[frogguruami]

I am currently doing a very low carb diet. It is 28 day plan and the meals are all laid out for me. I have tried low carb in the past and was never successful mainly because I never knew what to eat. I am hoping to learn a few new habits from this plan and would like to maintain a low carb diet after it is over.

What is the est way to start adding carbs back into my diet? I am assuming it is veggies and fruits but thought I would ask some more experience people!

[JerseyGyrl]

I am on Atkins (4 years this past April) which starts out as 20 carbs per day...12-15 of those 20 carbs coming from salad & non-starchy veggies. This is known as the Induction phase of the program. Induction on average is 2 weeks (although it can be safely done for longer periods of time). From Induction, you progress to OWL (On Going Weight Loss), where you progress up the carb ladder until you establish your carb level to continue losing weight. The carb ladder is as follows:http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...ht=carb+ladder
I hope this helps answer your question

[frogguruami]

Thanks!

[sylvia78]

JerseyGyrl is our Atkins Guru. She helped me with some On-Going Weight Loss [OWL] phase issues a while ago. I am also on Atkins. There are 5 things I found that made it easier to add more carbs without triggering cravings:

1. Make my salad bigger. Lettuce has maybe 1 carb per cup. I usually make a salad with 3-4 cups
2. Add more stuff to the salad like jicama, cucumbers, celery, peppers.
3. Add raw spinach to salad to up the fiber.
4. Eat more 'other' veggies at dinner or lunch, i.e. green beans, cabbage, broccoli, etc. I usually eat about 4 cups of other veggies at night.
5. I actually have 4 meals in a day because my dinner is split in two. I eat protein and veggies with my kids. Then I have to stop and get them to bed. Then about a half hour to hour later I will eat my salad. I don't have those nighttime boredom cravings because I am stuffed from the salad.


Stick to the Carb Ladder. Don't add another food group until you are sure you are comfortable where you are currently. Don't feel pressured to add fruit either. Remember, tomatoes and cucumbers are fruit. You do eat fruit just not the sweet stuff.

Good luck. You can do this. Come back if you need more information.

[kittycat40]

I didn't realize cukes were a fruit. Huh, thanks for the info.

[sylvia78]

I know, a lot of people forget that fruits do not have to be sweet. I always mention this when an anti-Atkins person talks about my WOL and that we need fruits. In fact some of the hottest foods on the earth, peppers, are fruits.

I forgot to add bell pepper, olives, and avocado to the list of foods to add to your salad. Green peppers are okay, but I really like the yellow, red, and orange. They are just way too expensive to buy all the time.

Have a great day!