library and got both the new diet revolution and the Atkins for life books. I read through the Atkins for life book first and then went through the new diet revolution.

I thought I had it down, but you know when you are so excited about starting something and you skip over some things?? lol. I didn't know about the 3 to 4 oz cheese limit or the % rule. I was also unaware that the salad thing means 2 or 3 cups of whatever is on the approved list. I was thinking it was supposed to be all lettuce.

I have another quick question for you guys. What staples do you find it absolutely essential to have around the house in order to stay on track and have your meals and snacks? I have to get to the supermarket and I have a list, but I was wondering if maybe it's a little too limiting?

[not2late]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

There are actually 2 vegetable lists in the Atkins book. One is the "salad list", which includes lettuce, celery, mushrooms, peppers, cucumbers, etc. The other is the "other vegetable list", which includes asparagus, broccoli, green(string) beans, etc.

Re-read the Induction chapter of the book, you will see that you are allowed 3 cups of vegetables daily. Those three cups are either 3 cups from the "salad vegetable" list or 2 cups of the "salad list" and 1 cup of the "other list".

As for your supermarket list, bring a copy of the Acceptable Foods list along with you. In fact, you can look over the foods list, see what you like to eat and buy those items. If you like a particular "legal" food, then buy it. Just a caution about the cured meats like bacon and sausages---be sure to read the ingredients AND the nutritional label. The food is "legal" if the ingredients are "legal". Furthermore, you might want to limit eating these foods regularly because, for some of us, eating too much salt causes water retention and heart-related problems (like higher blood pressure).

I concentrate on the veggies because there are about 54 vegetables we can eat during Induction Phase and at least half of our daily carbs are to be from those vegetables. Moreover, vegetables provide vitamins, minerals and fiber. So it's easier for me to plan my meals around vegetables rather than buying a hunk of meat and figuring out what veggie I can have on the side.

[meena-beena]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

A hunk of meat--lol.

I actually went veggie crazy at the market today. I bought all kinds of stuff from broccoli to cabbage and everything else I could find that was on my list and that I actually liked. Which, suprisingly, turned out to be more that I thought it would be.

I've also been trying to get the % part right. This afternoon for lunch I had a cup of red cabbage with scallion dressed with olive oil and vinegar, a hamburger (no bun), 1 cube of block cheese, and a dolop of sour cream.

I'm thinking I have it right.

btw I went back to the dr today and found out that I dropped 3 pounds!! So it must be working. lol. I'm probably just a nervous nelly for nothing. I'm still waiting for the hunger pains to start--but so far I haven't really been STARVING. I'm making sure to keep up on my water and I think that's really helping to stave off hunger pangs.

Thanks for all your support guys. You really know how to make a gal feel welcome!

[ValidRouge]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

Tanya, you should NEVER go hungry on this WOE. If you are hungry, EAT! Period. I found that I ate a lot more during induction than I do now. When you feel hungry or want to snack and it's not meal time, eat something high in fat. Like cream cheese on pepper strips or cucumber, or eat an egg (deviled eggs are best--with mayo), a slice of cheese and some meat. Sometimes too, our body sends us signals that we interpret as hunger, but its really thirst. Drink some water, and if in a little while you are still hungry...eat one of those high fat snacks.

This will all pass, and soon enough you'll be posting on here about how you don't want to eat anything and have to force yourself to eat ... it's one of the great side effects....appetite suppression. You DO want to make sure that you eat something every 6 waking hours though.

[meena-beena]

Re: Can it really be this easy..or am I doing it wrong??

Yum. Cream cheese with peppers. Oh, there is a lot I can do with that one. I have been eating 3 meals a day with teeny snacks in between and haven't felt hungry at all. I mean, it's almost like someone shut off my hunger switch or something. Before I used to go a few minutes after eating and get up to go see what else was in the fridge for me to nibble on. Now it's like, I eat, I'm done and don't think about food until my next meal time.

I still can't quite believe that I can eat all this stuff. hahaha. I put 1 tablespoon of full fat sour cream on my eggs this morning and was like--I can't believe I'm going to eat this AND lose weight.

lol. It's like everything I've ever learned about food in my whole life is seriously wrong and I have to retrain myself to think--full fat = good for you.