ok ladies...I need something to psych me up here and I was skipping around on other low carb sites doing some research and come across this idea.

A lot of us may not be getting the fruits and veggies in we need each day. EVEN ON ATKINS. We are allowed 3 cups of veggies a day so I wondered how can we make 3 cups into the 5 servings of fruits and veggies we need.

So what is a serving:

1 C. raw leafy greens
1 medium fruit
3/4 C. vegetable juice or 100% fruit juice
1/2 C. fresh, frozen or canned fruit or vegetable
1/2 C. cooked peas or beans (cooked dry, frozen or canned)
1/4 C. dried fruit

Ok, so now how do we convert this to Atkins? The leafy greens are easy and I for one definitely have more than 1 cup a day. The fruit is easy also, blueberries, strawberries. The 1/2 cup fresh veggies for me would be celery or cukes. The beans I get in the form of black soy beans...I think they count. And the dried fruit.....hhhmmmm I will have to think on that one.

So, how about we start a campaign on getting in our 5 a day! Want to join me?

And check out this web site for ideas! www.5aday.org

I do a modified version of this. I try to make sure that at least half of my daily carbs are coming from veggies. It's good for keeping me balanced and giving me those much needed vitamins.

That's a great idea! I know that I, for one, am guilty of using my carbs in the form of cheese I won't be back on Atkins until March 1st, but I'm here with you!

I'm lousy at counting. I think most of my carbs come from veggies. Mainly my salads (lettuce, onions, peppers). Not thought about adding fruit to the mix. Maybe in a couple weeks after I've started losing weight again.

most of my carbs come from veggies. i'm not at the point of adding fruits just yet. for the most part, i eat boneless, skinless chicken breasts, turkey bacon, deli turkey, deli ham, mozzarella cheese, eggs, salad, cukes, peppers, celery, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. during the last week i started adding 24 oz of skim milk to my daily menu, as i have read that this helps lose belly fat. plus i am in early stages of osteoporosis, as is supersized. the milk does not seem to have slowed me down so far. i've lost 13 lbs since jan 3. since may i had gained back a good bit of what i had lost during the previous year doing strict atkins. although i substituted a lot of things for what i missed the most, i still craved the forbidden foods. so this time around, i'm not as strict with some stuff such as milk. everything else that i do is pretty much in line with atkins though. i've also been having a little v-8 every couple of days. i know that this is definitely not on the atkins induction list, but it seems to be working for me. this whole journey of losing and maintaining is something that each one of us has to work out individually. i would rather make some small changes like milk and v-8 juice if it will help me stay on plan in the long run. good luck to each and every one of us, no matter which plan or how strictly we are following!