Salads are great! Most lettuces and leafy greens are very low in carbs, and high in fiber, which is good for your "constitution"
.. Try to have some variety in your salads, for example - different lettuces, spinach, shredded cabbage, etc. Dr. Atkins recommends 2 salads or 1 salad and a serving of cooked lowcarb veggie every day ... asparagus, broccoli, spinach, green beans, etc.
Coffee and caffeine is "generally" a YMMV thing (Your Mileage May Vary). Atkins recommends avoiding caffeine, as there may be an insulin response to it. However many lowcarbers find they can consume caffeine without affecting weight loss. Your situation is a bit different, with the diabetes and taking medication to help with insulin resistance. You would be wise to cut it out, and also choose caffeine-free versions of other beverages too..
.. Another thing with coffee, is that it's not zero carbs. One 6 oz. cup, which is pretty small .... has 0.8g carbs in it. The average mug holds 10 oz. which is 1.3g carbs ..... 3 or 4 mugs o' java every day can really use up a lot of your daily carb-allotment!
The sweetener packets need to be counted for any carbs they contain. In the US (not sure where you're located
) the manufacturer can label a thing as zero carbs if it contains 0.5g or less per serving. Those half-grams can add up quickly.
You might find it helpful to have a good food counts book, which has accurate lists of the carb counts, and other nutrients in food. Corrine Netzer's "Complete Book of Food Counts" is excellent, $7.50 US/$9.99 Cdn. The BEST online food counts tool can be found right here on our website..
... Just click on "Tools" on the menu bar at the top of the page. Follow the instructions for the Carb-Count Finder.
hope this helps,
Doreen