A little help please........

[RyanG]

So I started the induction phase on Monday. I have read the induction chapter and reread the induction chapter, but I still have some questions. I hope you don't mind.

We are suppose to limit ourselves to 20 grams of carbs a day. While most of the meat we eat doesn't have carbs, some others do. My understanding was that with meat, its a free for all and you could eat as much as you wanted. But in the back of my mind, I keep thinking this applies to the 20 grabs of carbs. Is this correct?

Can we use taco and other seasonings on our meats? I am looking at the back of the taco seasoning packet from Wal Mart. I see it has 3g of carbs and also lists lactose as an ingredient. Would it be ok to use this stuff?

And finally, I work in a casino in Vegas and our meals are free. Im not very good at guestimating how many cups I have of lettuce, etc. Any tips?

[moniegail]

Re: A little help please........

i guess you could say to a certain degree you can eat all the meat that you want, but you need to try to balance your daily intake of fat, carbs and protein to equal a certain ratio. the ratio is 65% fat, 5% carbs, and 30% protein. somewhere between 12-15 carbs should come from your veggies. 2 cups salad veggies and 1 cup from other veggies list are allowed. besides DR A said to only eat till you are satisfied, not stuffed, if i were to eat as much meat as i wanted, i would be stuffed all day long.

for taco seasonings, i just use my own spices. when i make taco meat, i put cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and garlic in mine. if you look around on the recipe forums, there should be some posts there with other recipes for taco seasonings. the store bought packets of seasoning have more carbs and i don't want to waste my carbs on them when i can eat my veggies instead.

hope this helps, and good luck to you. keep us posted on your progress

[clogger]

Re: A little help please........

Hey Ryan! Welcome to ADBB !

That's great that you have the book and are asking questions. You are correct ~ even the carbs in meat applies toward the 20g/day total for Induction.

DON'T use the packaged taco seasoning stuff ~ it's not worth the carbs. Check out this taco seasoning recipe. I use it A LOT! Actually, Linda's site in general has AWESOME recipes. The ones marked with * are Induction-friendly.

As far as guessing how many cups of salad there are can you bring measuring cups and somehow measure discretely? Otherwise, I would suggest measuring some things out at home and then writing down a "cheat sheet" to help you visualize the measurements. For example, three wedges of tomato equal X cups, 4 medium broccoli florets = X cups, 1 scoop of crumbled hard boiled egg = X of a whole egg, etc...

Best of luck to you...

[valleriek]

Re: A little help please........

I checked this out, but there are more carbs than in the packets you buy! ??

[liv]

Re: A little help please........

It is not just a question of amount of carbs. It is also a question of where the carbs come from. In taco packets they add sugar - sugar products so many people avoid those.

[booklady]

Re: A little help please........

If you stick with pure meats, not processed, than carbs will not be an issue. Only processed meats have any carbs in them, so the more you eat fresh or frozen chicken , pork, and fish and steak , the things that are unprocessed, the better it will be for your carb count. Cheese also has carbs too and should be limited on induction as well. If you are eating a lot of sausage or hot dogs, try to limit them and buy ones that are the least carby you can get.
If you get the carbs from veggies, as was already mentioned that is the best , try to avoid all the fake foods and stay on as clean and pure foods as you can. It will help you to cut your cravings and get used to eating very healthy.
How wonderful to get free meals, just try using a simuliar untensal at home to put lettuce on your plate and then measure it so you can see aprox how much that is when you see it on the plate, and if the tongs are similiar to those at work, you can see how much a big pinch of lettuce is by measuring it at home and then eyeballiing it. You cannot hurt yourself too bad on lettuce, but it is good to know, so that is a great question !!
You are so smart to be checking so you know. I wish you well on your low carb journey !!
Stephie

[valleriek]

Re: A little help please........

Yeah, actually, I checked Linda's taco seas recipe again, I was reading it wrong, it is total-carbs-for-the-whole-pound-of-burger amount of seasoning! Yes, this is a good suggestion, sorry!!