Hello! I need some clarification!

[Holly88]

Hi,

I'm Holly, 21, 5'5 and 172 lbs (when I weighed last week, so I hope it hasn't changed too much!).

I have done Atkins once before, but I only really stuck to it for a month. I had good results though, especially with my skin - it glowed!

I think last time I extended induction for too long, as I only really want to lose 40-50 lbs, and I didn't bother to find new dishes to cook past bacon, steak, cheese and plain veg!

Anyway, as I said, I need some clarification on something:

So, as far as I can see there's 2 rules about veg during induction...

• Your net carbs, overall, must be under 20g.
• You may only eat 3 cups of allowed salad veg OR 2 cups salad + 1 cup other vegetables.

Which is fine if I eat: 1 cup romaine lettuce (0.33g net carbs) + 1 cup peppers (6.7g net carbs) + 1/2 cup zucchini (3.3g net carbs) + 1/2 cup onion (4g) .. altogether that's 14.33g, which fits nicely into the 20g a day with almost 6g left over for cheese, cream etc counts...

But what about days where I might have 2 cups of romaine (0.66) and 1 cup of eggplant (4g) ... that's under 5g, which surely is way too little?

Is it just a case of making sure I juggle my veg to get the most of the 3 cups? Last time I did atkins I had mostly salad, which I do enjoy very much, but this meant most days I was eating half the 20g a day.

Should I stop over thinking it?

I think the big thing I don't understand is that when you get to OWL, you add in 5g more of carbs from veg... So then the whole cups idea is out the window and you're only concerned with the net carb grams? So technically I could eat 5g net carb of spinach .. which is like uhm 12.5 cups?!!

So confusing! I have tried to read the stickies to answer this but information seems to conflict/people are saying different things in response to similar questions. I apologise if I've missed something already clarifying this - I probably didn't search enough.

[liv]

Re: Hello! I need some clarification!

Well this is a bit of a rough one. And people struggle with it. Some prefer to interpret to rule to mean that it is more important to eat 11 or more veggie carbs - other think the three cups is the important thing.


Anyways here are some awesome suggestions of how to get lots of veggies in three cups

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/blogs/shrew2u/1579-11-3-2-old-school.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/blogs/shrew2u/1580-11-3-3-i-hope-you-like-onions-dude.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/blogs/shrew2u/1581-11-3-4-awesome-use-onion.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/blogs/shrew2u/1582-11-3-5.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/blogs/shrew2u/1584-11-3-6.html

You do just add 5 net carbs on OWL yes. So that dinner plate of yours will have a lot more veggies. Or veggies for dessert like in pumpkin or rhubarb. Or a nice cauliflower based soup for lunch.

It is not something to get totally in knot about. it will work out. Veggies are important though

[Desertthorn]

Re: Hello! I need some clarification!

Should I stop over thinking it?

LOL, I like that answer the best. I think the veggies are probably the most important part of the plan. Oh I know, its fat driven, but the veggies are where we get those trace minerals and vitamins, so I alway err on more rather than less.
But the best part of this plan is to make it simple, so I won't sweat the small stuff. (Hiding from 2big as I say that)

[2big4mysize]

Re: Hello! I need some clarification!

Hi,

I'm Holly, 21, 5'5 and 172 lbs (when I weighed last week, so I hope it hasn't changed too much!).

I have done Atkins once before, but I only really stuck to it for a month. I had good results though, especially with my skin - it glowed!

I think last time I extended induction for too long, as I only really want to lose 40-50 lbs, and I didn't bother to find new dishes to cook past bacon, steak, cheese and plain veg!

Anyway, as I said, I need some clarification on something:

So, as far as I can see there's 2 rules about veg during induction...

• Your net carbs, overall, must be under 20g.
• You may only eat 3 cups of allowed salad veg OR 2 cups salad + 1 cup other vegetables.

Which is fine if I eat: 1 cup romaine lettuce (0.33g net carbs) + 1 cup peppers (6.7g net carbs) + 1/2 cup zucchini (3.3g net carbs) + 1/2 cup onion (4g) .. altogether that's 14.33g, which fits nicely into the 20g a day with almost 6g left over for cheese, cream etc counts...

But what about days where I might have 2 cups of romaine (0.66) and 1 cup of eggplant (4g) ... that's under 5g, which surely is way too little?

Is it just a case of making sure I juggle my veg to get the most of the 3 cups? Last time I did atkins I had mostly salad, which I do enjoy very much, but this meant most days I was eating half the 20g a day.

Should I stop over thinking it?

I think the big thing I don't understand is that when you get to OWL, you add in 5g more of carbs from veg... So then the whole cups idea is out the window and you're only concerned with the net carb grams? So technically I could eat 5g net carb of spinach .. which is like uhm 12.5 cups?!!

So confusing! I have tried to read the stickies to answer this but information seems to conflict/people are saying different things in response to similar questions. I apologise if I've missed something already clarifying this - I probably didn't search enough.

actually 20 isn't the target it is the maximum amount you can have.

since 1/2 your daily total should come from your veggies on the day you have only lettuce and eggplnat you can only have under 5 more net carbs of cheese and other things.

Wrong about the OWL.

You will always be eating those 3 cups and following the induction rules other then the 20 net limit. Now you add 5 more net grams of those yummy induction veggies to your 3 cups so you will be exploding if you pick all romain lettuce for your 5 net grams which according to the info you posted already would be over 15 cups for 5 more net grams!!!!

Also when we do OWL if we pick a food we have not eatten as part of our Atkins already as any part of the 5 net grams for the rung we are on then we can only have that food 3 times the first week we add it because Dr Atkins wanted us to have a controlled intro to those new foods incase they caused us some craving control issues or weight loss issues.

sinc emost of us ate a variety of the induction veggies the new stuff is easy but if you haven't then you can add new veggie B on M-W-F and new veggie C on T-Th-S and take one day off with a new one if you like.

take good notes cause OWL is the great food experiment with us being both the scientist looking for control and weightloss issues and the lab rat being the subject of that control and weight loss experiment.

You can go as slowly as you want sitting on a rung for weeks at a time until you have tested every food on that rung you want to and repeated the testing if you are confused about what if anything is causing your weight loss or craving controls to be an issue.

You can skip an entire rung if you don't plan to ever include those foods as part of your atkins.

And if you are on rung 9 but it is fresh balckberry season and you haven't had any blackberries yet you still can only have them 3 times that week even though you are well past rung 4.

[Holly88]

Re: Hello! I need some clarification!

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I appreciate you taking the time to answer something that's so frequently asked!

I think I will try to limit myself by the 3 cups but try to get as many carbs in to that as I can, staying under my 20g limit but I'm gonna try not worry about it too much

[2big4mysize]

Re: Hello! I need some clarification!

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I appreciate you taking the time to answer something that's so frequently asked!

I think I will try to limit myself by the 3 cups but try to get as many carbs in to that as I can, staying under my 20g limit but I'm gonna try not worry about it too much

I hope by that you meant veggie carbs cause they are the key thing. Oh and experiment with those 50+ veggies on the list and sww how you like them. With your tastebuds desensitized to sugar from all the high carbs that you are not now eating you will be amazed at how sweet some of the veggies really taste.