Too many veggies? Or the wrong kind?

toez79

Hi, I just started Atkins/Keto on Saturday, so this is my third full day. I'm sporadic at tracking, so I'm trying to track in the beginning to have an idea of what and how much to be eating. So far I think I'm eating too many veggies, because I can't get my net carbs down under 20. But everything I'm eating is on the Induction list and the Atkins book talks about 6 cups of acceptable veggies, so I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong. Should I just have the greens and meat/cheese/dressing? No celery, peppers, mushrooms, brocc, cauliflower, etc?
I do know on today's plan I need to skip the protein powder for now, as well as the truvia packet and the Atkins bar. My diary is public if you'd like to check it out and comment. Saturday is 100% entered, Sunday I skipped, and today I'm up to date thru lunch.
Thanks everyone!!

pyramid918

Don't track your "full" carbs, track your net carbs (Carbs minus fiber)! There is no way to eat enough vegetables if you could all the carbs. And you'll need the fiber on this diet, trust me. Truvia has Erythritol in it that will show up as like 3 carbs a packet but it doesn't spike the blood sugar so you don't need to count those either.

kristafb

I eat broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, onions (occassionally) and asparagus. I stick to veggies that grow above the ground (no potatoes or carrots) and lower glycemic index veggies (no sweet peppers). I eat less than 20 gms of carbs a day & the majority are from veggies.

tru2one

I would agree that you may be getting a few too many veggies for Induction or to get into ketosis. The original Atkins New Diet Revolution did not suggest 6 cups of veggies in the first two weeks (I think it was 2 cups of loosely packed salad greens and an additional cup of other veggies) UNLESS you were feeling the effects of the "keto flu" too severely. That being said, the more recent versions of Atkins may have loosened up on veggie restriction. As you can see, there are little bits of carbs in all kinds of other things, too (cheese, dairy, eggs, faux-foods, coffee, etc.) and even though they're negligible at a gram here, or less than a gram there, they do all add up at the end of the day.

My suggestion would be to keep things very simple until you're solidly into ketosis and THEN start slowly adding more veggies back in until you find your comfort zone. My Induction period of Atkins 16+ years ago was stupid simple...bacon (or some other meat) and eggs for breakfast, meat and salad for lunch, meat and a cup of broccoli or cauliflower or other lower carb veggie for dinner. Liberal use of butter, mayo, olive oil to satiate. Stay far away from fake foods at the start, and don't go too crazy w/ elaborate recipes. Once you're feeling all of the benefits being in ketosis brings, you can very, very gradually experiment w/ upping your carbs until you're not losing anymore or the physical benefits you had been feeling are fading.

And don't by any means fall into the trap of thinking that if low carb is good, no carb is even better (been there, done that). Dangerous and it will bring on negative physical consequences that just keeping around 20 will avoid.

Hope that helps! :-)

toez79

Thanks everyone, this is very helpful! Even with net carbs, I was over 20 grams, but that was counting the Truvia packet and the sugar free gum too. I'm getting some ketostix Wednesday, so I think that will help me too, to at least know if I'm in the right place. I think I'm close and I'll just ditch the peppers and mushrooms and make a simpler green salad.
Overall I feel great and I haven't been hungry at all!
Thanks again!

snarlingcoyote

I would track everything (including sugar-free gum unless the sweetner is completely Erythritol). You will find lots of "hidden carbs" in things you weren't aware had carbs. Basically, if it's processed, you will likely find a carb or two in it. For example, shredded cheese may have a carb or two - how do you think they get the cheese shreds to stay separated in the bag? Luncheon meats will often have 3 or 4 carbs a tiny serving. Don't always trust the nutritional labels either. For example, a packet of powdered splenda has .9 carbs, but they're allowed to "round" that to 0. Your leafy green veggies are a better choice, but they WILL have carbs, so make sure to be accurate even when you're tracking lettuce.

If it goes into your mouth, track it. For example, I'm up to 4g of carbs today. And I've had a 1/4 of shredded cheese, 2 slices of ham, 2 cups of coffee and a tsp of mayo to eat thus far today.

Golightly17

I think your diet looks good. Adorable family, too! If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to get your carbs from veggies and not those Atkins bars. The label is misleading and they're not so low glycemic. They always stalled me.