Is Atkins vegetarian compatible?

[willmakeit]

Hi all,

My husb has diabetes type 2 and I wanted him to start atkins diet. a friend of his praised the program so much and said it was great for low carb plan. But he also said that most of the stuff is meat/chicken based.

We are vegetarians and wanted to know if any other vegetarians have done the atkins diet and are comfotable with it. I know there are certains food which are allowed or not allowed in certain phases of the diet plan but do they have enough vegetarian options in all phases without us compromising on the proteins (coz we get most of our proteins from soy, beans, milk). Thanks.

[Cliffsgirl]

Hi! I have been a vegetarian for about 14 years, and I have lost over 80 pounds on Atkins. Doing Atkins while being a vegetarian actually isn't that hard if you get creative and go a little bit overboard on the veggies (Atkins limits you to 2 cups a day, to which I always go over!)

The problem for me is maintaining...I will go on Atkins and get to a happy point and then relax and then a few months later my fat pants won't even fit up over my thighs and I have to start all over again. I am a sucker for sugar and salts and carbs....and after the initial withdrawls (3-5 days), Atkins is usually fine. Howeverm then as soon as I start eating sugar, I get my appetite back.

So I say go for it! Be sure to watch for little things--even those few carbs in dressing will add up. I also can't do low carb candies becaues those will stall my weight loss. Everyone is different though, so perhaps you can eat splenda sweetened things (if you desire too), just be aware that if you are not losing weight, they may be stalling you!

[Yogini]

If you eat eggs, cheese (all types), cream, butter and soy protein concentrates (in addition to nuts and lower carb veggies) you could certainly do it but so many of the great vegetarian foods you likely love would then be off limits.

[willmakeit]

egg is a no no. But cream, cheese, milk, butter, soy are fine. But aren't these high fat? are they allowed? Do they allow only raw veggies? or can u cook them. can you use beans, rice or breads?

[lady_adnerb]

No beans, rice or bread. Especially not during induction (the first phase). And yup, you can cook the veggies.

[mealybug]

THe initial phase will be difficult becasue you're only allowed 20 grams of carbs perday... but if you deduct fibre a lot of veggies will still be ok. beans and rice will definitely put you way over 20 grams but after teh initial phase (14 days), you can slowly add more carbs so after some time you can have beans and maybe rice with fewr carbs..maybe wild rice? or brown rice? Im not sure of the carb counts for them. It is definitely harder as a vegetarian but it can be done. you better really love cheese though casue it might be a big part of your diet in teh first phase!!