OK I haven't lost as much as I should and I'm thinking the veggies may have something to do with it. I am scared to eat them because they have carbs, do I have to? Does anyone have any low carb veggie ideas I don't think lettuce is doing the trick.

Thanks for your help

Hi Marisa -

First off, WELCOME! This is a great forum and you can learn much here and meet some really nice people.

About your question - It says in your profile that you read the same book as me so you really do know the answer to this question. See the Atkins link again for induction acceptable foods.

http://atkinscenter.com/Archive/2001/12/15-464579.html

You need to have all the foods on the list and the diet really does work - at least for me and dozens here. Remember you need the fiber veggies give you too.

The key is to learning to eat right and healthy forever.

All the best.

Hi Marisa,

Eating up to 20g carbs mostly in the form of vegies will not slow your weight loss in any way. In fact the original Atkins plan allowed very few vegies, but Dr Atkins has since discovered that weight loss is the same on 5g as on 20g carbs (mostly veg).

You don't actually NEED vegies to sustain life, but for this WOE to succeed and truly become a WOL you'll need to eat vegies or you'll likely give up out of boredom.

Remember you can add plenty of butter or mayo to your veg. You can also fry them in plenty of oil - maybe add a few curry spices. Let your imagination run free! I make a cheese sauce by simmering cream for about 10 mins until it reduces, then add grated cheese. Great on cauliflower, leeks, broccoli etc.

Marisa, if you go to "Low Carb Tips" on the orange bar at the top of your screen, among lots of other useful tips, you'll see "Jazz up your Induction" which has more good ideas.

All the best to you!

Rosebud

Marisa, I understand being afraid of carbs - most of us here do. Overeating carbs played a significant role in making us fat and unhealthy. The key is "overeating". Carbs are not evil. Just as fat is not evil

Twenty grams of carbs from veggies will not cause any dramatic change in your insulin levels. In other words, eating 20 or 30g of carbs from veggies will not make you fat. It will go along way to keeping you regular and supplying your body with much needed phytonutrients and minerals.

Whether you eat the carbs or not your body does require some glucose to function optimally - and it posses the ability to make the glucose when it needs it. This is something it has been doing on a daily basis and will continue to do - it's all part of keeing you alive

Nat

i have a question, i went back on the list of the acceptable veggie and under those acceptable as 1cup is pumpkin...i thought pumpkin is starchy by nature and thus shoudl be avoided in induction???????

also can someone pls tell me i get it ryt:
its iether i eat 2-3 cups of those listed salad veggies
or
2 cups salas veggies and 1cup of the "other" veggies(whihc have slightly higher carb content)

Hi Nicole,

Dr Atkins says you can have EITHER 3 cups salad vegie OR 2 cups salad veg plus 1 cup "other," such as pumpkin.
Don't forget that as well as those 3 cups veg, you can also have 10 to 20 olives, half a small avocado, 1oz sour cream or 3 oz heavy cream and 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice.

I tend to take those as a guide, and count my vegies on www.fitday.com . I recently redid Induction and lost 6½ pounds by ignoring the 2 to 3 cups advice.
Bearing in mind that you subtract the fibre from the total carb count, I worked out that if you are not getting your carbs from other sources, you can eat up to 7 cups vegies per day, and still be under 20g carbs!

Here's an example of what you can have:
2 cups lettuce - remember iceberg lettuce has fewer nutrients than lettuces such as romaine - the ones with darker leaves are generally better.
½ cup peppers
½ cup cucumber
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup broccoli
1 cup asparagus
1 cup cauliflower
2 fluid ounces heavy cream

According to Fitday, this gives you a total of 31g carbs, 12g fibre - making a total of only 19 useable carbs.

Cheers.

Rosebud

hi Nicole,

First ... the measure is for RAW pumpkin. When cooked, it becomes compact and softer, so more of it can be packed into the measuring cup .. which translates into higher carbs. One cup raw pumpkin cubes has 7.6g carbs/ 2g fiber. One cup cooked and mashed pumpkin has 12g carbs/ 2g fiber.

Beware that canned pumpkin purée is even higher in carbs, since it's more condensed even than what you'd cook from fresh. Also, some brands of canned "pumpkin" are actually blends of pumpkin and other squash, such as butternut. These are way higher in carbs, since most other winter squash (butternut, hubbard, acorn etc) are much higher in carbs than plain pumpkin. On average, one cup of canned pumpkin purée has 20g carbs/ 8g fiber.

hth,

Doreen

I tend to go for veggies with high fiber.....try some celery, collards, turnips, etc.......cooked right with ham bouillion can be wonderful as a Pick-me-UP!

Can you tell I am a southerner???!!!!

Go far it....like is great on the LC plan!

Veg is my favourite snack, esp. celery and red peppers. They are very refreshing and really fill me up. I also read somewhere that veg use more calories to digest than they actually contain.

I put pure sugar free pumpkin in my flax muffins. Very tasty. Try cucumbers on a greek salad with some grilled chicken. My favourite meal, also asparagus is great grilled.

Good luck

I have been experimenting with different leafy greens, I find that any type of asian leafy green goes well if finely sliced and put into salad, very tasty and nutritious, virtualy carb free!