Started today, have a few questions :)

**JulieB** · September 9, 2009, 04:38 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Aspertame is not recommended - it stalls some people. Sweeteners including sweetened drinks/products are restricted to 3/day...I think you may be exceeding that limit.

Check the ingredients in your "chunky flame grilled chicken pieces" - there should be nothing in there that isn't on the list of foods acceptable for induction. A lot of sauces have sugar added (under one of its many evil names)...

I don't recognize the brand names you mention...so I can't comment further on those.

Our diet provides plenty of iron, so a supplement with iron is not needed. Excess iron can cause constipation...you may want to purchse supplements without iron

**liv** · September 9, 2009, 04:45 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Good of you starting. Did you have a chance to read the books. It looks like you have more of the rules down very well.

Julie covered most things

Is there sugars in the Ribena? fruit juice?

Make sure you sweetener is the one with saccharin and not the one with aspertaime.

I really recommend cutting down sweetners to close to zero. But you are allowed three.

If you are hungry eat a few more legal items. Protein and fats. It is normal to feel a bit hungry the first few days till ketosis burning sets in.

Hang in there.

**mizski** · September 9, 2009, 10:07 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

The Ribena Really Light has both fruit juices and aspartame. The fruit juices aren't until you get to the berry or fruit rungs in OWL and Dr. A advises against using aspartame and suggests Splenda (sucralose) instead.

I think some of your hunger pangs may be triggered by the Ribena Really Light and Dr. Pepper Zero.

Other than that, your menu doesn't look too bad. If you could have some of your veggies with breakfast too, that helps with stabilizing your blood sugars and may help you feel fuller longer after that meal. If you are using baby spinach, put some leaves on your plate and then put the hot fried eggs on top of them. The heat from the eggs will wilt the spinach and then when you cut into the egg, the yolk will run on to it and taste very yummy.

Or you can put some sliced mushroom, peppers, tomato, etc. into the pan with the fat & cook them a bit & then add beaten eggs (Mr. Ski doesn't even bother to beat the eggs...he just breaks them into the pan and mixes it up as it is cooking! LOL) to make scrambled eggs & veggies. Adding some cheese while you're cooking the eggs is delicious too.

I don't know how long it will take you to lose 14#s but I don't think it will be too long. I would move into OWL after your 14-day Induction if that is pretty much all you need to lose.

p.s. Stay away from the cake!

**welshdragon1** · September 10, 2009, 10:36 AM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Thanks for your help guys. I have one more question- I'm going to have cheeseburgers tonight with grilled red onion and was wondering if one whole onion is equivalent to one cup? I also read somewhere else on the net that onions are bad for the diet, but they are on the list of acceptable foods? I've already had one cup of cucumber and one cup of iceberg lettuce today so do I eat the whole onion?! Thanks

**mizski** · September 10, 2009, 11:00 AM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Originally posted by welshdragon1 View Post

with grilled red onion and was wondering if one whole onion is equivalent to one cup? I also read somewhere else on the net that onions are bad for the diet, but they are on the list of acceptable foods? I've already had one cup of cucumber and one cup of iceberg lettuce today so do I eat the whole onion?!

Onions have a lot of natural sugar (that's what makes them turn brown or caramelize when cooked) and are pretty carby. A large onion has about 15g carbs! One large onion = ~1 cup = ~15g carbs.

So....according to FitDay, 1/2 c. of sliced onion (2 1/2 slices that are 1/4" thick) = 5g carb which would be good if you are having onion as your other veggie.

ETA: I goofed & posted the total carb numbers here. Just read Elizellen's post below.

**Elizellen** · September 10, 2009, 02:57 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Is that net carbs, mizski? My fitday has one cup of sliced onions as having 8 net carbs, or one cup of chopped onions as 11 net carbs.

Actually one cup of chopped or sliced onions added to one cup of lettuce and one cup of cucumber would be a good induction amount of carbs, and definitely fit the rule of having 'most' of your net carbs from your veggies!!

**mizski** · September 10, 2009, 08:32 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Originally posted by Elizellen View Post

Is that net carbs, mizski? My fitday has one cup of sliced onions as having 8 net carbs, or one cup of chopped onions as 11 net carbs.

Oh crap...I looked at the wrong column!!!

Thanks Elizellen!

Now I have to go back and put a "nevermind...read the post below" thingie in.

**welshdragon1** · September 11, 2009, 11:11 AM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Sorry I'm a little confused, how much of the red onion shall i eat a day? 1/4 of it?

**Elizellen** · September 11, 2009, 03:51 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

If you are only having 2 cups of veg from the 'salad veg' list then you can have up to one cup of onions.
According to fitday one cup of 'onion, mature, raw' (I couldn't find red onions) has 11 net carbs, so if you are having 2 cups of fairly lowcarb salad veggies you could have a whole cupsworth (measured raw as they cook down quite a bit I find) and still stay below 20 net carbs depending on how much cheese, eggs, sweeteners etc you also have.

According to this thread in the Atkins Diet FAQ forum http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...p-measure.html
one cup of chopped onions weighs 160 grams/5.6 ounces

So you need to weigh an onion to decide how much of a cup it would fill (or chop it up and put it in a measuring cup to see how full it gets) to work out how much onion you could include in your 3 cups of veggies allowed per day.

If you have the equivalent of 1/2 cup of onions you could also eat 1/2 cup of something like rhubarb, green beans, cauliflower or other veg from the 1 cup list or choose another 1/2 cup from the salad veg list.

**welshdragon1** · September 12, 2009, 02:07 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Thank you all for your help. I'm on day 4 now and can't believe how easier things get! I no longer get my hunger cramps, and even starting to enjoy the taste of lettuce and cucumber!

In fact I feel so full today that I really don't feel like a third meal before bed- do I have to eat something? So far today I've had: B: 3 fried eggs, 3 rashers of bacon, 1 cup cucumber; L: 2 chicken breasts with olive oil, cup of lettuce, cup of fried red onions, some chicken bites, and mayo. Do I have to eat more? As you can see I've already had my 3 cups of veg today, and I've drank 2 litres of water and taken my vitamin supplement.

Thanks in advance

**mizski** · September 12, 2009, 09:17 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Sounds like you're pretty much done for the day if you don't feel like eating anymore. As the days pass you will get better at spreading your foods out so you don't end up going too long without eating.

**Mbudlite89** · September 13, 2009, 08:17 PM

Re: Started today, have a few questions

Diet Rite is only brand I found that has no calories, no caffeine, no sugar, and it has SPLENDA

... I believe I packet per can because it says no carbs on can so that means probably 1 carb lol. Its actually made by the Dr. Pepper Company (RC Cola?) and it tastes great..but since I started Atkins I really don't even want to drink those...water tastes better now. But yes You can get diet rite at Walmart, Kroger, and Valumarket I seen so far. Also Valumarket Seltzer Water..has splenda in it, unlike walmart has aspartame in it. Good luck

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