Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

[kacey1]

Hi - I'm DESPERATELY trying to get 25 carbs a day. But once you subtract out the fiber it is hard. On top of that - the whole house (me included) is pretty sick of:

Breakfast: eggs/bacon plus mushrooms and tomatos perhaps some onion and with all that ending up with 5 carbs.

Lunch: Salad (OK, I've got to have some other ideas please!), we've had:
Caesar Salad w/ chicken, lettuce and cucumbers
Taco Salad w/ beef, tomato, lettuce, onion, celery, cucumbers
Misc. meat w/ lettuce, celery, cucumber, mushroom, feta, etc.

Plus we are adding in avocado at every chance we get...

Dinner - Not a problem really because I have a little time to cook down some veggies into the meal/sauce/etc. so that we aren't faced with lettuce AGAIN.

I'm really striving to keep the percentage ratios but another day of lettuce is likely to either have me shot (or motivate me towards skipping a few meals).

Many of you have successfully passed this phase and incorporate it into you every day life. Can you give me some ideas please? THANKS!

Kacey

[Laurenfra]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

First why 25 carbs? You dont NEED to eat that many to do OWL. The point of the first rung is add 5 carbs of vegis. Being able to do that should open your choices for lunch. Why not cook extra vegis at dinner for lunch the next day.
I know the folks will give you lots of great meal ideas

[RachelnLa]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

Variety is key to my success on Atkins. Check over your list of what I call 2-cup veggies and 1-cup veggies. Mix and match. Get 1/2 cup of this one and 1/2 cup of that one. Some days I'd rather eat 1 cup of cukes now and 1 cup later insteat of 2 cups of salad. Some days I have cukes in my salad. All depends on my mood.

[kacey1]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

First why 25 carbs? You dont NEED to eat that many to do OWL. The point of the first rung is add 5 carbs of vegis. Being able to do that should open your choices for lunch. Why not cook extra vegis at dinner for lunch the next day.
I know the folks will give you lots of great meal ideas

Ok - maybe I've misunderstood totally. I thought we were to get 20 grams of carbs (NET) in Induction. And add 5 grams for each step of OWL. So, I was under the impression that I should be getting 25 grams of carbs - primarily from the 3 - 4 cups of veggies a day. Is that wrong?

I then thought that the next step would be to add 5 grams more of carbs from the dairy rung, and so on til you find the level of carbs you can tolerate and still lose weight.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks.
Kacey

[Laurenfra]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

20 grams in induction is the top limit not a goal. So if you averaged 15 grams during induction you would only be eating 20 in OWL 1.
You should eat what you ate in induction plus 5 carbs of vegis.
I am on the 3rd rung and eat under 25 carbs a day. Does that make sense? Dont eat more then what your hunger says.

[kacey1]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

You are a saint!!!! That is WONDERFUL news.

And just to clarify - if I move up then to dairy at 25, I don't have to eat the 4 pounds of lettuce a day (ha ha) BEFORE I add in a, for example, 1/2 cup of yogurt. Is that right???

I DO like veggies and I like eating them. It's just that the overwhelming amount of salad is getting, well... overwhelming!

Thanks.
Kacey

[Laurenfra]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

Please dont eat 4 pounds of lettuce that is just scary-lol
Good luck and ask away if you have more questions

[not2late]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

How many carbs were you eating (on avarege) during Induction? If you were only eating 15, then your first rung of OWL, you should be eating 20 (15 Induction net carbs + the OWL 5 net carbs).

Please don't limit yourself to lettuce during OWL. If you do, you'll be eating about 15 cups of that stuff in order to make the 5 OWL net carbs.

Eat the higher carb veggies on the Induction list for your OWL 5 net carbs if you want to avoid the volume. And if you want to decrease the volume even more, make vegetable sauces like pureed tomatoes or pureed roasted red bell peppers. Remember to puree these vegetables and not juice them---juicing removes fiber which is necessary for our general health.

[not2late]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

Oh as for breakfast and lunch suggestions...whatever you were eating for Induction, but you can add some of those OWL carbs. For example, you can have eggs baked in a 5 net carbs of a tomato sauce, 5 net carbs of pumpkin soup, 5 net carbs of a tomato or red pepper sauce on 1 cup of spaghetti squash(which will count as one of the daily 3 cups vegetables we eat), 5 net carbs of mushroom soup, a stir fry, etc.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

Once moving into OWL and having higher carb veggies...if possible, switch to spinach for your salads instead of lettuce. Or, mix it in. You'll get a bit extra carbs, you'll get a LOT more vitamins, nutrients, flavor, and FIBER! I love a good fresh spinach "salad". I add my other "salad" favorites to it....red onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, red/yellow/orange sweet pepper, etc.

[RachelnLa]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

How many carbs were you eating (on avarege) during Induction? If you were only eating 15, then your first rung of OWL, you should be eating 20 (15 Induction net carbs + the OWL 5 net carbs).

I am so confused. How can you only have 15 carbs on induction? If you eat all that you are supposed to, it should equal to 20 carbs. Rung 1 should increase your carbs by 5. Now you should be up to 25 carbs.

I assumed that each rung increased your carb intake, so that people on higher rungs were eating more carbs. Unless, like Joy stated, you are eating most foods on the lower carb limit (spinach) to increase carbs in other areas.

Maybe I just interpretting it wrong?

[boonie stomper]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

I agree - ditch the lettuce, you get virtually no nutrition or carbs (or taste) from it. Try making basic all-veggie stir frys with olive oil &/or butter, then use portions of it over several meals in the next 2-3 days, adding different meats, &/or altering flavors in portions with additional herbs & spices & garnishes, or even more veggies not in the original fry. I often barely cook the 1st fry so additional cooking & additions on day 2 or 3 are possible without over cooking.

Examples of great stir fry salad veggies include bok choy, celery, chives, fennel, jicama, mushrooms, parsley, radicchio, radishes...of course there are a variety of different types of mushrooms and radishes, with different flavors. The original stirfry can be a combo with the other veggies list choices, for an almost unimited range of possibilities. Finer textures make for additional uses, such as salsa, dips, sauces and gravies.

I can add stir fry to my eggs - now it's an omelet. Fry a cut of meat or fish & add some stirfry to the skillet halfway through, and have for lunch or dinner.

If you make an especially large batch, try filling an ice cube tray & freeze. Label a ziplock for each type of stirfry cubes and store a variety collection.

[not2late]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

The 20 net carbs is the upper limit of carbs during Induction.

When I did Induction, I averaged about 14-16 net carbs daily and I was eating the 1 cup of "other" veggies and 2 cups of the "salad veggies" (mostly not lettuce). I'll have to look up my notebooks, but I think I made that 20 once because I had Brussels sprouts as my "other veggie" and 2 cups of jicama that day.

Unless you use the 3 sweeteners, 3 tablespoons of cream, alot of eggs, all the cheese (counted as 1 carb per ounce) and the packaged meats like bacon or the processed foods like most salad dressings, it's hard to eat that 20 daily---especially since the majority of the Induction carbs are to come from the vegetables.

But if you're like me, I didn't use the sweetener, didn't use cream (nothing to put it in or on top of) or the "low carb" products like bars or shakes, and I didn't eat more than 1 or 2 eggs daily, bacon or use bottled salad dressings/mayo as my fat source, then getting that 20 net carbs isn't a daily thing during Induction.

So whatever level you're eating at during Induction, you add 5 net carbs to it during your first Rung of OWL. Second rung, you add 5 to the First rung carbs, etc. But according to 2Big, when she did her OWL, Dr. Atkins was still alive. So she was able to call the Atkins Center and speak to one of his nurses. They told her that you can move "up" the ladder in a net-like motion. That is you can stay on a rung and add 5 more net carbs rather than moving to the next rung. So some people opt to do it that way.

[not2late]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

Forgot to add.. the veggie thing during Induction is why I get on newbie's backs about only eating lettuce. Lettuce has the lowest amount of carbs of those Induction vegetables and the least amount of nutrients. Induction people make the mistake of thinking if they eat as close to zero carbs daily they will lose weight more quickly, and that's not the case.

Veggies like lettuce have less fiber per cup compared to the other 53 veggies on the Induction vegetable list. So if you eat 2 cups of lettuce, the chances are you will either eat more fat than necessary and/or more protein than necessary. Since excess protein is converted to sugar, which is either used up immediately or converted to glycogen or fat, it's not a good thing to overeat because the puny amount of fiber in lettuce doesn't fill you up.

About 58% of the protein we eat is converted to sugar by our bodies. So if you eat 100 grams extra protein, 58 grams will be converted to sugar by your bod. These are 58 carb grams that do not have fiber nor the vitamins/minerals that 58 carb grams from vegetables would have.

[kacey1]

Re: Breakfast & Lunch Suggestions OWL 1

This is a good post - and helping me alot. Here is the problem I've had. I live in Denmark. I've been trying to go by the list (below and highlighted) to see what can I eat while I've been on Induction for 6 weeks. Of these items, here's what I can find here:

Vegetables
You can have two to three cups per day of:

alfalfa sprouts <= rarely find
daikon <= rarely find
mushrooms
parsley <= only fresh, spoils in 1 or 2 days
bok choy
peppers <= family hates
celery
fennel <= I hate
radishes
lettuce
romaine lettuce
cucumber

So - of the above, trying to get 2 - 3 cups a day has been a little stressful. LOTS of lettuce and cucumber and mushroom. Some celery (as its is not so easy to find) and radishes and bok choy (twice). That is why I've grown sick of lettuce - not because it was my 'only' veggie choice or I wasn't especially creative. (though I can cop to being LAZY sometimes! )

Other Vegetables
You can have one cup per day of these veggies if salad does not exceed two cups. The following vegetables are slightly higher in carbohydrate content than the salad vegetables:

artichoke
celery root
artichoke hearts
rhubarb <= in season only
asparagus <= I hate. In season only
sauerkraut <= I love, family hates.
bamboo shoots <= rarely find
scallions
snow peas <= very rarely find, frozen only
eggplant
spinach
broccoli
string or wax beans
summer squash <= in season only
brussels
tomato
leeks
cabbage
cauliflower
onion
zucchini <= they call zucchini and summer squash the same thing

No real problem getting in a cup of this a day. Not even a problem getting 2 cups.

I agree, I've managed about 15 grams during Induction. It has been hard keeping the percentages right and we are carefully watching the cheese (because this is cheese country!). So, now I'm adding back 5 or so grams for OWL 1. It is a pretty major effort. (I'm worth it! But sometimes I'm tired...)

This morning for breakfast I put mushrooms, onions, and spinach in a pan and cooked them down, then added them to omelets, plus bacon. So, this breakfast took like and hour. That's ok for the weekend but a little hard to maintain during the week.

Dinner last night - easy - mashed cauliflower, french fried green beans (in oven) and sliced cukes and tomatoes - plus chicken breast.

Lunch today - guess we are going to try for stir fry. (question - what can I send for lunches for people who are going to work/school?)

I'm KEEN to make this work and I LOVE all the ideas you have been giving. Just wanted to be a little more clear about how 4 pounds (he he) of lettuce ended up on the menu every day! And also keep asking for some more good ideas.

A final question - I've read thru the OWL rules, suggestions, stickies, etc. I have the idea that we should keep this level of veggie carbs (say 20 a day) from now on. So, when we add dairy - we keep this level of veggies, and start lowering the level of fat somehow to compensate for the added dairy calories/fat. Same thing for adding nuts, etc. Is that right?

Ok - a final, final question. I've found that the last week I'm struggling to get more than 1300 calories a day because I'm full from all the veggies and can't finish more than 2 or 3 (at most) ounces of protein at a meal. I don't think its good to keep such low calories for long. Has anyone else had this problem? I can add more cheese (yum), or cream, or ... but that just adds fat (and throws my percentages out of whack). What can I add to get the calories up there without ignoring my body when it says "DO NOT EAT ONE MORE BITE!"?

Really -thank you for all your help. I couldn't do this without all this help, that is for sure!

Kacey