I don't recall what the Atkins book says about the "good" veggies, but I keep seeing where the amount of veggies is limited, but I don't understand why that is because the good veggies don't have the many carbs. You could probably eat 5-6 serving/cups of certain veggies, such as broccoli and spinach, without having more than like 15 grams of carbs, so why would those veggies be limited. I believe in the low carb way, but I also believe in eating as much of the healthy foods as possible. When I say healthy, I'm talking about stuff that has significant nutritional value, which is not necessarily meats, eggs and cheese, I'm talking fresh veggies, fruits, soy, etc. Anywho, the point of this post is to ask why are the good, low carb veggies limited if they are low carb? They offer too many nutritional benefits for me to put that kind of limit on them. I try to eat as much brocolli, spinach, brussel sprouts, and cualiflower as I can.

I understand how you feel about limiting the veggies, but keep in mind that it is only for 2 weeks out of a lifetime. There are carbs in lots of other foods besides the veggies: cream, cheese, coffee, tea, salad dressings, bacon, lunch meat, sausage, mayo, etc., so it is easy to reach the 20 carbs even with the limited veggies.

I believe that the 2 weeks induction and limiting the veggies serves the purpose of helping us to learn how to stay within boundaries and also helps with an initial rapid weight loss that encourages people to stay with the program.

Maybe someone else has other ideas about why we limit the veggies for the first 2 weeks.

Peg

In bringing our carb count down to 20 for the induction period also sets us up for finding our critical carb level. Induction is a time for shedding cravings of breads and sweets. Veggies do not contain alot of carbs once we minus the fiber, well, the proper veggies....so increasing our carb count by 5 every week until we find that critical carb level...which is different for everyone.

The statements I've read simply said the vegetables were limited. One was from an article that was critical of the diet, so that could explain that, but the other was from an USA article today where it broke down the allowed foods and the non allowed and under the allowed it listed the "good" veggies but said it was limited about about 2 cups.

There are two different issues here. The first is with the media, who really don't know the first thing about low-carbing.

The second is with followers of the Atkins plan who believe that if they move one iota from induction levels of carbohydrates, everything will come to a screeching halt.

In a perfect low-carb world, everyone would learn how to count carbs properly - and that would be by weight - learn early on that dairy products, organ meats, shellfish and coffee have carbs, and approach their new eating style with common sense. Everyone would learn how to like vegetables. Regretably, many people don't practice sane low-carbing and they are the ones who perpetrate the 'veryfewvegetablesand fivepoundsofbaconaday' myth.

Karen

I had this very same veggies question a few weeks ago. I emailed the customer service at atkincenter.com, and this is the reply I got:




So the answer is yes, you can have more veggies.

I hear ya 100%. It's funny, because people who know that I used Atkins to lose weight will occassionally ask me if I'm still on Atkins and I'm not sure how to answer because I don't really consider myself on Atkins or any other program, I just watch my carbs. And most of those things you mentioned, I eat them all, and even did when I was in the mode of really trying to lose, and they didn't seem to affect me....the shellfish, organ meats, coffee, etc.

As far as people not doing sane low carbing, it's funny because some of the people I see on here (i'm gonna get myself in trouble now) come across with a "carbs are EVIL" attitude and that you shouldn't even look at a bowl of rice or pasta. When I'm in the maintenance mode, I'll pig out on a plate full of rice with my chinese food every so often, or will eat a muffin for breakfast or a few bowls of cereal (I can't eat just one bowl, what's the point).

When I see how people criticize how poorly low carb dieters eat, I always think to myself how I'd like to have them watch me eat for a few days and compare my diet to most people's and see how unhealthy it is, so they can see that I don't pig out on tons of meat and protiens, and the I eat lot's of veggies and some fruits, and that I'm getting a lot more nutrition then most people.

Hi there,
You've raised a whole bushel of issues in just a few sentences!
Let's see if I can cover a few of them.

Meat and protein foods are not bad. So that is a non starter as far as criticism goes. Just scratch your head when friends give you that one and ask where they heard such silly nonsense.

Veggies are our buddies. At dinner the other day we were talking about this myth. Our fridges and cupboards are full of veggies. During induction Atkins goes for high volume items that help people fight feelings of deprivation, but read the book's fine print and you will see that he gives wide latitiude. (Got the latest edition? It's cheap!)

Oh yes and scream this out at the top of your lungs whenever you can. " ATKINS IS NOT INDUCTION" It gains new respect for your assertiveness and a few restraining orders as well.

Grains and sugar bring the glycemic index into play. This is where things get sticky (couldn't help it). Some pancreases can handle the occasional whallop and others' can't. If you are designing a diet you will err on the side of caution. There is also an addiction/habituation/endocrine response issue here. As with "ex" anythings, ex-sugar junkies will be quite evangelistic.

And lastly, there is the lifestyle factor. Many people on this site are just building a new lifestyle (And there are those who have found out that "maintenance" does not mean orgiastic plunges in pools filled with maple syrup and doughnuts) and have to be stricter than those on maintenance. It seems an unfortunate fact that people become uninvolved once they hit their goals, so you will see less of that end of the low carb spectrum.

Ah, anything else?

Have fun

Colin