Right chickies where do I start............well first day today, not gone too bad I think if I'm counting right! I have read 2 Atkins books and am still confused about how to count the carbs. Obviously its ok when its printed on the packaging, but what about things like salmon, chicken, etc....all the fresh meat? Does the meat/fish have to be weighed? There's so many suggestions about nibbling on protein to stave off the cravings, but do I count this? Can you have extra cheese throughout the day? For instance, if I had the stated 3oz in the fridge to nibble on throughout the day, then what would happen if I was to have a cheese omelette in the evening - do I just save my cheese for that or do I just add on the extra carb values?

I don't know if any of this will make sense to anybody

Also, another question.........is it important that I have my 20g allowance throughout the day? Today I've had approx 14g and now it's bedtime, so no time to fit in another 6g!

Questions, questions, questions

Terri

Hey there, Djbp -

I'm gonna take this one at a time.

1. DO NOT TRUST THE PACKAGING! Most "low" carb treats contain sugar alcohols which are metabolized by the body even though they have a minimal impact of blood sugar for most people. They are know to cause stalls and should be avoided as much as possible. (there's a sticky at the top of the Atkins forum on it if you want more info). Carb count is total carbs minus the fiber. Fiber literally goes right through us (no digestion!) and that's the reason it's not counted.

2. Most meat does not have any carbs. You don't need to weight it. Eat until you're no longer hungry and then stop. Do not eat until you're full or stuffed. That will help you to learn portion control.

3. There are several places that are good for getting the carb count of your veggies and such. The recipe section at www.atkins.com has a carb calculator. By far the favorite around here is www.fitday.com you can log and track everything in there. And it's free

4. For induction, you need to stay with the list of approved foods, AND under 20 grams of carbs. If you don't get clear up to 20, that's fine. I keep reading that there's no benefit to going even lower than 20, though. So don't think that sticking under 10 will make you lose faster. Eat your veggies, and you'll stay in the right range.

Hope that helps! Stick around and we'll answer any other questions we can.

Hey Great questions.
I to was going to post about counting carbs as I was confused about the net carb things. is net carb refering to carb -fiber OR carb-feber- sugar alchols?
I always do carb -fiber and don't subtract the sugar as that is or isn't a deal depending on who you talk to and don't want to get into a complete stall. SLow is ok for me but NOT a stall.

When it says 'net carbs' or 'effective carbs' on packaging, they're talking about Total Carbs minus Fiber minus Sugar Alcohols/Glycerine. That's why you can't trust that number on the front of the package. Instead, check out the nutritional chart. Then check the ingredient list since some companies leave sugar alcohols out of the ingredient list all together. The sugar alcohols sticky has all the names it can be called.

What if its an Atkins Product ? do you trust it ?

I don't trust anyone trying to make money off of me. Atkins products also use the 'net effective carb' theory. I love the healthy eating part of Atkins. I don't love the corporate monster that wants my money.

Here's what I think is key in any healthy WOL: you should not need any special products to live a healthy life. You don't need special pills, equipment, or foods. You don't need a shake, a bar, a substitute product, or any of it. Yes, it's nice and convenient, but you don't need it. I try to stick with the idea that if it's not found that way in nature or I can't make it myself from scratch, then it is probably not something I should eat on a regular basis.

Thanks for the response. I am not purposefully having less than 20 per day, but some days it just happens. I should be as thin as a rake having 2 young kids to run after, but no such luck!!

I feel as if somethings happening tho............i don't know what yet, but I feel kind of different. It's only day 4 and my mood has lifted, I felt quite awful the first 2 days, I had nausea, sweating, cravings, mood swings, all kinds of things, but up to now today - fingers crossed - I'm feeling ok.

Ketostix........what shade of pink should I be looking for?

Terri

Star: YOU ARE MY HERO! I agree with you and absolutely believe that the reason I'm doing so well on this program and avoiding stalls and excruciating slow weight loss is because I am entirely avoiding pre-packaged "low carb" items. There is a place for those items -- but that place is later down the road during maintenance. They serve no purpose during the big push for weight loss and only end up leaving us craving more. A lot of Atkins followers use these bars, shakes, and the like as "treats" or "rewards." ****....if I want a reward I just go down to Walmart and buy a new pair of jeans, new lamps for the bedroom, whatever. Cost wise they're cheaper and the satisfaction lasts a whole lot longer. Then we're not left with those nagging questions such as "I followed the plan, (those are Atkins bar, so they MUST be on the plan, right?) so why am I not losing weight?"