Just out of curiousity...how many Atkiners out there believe in being stringent with measuring lettuce during extended induction or OWL? I ask because... I gotta tell ya...I just am not. I watch what I put on a salad...but I'll openly admit that I frequently (like daily) consume more than 2 or 3 cups of lettuce. I sometimes have salad at bfast, lunch, and dinner! Anyone else the same?... and why do you think the allowed measurements(2-3 cups) are what they are?

I placed this in the war-zone so that newbies wouldnt get all wrapped up in it... it's better to stick to basics when starting out I think. (Also just in case someone decides I need a slam or two because 6 or 7 cups of lettuce and a cup of broccoli per day isnt following the plan to the letter. )

OK, I admit that I don't measure lettuce either. A cup of romaine lettuce has about 1.5 carbs, minus fiber about .5 so I guess if you eat too much you can go over your carb limit for the day. But you'd have to eat ahellofa lot of it. I just eyeball about how much I think is a cup...about a handfull of chopped lettuce is what I go by. But I don't worry too much about overdoing it with lettuce even on induction where I am right now

zajack,

You have done so well! 59 pounds! Congratulations! Obviously your lettuce consumption has not hurt you!

I personally have never measured lettuce. I think it is probably the lowest calorie and carb food one could find! (Please don't yell at me if you know something lower - like maybe water or something! ) I even heard once that it takes more calories to 'burn off' lettuce, than lettuce contains!

What I really want to say is that the lettuce guidelines are probably to have at least that much - because most people who are in the non-low carb mode are not eating salads! (You know what they are eating!)

So, I personally believe all of the 'diet rules' are really guidelines. In my opinion, the more veggies, the better. I don't limit my brocolli or cauliflower, etc. either. This is a plan I have to live with, and I don't see myself measuring vegetables for the rest of my life.

It's not always the amount of carbs that influence the insulin/blood sugar response, sometimes it's the volume of food as well.
Along those lines, Dr. Bernstein relates a story in his book of a women he saw in his practice that could not figure out why her blood sugars were going up to 300+ after her afternoon workout. Turns out she was consuming an entire head of lettuce prior to her workout and the distension of her stomach and intestines was provoking an insulin response and corresponding glucose dump from her liver resulting in high blood sugars.
Now...in a non-diabetic, it probably wouldn't have such a dramatic effect but given that a lot of low carbers are insulin resistant and have high levels of circulating insulin, avoiding the insulin response may be what is behind the restriction on bulky veggies like lettuce.
Another thing about the veggie restriction; that assumes that you will be getting carbs from other allowed sources during induction such as cheese, cream, lemon juice, olives and avocados. If you're not eating those other things, I don't see a reason to not add additional veggies to get to the 20 gram limit each day. I don't think I ever met anyone who got overweight eating too much broccoli.
That said...I don't measure my lettuce and usually just 'eyeball' my veggies, too.

ok, I know you put this out there for atkiners but as a LC'er I will add my 2 cents for consideration.

When eating salads Romaine is a freebee, along with a few others.There are the same amount of carb grams as there are fiber grams thus resulting in zero net carb grams.

I ate as much and as many Romaine salads as it took to fill me up when I was hungry for snacks and still lost 20 lb per month.

On maintenence I still eat at least 1 large salad a day.

Wow! That is so interesting! Along the same lines, I've also heard that no matter what we consume ( protein, carb, fat) we tend to want the same volume / weight of food every day! (which I also found interesting!)

So it makes sense to not go overboard with the veggies (I've never eaten a whole head of lettuce at once, have you?) but to have some for the volume and weight of them, and to balance the rest with protein and fat.

oh, btw I only ate the outer very green leafs because the lighter green

the more carbs are in it

http://www.nutritiondata.com/nf.php?q=B00001-01c30dv

I have to say WOW too. Since I started my hypoglycemic diet 6 small meals/day, I couldn't figure out why I would lose as much weight in 2 days of that as I lose in the first 2 weeks of induction. Its a lot higher carb. I also noticed that I get completely stuffed now with much less food. Could the smaller food volume have made my insulin levels drop even more?

I don't measure lettuce - but I'm pretty sure I'm not choking down a head of lettuce at a sitting as well.

I've never figured out quite how to measure lettuce.

And then there's spinach....

This is totally news to me...thanks for sharing that.

I wouldn't know what a cup of lettuce looks like if it walked past me on the street! ha!ha! (being in the UK the measurements are a bit different). I just put as much I think will satisfy me on my plate and then go with it. If I need more I have more. So far it seems to be working.

Ithink part of the reason he lists amounts is to teach those just starting what portions are, and to assist in the initial detoxification of our bodies. Personally, i don't sweat it - I eat veggies and salads, and get the majority of my carbs from those, rather than condiments or junk. If that extra cup or two of salad slows me down, so be it. This is a lifestyle, not a competition.

I dont measure lettuce...I eat lots, all different varieties ( except iceberg...awful stuff if you ask me)..dont measure allowable vegies...eat lots of those, too....as far as I can tell it never bothered me....

I dont measure lettuce - I figure no one ever got fat off of lettuce.