Carb Count for Salad

[SkiMom]

Hi,
I was just wondering how everyone figures out the carb count for their salads? I make a big bowl full of salad with lettuce, and various other allowed veggies, and then just scoop out my 1 cup....so I don't really know exactly how much lettuce, or how much other veggies I am getting per cup...KWIM? Any advice? TIA!

SkiMom

[Georgiana]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Well, you do know how much of each veggie is in the whole bowl. I mean, you can measure that. Then you mix everything together and figure out how much of the whole bowl you had in one serving... and divide by that.

[not2late]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Hi,
I was just wondering how everyone figures out the carb count for their salads? I make a big bowl full of salad with lettuce, and various other allowed veggies, and then just scoop out my 1 cup....so I don't really know exactly how much lettuce, or how much other veggies I am getting per cup...KWIM? Any advice? TIA!

SkiMom

Vegetables on Induction are limited to 3 cups daily, according to the book. It can be divided into 3 cups of the "salad" list vegetables or 2 cups of the "salad" list vegetables and 1 cup of the "other" list.

So, what vegetables on the lists did you use for your salad and how much of them went into that salad?

[not2late]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Oh by the way, you might have folks tell you that veggie carbs--especially lettuce---are so minimal that you don't really need to measure, etc. That might be true if you 1. don't eat more than 1 or 2 eggs daily (1 net carb per egg), 2. don't use heavy cream, sour cream, 3. don't eat cheese, 4. don't eat processed meats (which all contain added carbs.), 5 don't use condiments like store-bought salad dressings, mustard, ketchup, etc., 6. don't use artificial sweetener, or 7. don't drink tea or coffee (according to the Dr. Atkins New Carbohydrate Gram Counter these beverages contain about 1 net carb per 8 fluid ounces.)

Furthermore, when you begin adding carbs to your Diet in OWL Phase, you will need to measure your foods.

So get into the habit of measuring.

[LeanLioness]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Oh by the way, you might have folks tell you that veggie carbs--especially lettuce---are so minimal that you don't really need to measure, etc. That might be true if you 1. don't eat more than 1 or 2 eggs daily (1 net carb per egg), 2. don't use heavy cream, sour cream, 3. don't eat cheese, 4. don't eat processed meats (which all contain added carbs.), 5 don't use condiments like store-bought salad dressings, mustard, ketchup, etc., 6. don't use artificial sweetener, or 7. don't drink tea or coffee (according to the Dr. Atkins New Carbohydrate Gram Counter these beverages contain about 1 net carb per 8 fluid ounces.)

Furthermore, when you begin adding carbs to your Diet in OWL Phase, you will need to measure your foods.

So get into the habit of measuring.

If you eat pretty much unprocessed, there is no need to measure veggies that much............

I don't think any of us gained the weight from eating too much broccoli or cauliflower..............or lettuce for that matter.

Me, personally, I stopped measuring most anything, but I eat very simply.

Lots of chicken salad, salads, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage.............

Also, just eat protein simply cooked, chicken, steaks, shrimp, fish, etc.......

[LeanLioness]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Also, I drink unlimited amounts of coffee and tea, I drink it plain though, no cream, no sweetner............nothing.

[liv]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

I think it is important to measure and get used to it. When it comes time to climb the ladder and add more veggies then other stuff everyone should have a pretty good idea how much carb they are eating so they know how to add only in 5 carb increments. Starting to think about portions and control is in my opinion an important part of induction.

[SkiMom]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. Liv...you are right. Being strict with counting is very important to my success on this diet. I've been on this diet before and found that "guestimating" was my downfall. So... today I took Georgiana's advice and measured everything that I put into my big salad, and divided it to figure out how much was in each cup.
I used:

8 cups iceburg lettuce
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup red bell pepper
1/2 cup cucumber

According to my calculations each cup is only 0.5 net grams. So now I know, and I can count it accordingly. Thanks again everyone.

[not2late]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Just be aware that according to the Rules of Induction, the majority of the carbs you eat daily must be from vegetables. Therefore, if you are eating 10 net carbs daily, at least 6 of those carbs must be from vegetables.

If you eat 3 cups of your current salad per day, then you are only eating 1.5 net carbs. So your other carbs---the ones from eggs, cheese (we count each ounce as 1 net carb according to Dr. Atkins), coffee, tea, sweetener, processed meats, salad dressings/condiments---can't be more than that 1.5 net carbs.

I would suggest that you use 1 c of lettuce,1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup red pepper, 1/2 cup cucumber, and 1/2 cup spinach for your daily salad mix----that amount is 3 cups of vegetables and you'll have more vegetable carbs, which are good carbs due to the fiber, vitamins and other nutrients.

[SkiMom]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Wow...I hadn't even considered that!! I will adjust my vegetable measurements. Thanks Megs!!

[Alex1212]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

When you talk about 3 cups, do you mean cut up/chopped veggies? If everything is cut up pretty small you get a lot more per cup.

[MomToEli]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Ok, this begs the question for me ... just how DO you measure lettuce? I use organic mixed baby lettuces. How am I supposed to measure things that don't even fit into a cup? Am I better off to measure by weight? Or is lettuce so minimal in carbs that I should just do the thing I usually do, using my fingers grab out of the bag and toss it into the salad bowl until it is about 3/4 full, and measure my other salad veggies like tomato and cucumber?

I guess this is where my insides start to rebel It's like, I didn't get fat eating lettuce ...

[not2late]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Alex1212, good point! Dr. Atkins never says that the vegetables have to be sliced, chopped (minced, medium chop, coarsely chopped, etc.), or anything like that. The only thing he does say is that if a vegetable cooks down significantly, it must be measured in its raw form.

Mom, lettuce will fit into a standard cooking measuring cup. But don't limit yourself to lettuce. There are about 20 veggies on the "salad" list and another 30 on the "other" list. You can eat salads without including lettuce.

[Elizellen]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

there is a 'sticky' thread at the top of this forum which shows how many grams a cup of most of the induction veggies weighs.

[not2late]

Re: Carb Count for Salad

Additionally, Dr. Atkins never wrote in the book that you had to eat the "salad" list vegetables raw. All the vegetables on the "salad" list can be cooked. In fact, a few of them, like mushrooms and bok choy, are probably better tasting cooked than they are raw.