Well, Friday's the big day for those of us in the United States. Does anyone want to share their plans on eating?
We've got a huge bbq to go to, and have agreed to bring a box of Costco hamburger patties. Think I'll bring a few fresh veggies and real cheese slices too.
What ammo will you all bring to help keep you on the wagon?

Annie-Pie

We're headed to the neighbors place for a big BBQ. There will be lots of burgers there for us to eat. I think I'm going to make a low-carb potato salad (actually, fauxtato salad since it's made with cauliflower). I got the recipe off of the internet yesterday. And I'm not too worried about anyone being grossed out -- I find that no matter WHERE I go these days, there are low-carbers in abundance. So my salad will probably be much-appreciated.

Jeannie

Actually, as we did last year, a low-carb BBQ.

Sausage
Chicken
Steak
Ground beef burgers
Beef frankfurters
Grilled Veggies
Cudite platter (raw veggies w/dip)
Shrimp Cocktail (low carb cocktail sauce - lc ketchup/white horseradish)
Green Salad with tomato, cucumber, etc...
Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil salad with red wine viniger/olive oil dressing
LC Macaroni/Tuna salad (LC pasta, tuna, mayo, red pepper, onion)

I will however make some higher carb foods for family/friends but I am OK with that since I never stray with those foods as long as I have My low carb side dishes on hand.

No real BBQs to attend here, one of my college roommates is getting married. I dislike when people have weddings over a major holiday weekend, but, what can one do? I'm hoping people tell me this weekend that I look the same as I did in college. They never saw the "heavier" me. Annie-Pie, JeannieM, and yvonne326 enjoy your BBQs!

Hey Paradise! You are so close to goal! Good for you.

I am going to my family's lake place in Idaho for the 4th. We will have a large gathering with many other friends at Spirit Lake. This picnic has been going on since the '60's. A lot of my parents friends would drive out from Spokane to have this big picnic and bring lots of fireworks. Many of them eventually bought summer homes on the lake. We bought ours in 1963 in a small gated community (the gates are never closed - but it is posted as private property). The houses are very old - ours was a tiny cabin built in the 1930's that we have expanded. There is a clubhouse with a huge yard and great beach for the members to use and that is where we have always had our 4th of July picnic.

I don't get over for the 4th very often anymore - it's ~ 400 miles from where I live now. I usually get out to the lake for a week or less every summer, but I haven't been over for the 4th since 2000 - shortly after my Dad died. It's sort of become his memorial picnic in a way. We all bring our own food and may share a few things with each other, but it should be pretty easy to control my intake. I was thinking of making a batch of LC brownies or something - just to show off that this WOE is not about deprivation.

Happy celebrating!

I am going to take along some Atkins crunchers ( for some reason I really like the things) for myself. To share with others, I am going to take Beachgirl's cheesecake with the splenda replaced by one cup of strawberry Davinci syrup to give it that reddish-pink hue and then decorate the top with stripes of blueberries, sliced starwberries and whipped creme for the red, white, and blue.
I might take some of that fake potato salad ( with the cauliflower) as well if I feel like it.

I'm going to be the grillmaster come this 4th and have a quick question. Would eating that much fat be a good thing(meaning in one quick shot)? I have no problem eating patties with mayo but wouldnt it suspend weightloss for that day.

just wondering,

Battousai

p.s. My bro says you can eat as much fat as you want as long as there arent any carbs this I find a little hard to believe!

Battousai - Fat is a very important part of this diet. Not only is it acceptable to eat a lot of fat on this diet, it's pretty much expected. I know, hard to believe from the years of listening to the low-fat preacher, huh? lol.

Also, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't suggest that you read the book. I believe that it's one of the most (if not THE most) important things that you can do on this diet. It will give you a better understanding of hows and whys of Atkins.

In the meantime, save me some hamburgers. I'll be over around 4.

~Angi~

Well, I have a small cooler I am carrying back over to my Daughters on Wednesday. It is going to be stocked with a pack of all beef hotdogs, mini squares of cheese, lettuce leafs and hot mustard. If there is a grill handy where we are going then I will split the hotdog and melt the cheese over it. Pop it in the lettuce leaf and yum. That should keep me safe I hope!

gonna have a bbq at the parents house with the girlfriend...luckily most my family low carbs so there'll be plenty of things to eat

Gooie,

What is this cheesecake? Is it free of carbs? What is the crust made of.. mouth watering..... thinking of cheesecake.. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

I had to know too and when looking and this is what I found. Sounds yummy for sure.

Beachgirl's Basic Cheesecake

Source of Recipe

LC Friends

List of Ingredients



32 ounces cream cheese
1 cup splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons sour cream

Recipe

With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and splenda at slow to medium speed, scraping sides often. Add all other ingredients except eggs. When completely mixed (with no lumps), add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating very slowly. When eggs are incorporated, do not mix any more. Over-mixing the eggs is a contributing cause of cracked cheesecakes. (The leading cause of cracking is over-cooking, so donât believe any one who tells you it is normal for a cheesecake to be cracked; it isnât.) Always treat the batter gently.

Pour the mixture into the springform pan. Place the pan on a very large piece of aluminum foil, and fold the foil up around the pan to create a watertight barrier around the cheesecake. Then place the barrier pan in an even larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water. This is called a water bath. It is a gentler way to cook the cheesecake.

Place the entire water bath containing the cheesecake in a 300-degree preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and reduce heat to 200 degrees for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. The cheesecake can even be left overnight at this point. Cracks can also occur when a cheesecake cools too quickly.

It may be beneficial to run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake, separating it from the sides of the pan. If your goal is to serve the cheesecake on a different dish without the bottom of the spring form pan, then the pan can be lined with parchment paper before the batter is poured in. Make sure to grease both sides of the paper. This will make for easy removal of the cheesecake later. It works best if the cheesecake has been refrigerated fully before trying to remove it from the bottom pan.

I am heading into New England for my yearly Steamers and Lobster . Lots of melted butter! Plan to eat enough so I dont won't even have to worry about picking on other things. Now how to control the beer intake .

Also this is the first trip home since I start Atkins, 33 pounds lighter!

I'm good with regular cookout fare ... hot dogs, burgers with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard. I can live without dessert. But I decided a while back I can't do without local tomatos and corn. So I'm having one ear of silver queen corn slathered with butter, salt, and pepper. (19g carbs, 2g fiber, net carbs=17) ... I'll still keep my total carb count at around 25 for the day.

I'm going to eat it slowly, savoring it, before eating anything else. Then I'll fill up on burgers and ribs ... ribs grilled with just a rub are fabulous btw.

Homemade lemonade with Splenda is my other indulgence ... yum.

We always have a cook out here. This year I plan on making BBQ chicken with a blueberry BBQ sauce that I have adapted to be low carb. Blueberries are in season, and it is a shame not to eat them.

Also picking up some IC Light....I miss beer. At 2.9 carbs per bottle, I can live with a 6 pack.