Forbidden Foods or Veggies?

[LessLiz]

I'm doing a slightly modified Atkins plan and I've read a little about PP. I am debating buying the book, but while I'm debating I'd like to ask about forbidden foods. Are there foods that are just plain forbidden on PP? I'm not talking about sugar, but legumes, whole grains, beets, winter squashes, etc? I do know that to stay within the carb limits any of those would have to be eaten in very small quantities.

I am debating what I'm going to do after ending induction in a week. I don't buy into Atkins "carb ladder" -- the slow addition of more carbs I buy, that they must be only select foods added in a certain order is not something I find believable.

I may be the only person in the world on Atkins that misses lentils!

[jkmfrog]

The short answer is nothing is forbidden as long as youa re staying within your carb range (est 30-40 carbs in intervention). But the Eades give lots of reasons for staying away form grains and legumes. Also, some folks will have a hard time losing weight and staying on plan when they incorporate grains and legumes into thier way of eating (one of the reasons they are at the end of the Atkins plan). Get some low carb experience before you mess around with higher carb items, including higher carb fruits. They may trigger cravings and unless you have the mental and physical game down to where you can ignore and combat the cravings...well that's how a lot of us regained all our losses.

Personally, I occasionally have legumes, and LC products with grains - but I'm near maintenence adn ahve been doing this on and off for 5 years. I did not eat much of those things when I was trying to lose weight.

[LessLiz]

Thanks for the reply. I have a lot of low carb experience, having eaten mostly low carb since May 1998 with occasional switches into straight reduced calorie and balanced maintenance. That is the reason that I have real questions about the carb ladder. I know exactly which foods trigger cravings for me -- I will never be able to eat corn or rice without having an issue but I can eat wild rice without the cravings monster rearing his head. I can safely eat blueberries but not strawberries, pecans but not almonds, lentils but not navy beans, acorn squash but not the much lower carb pumpkin unless it is accompanies by lots of fat (as in cheesecake).

[Gaelen]

No forbidden foods at all, except transfats and aspartame. In the later books, it's suggested to avoid at all costs manufactured fructose as a sweetener, and high fructos corn syrup. Other than that, if it fits in your day's carb allotment, go for it. If you have insulin spike issues, however, you still may need to stay under 10-15g ECC per meal.

I've been following PP since Feb 2002, and I've incorporated all of the things you mention since about the second month...in PP appropriate portion sizes. Have fun experimenting!

[LessLiz]

Thanks, Gaelen. I have PP and PPLP on order and they should arrive soon.

[Terry Gree]

Hi LessLiz = I miss lentils too! Will I ever be able to have them again???? (I'm on OWL right now, & if I even TASTE a tiny dot of good bread, for instance, bam, I'm up 2 lbs! Otherwise, I'm so happy for my LC ice cream (recipe in Atkins book) that I guess it makes up for never having another sweet potato, lentil or good bread! Keep up the good work. Terry Gree