Ok, I have read a few replies here and on other forums, and I am shocked to find out how many people have either not read the book fully, or misunderstood what is said in the book. Most important problem being vegetables issue.

If you are on Atkins(or any otherdiet forthat matter) you HAVE TO HAVE VEGETABLES, NO DISCUSSION! (Salads being vegetables as well).

There are many reasons for it, main one being the vitamins and minerals!! Even if you do take vitamin pills, it is just not good enough, you HAVE TO HAVE vegetables. Or get ill.Its simple. Especially since we are not allowed fruit or limited at them, you gotta to give your body some goodies in some form! And you have to make sure you eat some vegetables in a fresh form, such as salads cos some vitamins such as Vit C are killed during cooking.

2ndly: without or with not enough vegetables you will become CONSTIPATED, a common complain, which never happened to me,cos I made sure I use my vegetable allowance to the full, and have salad with EVERY meal. Round lettuce is simple, lightweight, low carb and delicious enough to keep you going till the main vegatable intake meal(if you say like stir-fries like me). Vegetables contain fibre which helps the bad bits get out of your system. There is absolutely no need for extra pills to releive yourself:if you are constipated its simple:you are not eating enough veggies. Atkins website has just upped the amoung of veggies allowed from 3 cups to 4 cups a day! Why do you think that is!

I know I sound like you mum , but I found it amazing that people have simply chosen to not read those pages in the Atkins book, or think "never mind the veggies". If you don;t like any veggies on the list, and the list is HUGE , then I very strongly, for your state of health, advise you find another diet. This one will NOT be good for your body .

Atkins book clearly states that: "Eat no more then 20g of carbs/day, MOST of which MUST come in the form of salad greens and other vegetables."

If you gonna do Atkins, do it properly. If you damage your health do not moan about the diet - it's not the diet, diet is excellent. Its you! .

Finally as we just discovered here, just so you know:
1 US cup = 240mL=8.3 UK Oz=8 US OZ.

Salad veggies allowance is 3-4 cups on induction or up to ~400g if you want to weigh them. Or 200+200g if you are having "other" veggies.

Make sure you eat the full 4 cups! It sounds a lot, but it really isn;t! Trust me!

Very good point! Think of all the vitamins and minerals you are missing without them.

yes mom!!!

I am also shocked at how many people criticise this diet and talk about how we only eat meat and cheese, you always hear about low carbers eating a pound of bacon for breakfast, yet no one mentions the veggies that Dr Atkins stressed. On one of his last interviews not long before he died, he even said that he eats as much veggies a day as most vegetarians. No one ever mentions that.
They are very important and I am working very hard this time to get my veggies in. I have been bad about that in the past. Not this time. I actually love to eat them, I just get lazy. I am making them up in bigger quantities so I can eat a couple meals without cooking more. I love them in my eggs, veggie omelets, and salads are so wonderful !!
I agree, we all need to eat those veggies !!! Stephie

Yes I agree....veggies are def a HUGE misconception of a lot of people whether or not they are on the diet. I know I am def eating more veggies now than I did before.

The first thing many of my friends said when i set out eating the way i do was "you can't eat just steak and hamburgers!", i just had to reply saying that i eat more veggies than i have in my whole life, including when i was vegan. (and I don't eat steak or hamburgers because i don't much like beef )

Its totally true, you must eat plenty and a variety of different vegetables in order to do well long term following lc.

i agree! a must definitely!

I agree!!! Many people on here are "dieting" on Atkins, I admit I was guilty of that too. I was always trying to do the fat fast that Atkins would talk about so I can see the scale move quicker. I'm a slow loser to begin with. However it dawned on me finally that if I eat 3 normal sized low carb meals, complete with veggies and salad and moderate amount of protein...the weight WILL eventually come off. So I am no longer trying to hurry it up or "tweak" my eating. Slow and steady with plenty of nutrition along the way will go along way I believe.

LOL Sorry about that guys, I was just soooo worked up I had to post this. Didn;t wanna sound like mum : "you must eat your veggies honey, they are good for you! ". Aah, how many times did we hear that when we were little struggling with out portion of just 10 peas It turns out, our mums were actually right!



Yeah, I get that all the time, and its just soooo annoying! When i was doing Atkins last time, people at work were watching me drop weight like it was a war, so they stood up and took notice of "Atkins". But yeah, the number of times I had to explain " No, you can;t just eat meat and cheese...."

I was just gonna mantioned to those who are as lazy as me when it comes to cooking, there is an easy way to get your veggies in:

1. Salads: you can cut the salads in advance, but keep them in fridge wihtout sauces, so they can last longer.This way you only cut salad veggies once a day(or once in 2 days! , not 3 times a day

2. Stir fries: I just cut 3 day allowance in one go, dump it all in a big voc(vox?) with some spray Olive oil, lemon juice,salt and Warcestershire(only God knows how to spell that!) sauce , and cook for 10-15 min on medium fire. Cover it up, so you can keep as many goodies as you can in food, and fry for 10-15 min, whatever is your liking. This way you can even eat stuff that you DONT like. I always make sure I put in some veggies that I know are high in vitamins and minerals, but can;t stand eating alone, such as spinach,brockely and celery. Just mix it like a DJ with other lovely veggies and Bob's your uncle.

Don;t forget that bean-sprouts are NOTHING like the sprouts, and are fabulously cheap and great for stir-fries, but you must get them as fresh as poss! Or they get funny smell So use them WAY before the expiry date!

Last one: lots of people here in UK are not into sweet peppers and are missing out on a lot. Not only pepper is one of the top 3 vegetables(if not number 1!!) for high amount and variety of vitamins and minerals it contains, but it alsotaste like heaven, weather you eat it raw, or in stirfry! Mediteranian countries use it a LOT and I mean A LOT, (and you know what they say about mediteranian everyday "diet" No? Well apparently people in mediteranian countries live the longest, becuase of their diet of high amount of vegies, fruits and olive oil. Did someone just say Atkins? I think yes! personally I like red, yellow and orange peppers, green have a completely different taste, me not into!

Me gone now

Quote:
Finally as we just discovered here, just so you know:
1 US cup = 240mL=8.3 UK Oz=8 US OZ.

Sorry this only works for water.
A US cup of vegetables is as many as you can cram into a 240ml cup. It is not a measure of weight but of volume.

I agree with your general idea about 'must have veggies' however.

Actually not my idea, its Atkins's

AS for the measurements,yes, even tho you are right about volume/weight issue, the amounts I listed are actually ruffly correct for the purpose of Atkins diet. We just had a very long and very researchfull conversation exactly about this problem in thread called "How much is "a cup"????" http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...90&page=1&pp=10

Please read through to understand any confusion,(or become more confused like me)

But yes, its only water that equals in weight and volume as 1L of water=1kg of water. Everything else is differnt amounts. Still, Atkins started the new confusion,not me !

My measuring cup is 250 ml and you will be delighted to know I had my 4 cups of veggies last night. I plan to have them again this evening too.
I find eating them in the midafternoon/evening keeps me from getting my evening carb cravings.

In your first post you mention "round lettuce"... If that means iceburg lettuce, you may want to rethink that as a necessity. Compared to other leafy greens, it's sadly lacking in any real nutrition.

Green Veggies, Green Veggies, Green Veggies!!!

Water, water, Water!!!

Exercise, exercise, exercise!!!

'nuff said!!!

I lc veggies