Hello Good People
I haven't posted here since joining, and am now beginning to finally see how important it is to reach to others that are in the same boat as me.
I have questions.
In the past, whenever I have hit a brick wall in my low card diet endevors, I would simply Google away until I found a satisfactory answer to my queries. This time I am stumped.
What is it that stumped me? Salsa. I have just made a great chili with ground beef, mushrooms, chili powder, garlic, leftover steak, and sausage. The ingredient that holds this entire concoction together is the salsa. I am using a brand called Herdez (I think it's supposedly the number one salsa in Mexico). Why I chose the Herdez Hot Mexican Salsa is b/c it had the fewest ingredients on the side. Those ingredients are Tomatoes, onions, serrano peppers, salt and coriander. Unfortunately, the label is lacking a nutritional breakdown. From my googling, I have gatherd that the carbohydrate content of this salsa is either 4g or 332g - a rather large difference.
I tried calling the toll free number on the side of the label, but, it being just past midnight on a Saturday, I received no reply.
So...to make a long story short...here i am sharing a recipe for a potentially great low carb chili...and at the same time inquiring about the pros and cons of salsa in a low carb lifestyle.
I tried word searching "salsa" in the forum search, but the response was a series of links to every thread that ever mentions salsa. Quite alot to dig through.
I appreciate any information that you feel like sharing. I hope that this message finds you all well, and in good spirits.
Thanks,
max love

ps: i'm not really this boring, but I tend to get long-winded when typing on a keyboard.

Hi Max!

The fastest way to work out an approximate carb count will be by using www.fitday.com I'm bored so I'll have a go at it for you now. More anon!

Oooo, this is easy. Fitday has a few salsa recipes already entered. The one that would give you the best approximation is called "Salsa, red, uncooked" if you want to look it up. Ingredients are: Tomatoes, onions, coriander, serano peppers, salt and water. The ratio of tomatoes:onions:peppers is about 6:2:1 which looks about right for most salsas.

For one cup:
Total Carbs: 9.44g
Fibre: 2.53g
Net Carbs: 6.91g

For one tablespoon (assuming you use metric cups/tablespoons):
Net Carbs: 0.55g

So, given that the ingredients in your salsa won't be in exactly the same quantities as Fitday's recipe and given that the carb count in tomates varies a bit depending on how ripe they are and what variety they are, I'd say you'd be safest using a net carb count of 1g for each tablespoon of salsa, or maybe even 0.5g if you're feeling optimistic :)

Hope that helps!

Em

Hey Emma
Thanks for the info! Now I can enjoy my salsa without wondering!
Unfortunately, I did use half a jar of salsa on this first chili...and that just has to be too many carbs. I would guesstimate that I used 1 1/2 cups of salsa.
Those ingredients that you listed are the same as the brand that I am using, but I wonder how the ratios differ? How closely do you count carbs? I tend to just wing it, and it seems to be working. But when it comes to a new food (like the salsa) I do investigate - better safe than sorry.
Thanks again! I hope that this message finds you well, and in good spirits.
Cheers,
max love

Yeah, unfortunately tomatos and onions are on the carby end of the scale of allowed foods. Iirc, Dr Atkins said to try to keep it to a few slices of tomato or onion a day, but don't quote me on that. I tend to go a bit overboard on the tomoto too, in meatball sauce and in butter chicken. You could probably make your own salsa with a lower carb count by replacing the onion with spring onion/shallots or maybe even chives.

As for carb counting, I do about the same as you. At first I counted religiously but after 2 weeks or so one gets a feel for it. Any new foods I check carefully (I look like such a dork in the supermarket, standing in front of the same shelf for ages checking the labels on every brand). When I got sick of induction foods and decided to move to OWL, I added nuts and berries very injudiciously, without counting and without waiting a week to see the effects of each addition. Of course, it backfired on me. I ate way too many nuts and the binge demon got the better of me. I retreated to induction and when I feel secure again (not yet!) I'll try OWL with proper counting. Oh dear, I'm rambling ... sorry!

Max, are you still having trouble with headaches and chest pains?

Btw, I like your board name

Best wishes,

Em

Hiya Em
Well, I guess what I'm gonna do is use salsa as an occasional flavor enhancer...anywhere from 1-3 tablespoons in a meal. And limit it to one meal on those days that I decide to use it. I was never much of a salsa fan before low carbing anyway. These days, however, I gotta get my kicks wherever I can.
I also spend alot of time in the grocery store examining labels. It makes me feel a little self-concious, but, whatever. It's all good.
Incidentally, I am still on Induction, and have been, since...July 3? July 8? I forget exactly when I started. I have it tracked on the Atkins site. My originial plan was to stay on Induction for 6 months, but, I may go even further on it. It's been working out well for me. However, I am a little concerned about going overboard.
The headaches are gone, thanks for asking. I think the chest pains were not related to the diet, but to an injury I had sustained when I was teenager. Something that comes back to me every once in a while.
Btw, what is butter chicken?
I hope that this message finds you well, and in good spirits.
Cheers,
max love

It's an Indian dish with a very English influence. Very mild and very yummy! Here's the recipe I use (obviously with splenda instead of sugar) but there are other recipes on the board too.

My original plan was to stay on induction until I'd lost half the weight I want to lose, but when I heard about people losing better when they increased their carbs a bit and decreased their fat a bit, I thought that might be the way to go. Basically swapping a cream/cheese snack for a blueberry snack. But as I said above, I didn't do it wisely.

When you say you're concerned about going overboard, do you mean overboard like staying on induction forever and never moving up the carb ladder towards maintenance? Or do you mean exceeding 20g of carbs a day sometimes? I am concerned that if I stay on induction much longer I won't be working towards healthy lifetime eating patterns and I'll get stuck in an induction rut forever, or worse, when I get to goal I won't have stratergies in place to deal with carbs. Anyway, now I'm just musing.

I only started Atkins back in April so I'm not very far ahead of you in terms of experience!

Glad to hear you're feeling well and good luck with the cooking!

Em

I am not on Atkins but I have been on this forum long enough to know: Don't try to stay on induction for too long! There are reasons why he recommends adding carbs. One is: you are in danger of getting bored with induction food only. Two is: you may be lacking some important nutrients. But the most important thing with all of the plans on this forum is: we need to get used to thinking of it as a way of life, not a diet. Since you won't stay at 20 g carb a day for the rest of your life, the idea is to transition you slowly into the maintenance region, and getting you used to how your body reacts to foods that are higher in carb content. By starting early you get to know yourself long before you are in maintenance - some here can have whole grain cereal, some can't, some can have sugar alcohol chocolate, other can't. You should really follow the book - you are not braver or better by trying to keep induction levels for longer - there are reasons why nearly all plans here have several phases!

Sure Monika, it's important to transition through the phases properly, we all know that. But would your advice be exactly the same for someone who has to lose 91 pounds, or 243 pounds or 35 pounds? Would you tell each of those people to move off induction quickly, soon, now?

I think it's all about what one calls "too long", it's all relative to how much weight one has to lose and how much time one takes to lose it. Sure it's important that maxlove (and I) move off induction at a sensible time but is now that time for him (or me)? For me possibly, that's why I'm looking at trying OWL again soon, but I don't think the time is ripe yet to be telling max that he might be bored, lacking nutrients or needs to think about his segue into maintenance. I imagine max is having a great time with the induction foods, cooking and eating yummy things he wouldn't have had before (salsa, for one!), so I doubt he's bored. As for nutrients, a multi-vitamin will take care of the most essential ones and although it won't cover them all, isn't weight loss more imperative at this early stage than a wide range of bioflavanoids and such? And getting used to one's body's reactions to a higher carb count, surely that comes after getting one's body closer to a managable weight? Max has a year or two of Atkins weight loss to reach goal, is it not perhaps a little premature to be upping the carbs and slowing down the loss?

Obviously I don't have answers to all these questions but I do think they need to be examined in the light of each person's individual situation. When someone else's start weight is very different to one's own, it's hard to remember sometimes that one needs to tailor one's advice to them and not to oneself. We all struggle with this.

I seriously doubt whether any of us who have a lot to lose and stay on induction longer feel we are braver or better, rather we feel that we have a lot to lose and that it will take a lot of time. My feeling is that the time scale for moving through the phases stretches accordingly. Which corresponds with what Dr Atkins said about the possibility of staying on induction until you have lost half the weight you want to lose (wish I knew where he said that but I do remember reading it). That still leaves half of your weight loss for OWL and pre-maintenance and given that we lose weight slower the closer we are to goal, it leaves well more than half (probably 2/3 - 3/4) of your weight loss time for the later phases. To me that seems like a fairly sensible time scale. However, if any of the really big losers would like to step in here and correct me, I'd appreciate your input!

Hmm, I seem to have de-railed your thread, Max. My apologies

Em

No worries Em
I find this all very interesting, especially since I don't know anybody around me that is also doing the low carb thing. Most of my friends and family seem to have only a vague sense of what the low carb lifestye is about. They mostly think of it in unhealthy terms. Further investigation, if they could be bothered, would prove otherwise.
Speaking for myself, the Atkins approach is the only thing that has worked for me in several years. Not only is it great for dealing with my diabetes, but it also has managed to boost my thyroid, which in the past, has been ridiculously low. I used to joke that I had the thyroid of a dinosaur. Atkins has not only gotten past what was historically my two biggest obstacles to weight loss - it has also enabled me to eat healthy and exercise more (than EVER before).
In regards to my "going overboard" comment, I suppose that I was referring to whatever dangers there may or may not be for those of us that stay in the Induction phase for an extended period of time. I have heard of people staying in Induction for 6 months, or even a year, and I expect that I will be attempting to do the latter. I sincerely believe that what I am doing now is far more healthier for me than the lifestyle and diet patterns of before. It can only be an improvement. However, I would like to learn more about the experiences of others that have done the same thing.
For Induction, I am taking the Basic 3, Essential Oils, and Dieters Advantage supplements that the Atkins' book suggests. On top of that, I take Meformin for my diabetes (which I anticipate will be in full remission sometime next year) Synthroid for my thryoid, echinacea, and psylium. Whew - that's alot to swallow!
Overall, I enjoy the food that I am eating, and do not anticipate any difficulties when the time to move on to the next level finally arrives. I am eating healthier than I have in years. The one thing that truly amazes me is the fact that I do not have any cravings whatsoever for the food that I used to eat. Some part of me misses Italian food on a mental level...but, that's about it.
Thanks very much to both of you for replying to my posts. This is exactly the kind of information that I am looking for. I hope that this message finds you well, and in good spirits.
Cheers,
max love
ps: thanks for the recipe. I think I'll try it sometime this week.

Hi Maxlove,

Welcome to the forums...and please consider starting a journal! I think that you'd have alot to share with some of us newbies. And it's a nice way to get some feedback and a place for people to keep in touch.

Btw... I use the Atkin's Dieters Advantage tabs too, and I found them on clearance at Target last night for $3.04 a bottle, so I grabbed 2.

Take care,
~Michelle

I used to feel that way when I first started but now...I don't care anymore.

You know what? Maybe I will start up a journal here. I have one over at the Atkins site, but this place seems friendlier (or less corporate). I'm just as much a newbie as the next newb, so I'm not really sure what anyone else will get out of it...but, I think I kinda like this place. Thanks for the suggestion Michelle.
I hope that this message finds you well, and in good spirits.
Cheers,
maxlove

Start a journal so I can drop in and visit you there!

Em

Hiya
Well, I started a journal. It's called "maxlove's journal" or something incredibly original like that. I posted a couple of recipes up there from some of the stuff that I ate today. Earlier this evening, I was bragging to my pals about the salad I invented...so, of course they thought it sounded not very delicious. But, as Monty Burns once said, "I'm choking it down!" LOL
I hope that this message finds you all well, and in good spirits.
Cheers,
maxlove