Hello,

I have been on Atkins low carb since July of this year and I have had some ups and down with under-estimating food. I was 217 and now I am 196.1. I have read on the USDA website that a whole Hass avocado is 17 carbs and 1/3 is 5 carbs on the Atkins induction mini food list I printed out and carry around with me and it said a whole avocado is 5.1 so which is true? how are many carbs are in a 1/2 of a avacago or whole?

The difference is between the total carbs and the net carbs, which is total minus fiber.

Some people would count everything: they don't count net. I only eat half at a time, and I count net only for fiber, not for sugar alcohols (the nasty stuff in Atkins bars).

Avocados have a LOT of fiber in them, don't they?

And YAY on losing over 10 lbs so far. You're doing great.

Some Haas avocados are twice as big as others and the pits vary in size too, so I go by the weight of what I actually eat (I weigh with skin on and pit in, eat, and weigh the pit and skin, then subtract). The typical whole Haas/California avocado I eat has flesh that weighs 149 g (5.23 oz), has 12.8 g total carbs but only 3 net carbs. The nutrition data I've seen says that 78.7% of the total carbs are fiber in a Haas avocado, and I don't worry about the fat (that's the usual reason people have for eating only a half, third or quarter).

Note that a Florida (smooth green skin) avocado has a bit less fiber (71.6% of the total carbs are fiber) and a bit more sugar (3.2 g net carbs in 5.23 oz of avocado flesh).

Deirdra, I eat avocados with my dinner, usually. If I eat more than a half, there goes eating dinner!

I've always been a fan of chicken salad and one of my favourite meals is avocado mashed into diced cooked chicken. The avocado replaces the mayo and any need for vegetables. A small, dense and truly satisfying meal. Very filling after a 16-24 hr fast.

YUM! I have two avocados ripening, and some left over chicken. Dinner tomorrow, possibly.

I think the new Atkins plan shows all of their numbers in net carbs.
carbs - fiber = net carbs

I have been counting net carbs all along with great success, but everyone is different. Tonight, we mixed an avocado with tomotoes and ranch dressing as a side with eggplant lasagna. Yum!

egg plant and chicken with added avocado sounds so good. I'd rather count total carbs. I think I've been doing good counting this way. Thank you for all of your good advice.

When you are looking for a food that is delicious, filling, fatty, and not too high in protein, avocados are perfect. I'm not going to eat more than 1/2 at a time usually, so I think the carbs are fine.

The problem with 1/2 an avocado, is what to do with the other half? I have tried various methods to keep it from turning yucky, funky brown, but have realized the best method is to simply eat the whole thing.

You are exactly right!
I've always had the same problem myself...
Eat half now and the other half is black tomorrow, so what to do?
People say to put lemon juice on it to prevent the black from forming but
then it tastes like lemons and it still had black on it.

I learned a long time ago to remove the seed from the uneaten half of the avocado and wrap saran wrap over the exposed flesh. Then press the seed back into the cavity (on the outside of the saran wrap), so that the saran wrap is snuggly held to the avocado with the seed, and wrap the edges of the saran wrap back to the skin.

Sometimes I'm too lazy to use this method (and sometimes it's hard to remove the seed). In that case I put the half avocado in a baggie, press out as much air as I can and hope for the best. As long as the avocado was not too ripe when you put it in the baggie, and as long as you don't leave it more than a day or two in the fridge, even if it is discolored when you take it out of the fridge, it is easy to remove the 1/32 of an inch that is discolored. Once you slice that off, the bulk of the avocado half should be fine.

If you put a straw into the corner of a mostly zipped zip lock baggie, suck the air out and then quickly zip the rest as you pull the straw out, you can get an almost air tght seal - the avocado can last a day or so in the fridge.

Great suggestion using a straw to remove the air from the baggie!