Why am I SO CONFUSED??

[cKt]

I feel so confused and lost. I just received my Atkins books, (Dr Atkins' New diet revolution) and it makes for great reading and I'm learning a lot. My problem is that I'm a meticulously detailed person and I can't seem to figure out meals...
How much meat for each meal?
How much veggies for each meal?
I'm so use to following diets that tell me to eat "this" for breakfast and "that" for lunch.
I guess I'm looking for this diet to tell me to eat a "cup" of veggies at dinner or have a 1/2 cup of salad with lunch.
I want to get it right but I feel so overwhelmed with information I can't think straight. All you great people managed to work this out, why can't I?
Um and yes, I have some OCD (obsessive compulsive) issues... lol (nothing major) I just like to follow rules and programs. OMG, I must sound nuts.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you

[2big4mysize]

Re: Why am I SO CONFUSED??

relax lots of us were confused by the word choice of Dr Atkins. it will get easier with time.

first the veggies
since we have to consume 3 cups a day try having one cup per meal if you are a 3 meal a day person. You will find the list of all possible vegies in chapter 11 of your DANDR. You can also divide your carbs into 5 per meal with 2.5 for 2 snacks if you are a 3 meal and 3 snacker type or you could go for 6 per meal with 2 for a snack if youonly have one snack. if you are a grazer and eat 5-6 meals a day then you'd aim for 3.3-4 net grams a meal.

Next is the proteins. That amount will be an individual number as minimum protein needs will be determined by your weight and max will be determined by your hunger.
There are some sample menus in DANDR you can look at to get an idea of how much.

Fats will be the majority of our cals since the Atkins plan is a ketogenic eating plan ( high fat). there are many members who when DANDR came out read it and said how low is too low fat and how high is too high protein. Back in 2002 Dr Atkins med staf were saying get 65% of your cals from your fats and 30% of your cals from your proteins and aim to keep your carbs under 20 net grams. Since it is hard to hit those percents exactly during induction just aim to be close.

During the first few days just eat when you are hungry as you will be switching from primarily glucose burning to primarily fatty acids and ketones burning to make energy and it takes the body a whilke to get the factories produced and up to max capacity inside your body for that nonglucose energy system. As you get into ketosis you will discover your appetite is suddenly suppressed and you could go all day without wanting to eat. Don't do that, follow the rules about eating every6 hours max if you are not hungry. But it makes sticking to your Atkins a lot easier.

[cKt]

Re: Why am I SO CONFUSED??

OK, that all makes sense. THAT, I can follow. I've relaxed and have been reviewing some nice recipes. I think I can do this now

I'm sure I'll be back for more help
I've found a few recipes... I want to try and sneak them past my daughter. She's become as picky as me and it's all my fault. I WILL make these changes for the two of us!!

I WILL SUCCEED!!

Thank you, Thank you

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Why am I SO CONFUSED??

Being as close as you can to 20 net carbs, with MOST coming from Induction vegetables is sound nutrition.

And as you read in Rule #3 of Induction, MOST of your daily net carbs should be coming from Induction vegetables. Eating too few carbs won't help you and is counter-productive.

[not2late]

Re: Why am I SO CONFUSED??

OK, that all makes sense. THAT, I can follow. I've relaxed and have been reviewing some nice recipes. I think I can do this now

I'm sure I'll be back for more help
I've found a few recipes... I want to try and sneak them past my daughter. She's become as picky as me and it's all my fault. I WILL make these changes for the two of us!!

I WILL SUCCEED!!

Thank you, Thank you

I'm glad you found Atkins recipes. If you'll notice, they contain all the "bad for you foods" like real cheese, real cream, real butter, real meat, etc.

How old is your daughter? If she is under the age of 18, you might want to just cut out all the refined sugar and highly processed foods. No....you might not want to throw out all the cookies at once, but rather slowly replace them with fruit, veggies, whole grains, real cheese, etc. When she starts tasting real food, she'll lose her taste for all the fake, processed stuff.

[cKt]

Re: Why am I SO CONFUSED??

Hey, thanks for all the great advice. My daughter by the way will be 18 next month and doesn't want to start college over weight. She could lose about 40 lbs. I take full blame for the way she has put on so much weight this past year. She became more academic ( advanced placement classes) and less active having to give up being captain of her schools band color guard. I should have then started watching our diets.
But this is a new start for us and I'm sure over the summer we will be right where we need to be. She will be on her way to a whole new life in college being healthy and fit.
I think we should be starting the diet on Saturday. I finally have everything in place and all I have to do now is food shopping.
I'll check back in when things get rolling.