Hi, my name is shaz and i have just joined the group today (on 4th day of Induction).

I have loads of queries and would appreciate your input:

1. The book I am using (1999) says to use cream and sour cream as dressings etc, but does not say whether they are to be considered as free or must be taken from the 20g carb allocation?

2. Cottage cheese is listed as a free food, but the pack I have is over 4g per portion - do I take it as free or count the carbs?

3. A lot of cheeses with flavouring have a higher carb value - should these carbs be counted or are they still free because its cheese?

4. Is there any alternative to soy flour as I am hypothyroid and apparently shouldn't have soya products?? I cannot live without some form of bread eventually, even though I am being very brave now!

This has been my worst day so far - I have had desperate sugar cravings and am wracking my brain for something sweetish but still acceptable - any ideas what is ok and how long the cravings take to go?

Thanks very much
Shaz

The only TRULY free foods are those which contain zero carbs. And that would be:

• unprocessed meats, poultry, game, finfish
  pure, natural fats and oils
  water, sparkling water

As you know, some protein foods have naturally occurring carbs in them, and yes .. you must account for the carbs in your 20-gram limit for the day. It's so unfortunate that this isn't made clearer in previous Atkins' books, but I understand that his newest edition, published December '01 does finally address that some foods are not free and must be limited. As I understand it, natural hard cheeses are limited to no more than 4 oz (115g) per day, heavy cream is limited to 3 - 4 Tbsp (50 ml). Cottage cheese, nuts and nut butters are no longer permitted during the 2-week Induction period.

If a food has carbohydrate in it, you must include it in your 20 grams. Foods such as:

• bacon, ham, processed meats
  cheeses, cream, sour cream
  eggs
  shellfish, squid, mollusks (oysters, mussels)
  liver (chicken liver is lowest)
  coffee, decaf ... has 1.3g per 10 fl oz mug (280 ml)
  tea ... very low though, 0.2g per cup
  packets/sachets of powdered artificial sweetener ... the filler used to make the powder is usually maltodextrin and/or dextrose .. and these have carbs. The new edition of Atkins limits these to 3 packets per day.
  herbs, spices, seasonings, condiments

Regarding the soy problem ... there really is no substitute. Regular flours made from grains are too high in carbs to be considered. 100g soy flour has 25 to 30g digestible carbs. 100g of white flour from wheat has 70g digestible carbs.

As for the sweet demon, my suggestion is that you avoid all sweet tastes and flavours completely for the full 2 weeks. For some people, ANY sweet taste .. even if it's a zero-carb artificially sweetened one ... can and will trigger the cravings and can in fact trigger insulin and other hormones just the same as if you'd actually eaten real sugar. The cravings WON"T go away if you keep feeding them. It's like throwing raw steaks to a tiger in your back yard, then wondering why it's still there. .. Speaking of meat ... that's often the best cure for sugar cravings .. eat MEAT, protein. And have some fat with it. A slice of leftover roast, or a hard-cooked egg, with mustard or some mayonnaise.

For some people it takes a few days, others it takes the full 2 weeks. Hang in there, it does get better. Make sure you're drinking lots and lots of plain water ... this will flush out the excess carbs and carb toxins still in your system.

You can do this!!

Doreen