New To Atkins

[ClumberGirl]

Hi Everyone~

I am new to Atkins and am on Day 8 of the Induction diet. I started on Atkins to get help with my very high sugar & carb daily intake, and to also learn to start taking responsibility and become accountable for what I eat. Over the years, I have developed very bad eating habits! Before starting Atkins a week ago, I would not sit down to eat a meal, but would instead eat bites of high sugar and high carb foods all day long. I only have 15 lbs. to loose overall, and have learned in the past 8 days of the induction diet to keep a journal and start eating 3 meals a day. So far, I've lost 5 of the 15 lbs. that I would like to loose, and have started walking our dogs a lot more for exercise. I'm also drinking a lot more water everyday which is something I really needed to start doing.

I have read the DANDR book, and really feel that I will continue with the Atkins way of nutrition and eating. I feel so much better since I started doing Atkins and have more energy and less headaches so far.

I would be interested in finding some induction menu ideas if someone could point me in the right place to find them. I'm very new to this bulletin board and haven't found my way around yet.

Thank you

[kate58]

Re: New To Atkins

Hi and welcome to the board!

THE best place for low-carb recipes, induction and otherwise, is Linda's site. Recipes which are safe for induction are marked with a *.

[ClumberGirl]

Re: New To Atkins

Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for the link to Linda’s site. All of those recipe ideas are going to be very helpful to me during my second week of induction.


I have a question on the Induction Acceptable Food list regarding vegetables. My book says that I can have “one” cup per day of the “other vegetables” if the salad does not exceed two cups. Is 3 cups per day of the “other vegetables” allowable on the induction diet, as long as my daily carb count stays below 20g? I want to make sure that I am getting as many nutrients & vitamins as possible per day with eating vegetables. Also, is there a place on this board to find out how many grams of carbs there are in a tbsp. of onion, tomatoes, etc., and various vegetables for recipes? For example, the carb counter in the back of my book is for “one” onion. So, when I dice up some onion and only use a little bit, I’m not really sure what the carb count for a tbsp. or two of onion would be. For asparagus, the gram counter in the back of the book is for 6 asparagus spears – 3.8 grams. Is 6 asparagus spears equal to 1 cup of asparagus on the “other vegetable” list of induction vegetables?

Thank you for any help. I’m still trying to figure out the cups/oz. part of the induction phase of Atkins.

[sallyseachange]

Re: New To Atkins

Welcome aboard ClumberGirl and congrats on your 5 lb loss so far. That's terrific, considering you only have 15 total to lose. I bet your dogs are very happy animals these days, too!!

You should stick to the rules and have just the one cup of "other" veggies and two cups salad veggies (or three cups salad veggies). To get the most nutrients out of salad veggies, avoid lettuce which is little more than chewy water and go with more nutrient dense varieties such as fennel, celery, peppers etc. After your two weeks of induction, you'll need to move to the Ongoing Weight Loss phase of Atkins as you need some time to climb the rungs and find out how various foods affect you, as well as finding your CCLL (critical carb level for losing). On rung one of OWL, you'll be able to add in more veggies. By the time you're at maintenance, you should be able to eat loads of delicious veggies of all sorts.

Do you know fitday (www.fitday.com) or the USDA database (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/)? Fitday is great for totalling carbs and generally keeping track of your nutrient intake. The USDA database is a very comprehensive nutrient data laboratory.

Post lots and tell us about your progress. We're looking forward to applauding you as you approach goal!

[ClumberGirl]

Re: New To Atkins

Sally, thanks so much for the links to fitday & the USDA database!! These links are going to be very helpful to me when cooking during my second week of induction and going forward with Atkins.

I am very curious as to why American cheese and Parmasean cheese is not on the allowable cheese list during the induction diet. Both cheeses have no carb counts or sugar in the lists of ingredient. I won’t use either cheeses during induction, but am just curious as to why they were excluded from the allowable cheese list.

[sallyseachange]

Re: New To Atkins

As far as I remember ClumberGirl, parmesan cheese is ok for induction. I'd have to check my DANDR to be 100% certain, but I think it's fine. Can't check these days as I'm away from home and haven't got the book with me. Also American cheese should be ok... but the processed kind is best avoided.
If anyone knows different, please correct me.

[sillygirl]

Re: New To Atkins

Sally, thanks so much for the links to fitday & the USDA database!! These links are going to be very helpful to me when cooking during my second week of induction and going forward with Atkins.

I am very curious as to why American cheese and Parmasean cheese is not on the allowable cheese list during the induction diet. Both cheeses have no carb counts or sugar in the lists of ingredient. I won’t use either cheeses during induction, but am just curious as to why they were excluded from the allowable cheese list.

Welcome to the board!

I just looked at my book and on page 125, acceptable foods, it says "including" and then lists certain cheeses. They couldn't possibly list all available cheeses! Both American and Parm are A-Ok, as are other cheeses as long as there's no sugar! Cheeses do have carbs though as you will see when you start fitday-ing!

Are your dogs Clumber Spaniels by any chance?