Can I pretty much eat as many of the permitted veggies as I want? I have no need or intention of eating bread carbs or anything refined but I can eat a lot of summer squash and salad...er how about tomatoes...raspberries?...they are rolling in from my garden like (pardon the expression) like fleas off a dog! Also my biggest problem is that I have been working out a lot...free weights. yoga and stationary bike. But recently I have had no energy and have been slaking off a lot on the exercize and feeling a little depressed! I understand that muscle needs more energy to burn. Could my increased muscle mass be demanding more energy from me...so I need to eat more? This is freaking me out a little! Because in spite of seeming to shrink in size my weight is not going down a lot!
please help!
Twigg

If you are still on induction with Atkins you should limit your veggies to 2-3 cups per day (but that's only 2 weeks) If you exercised regularly before LC you may indeed need a few more carbs for that energy. Try getting some carbs in right before you exercise for that boost you need. Also, because your body is detoxing (if in induction) you will be tired.. I was sooo zapped. If you are getting smaller but staying the same weight, you are most likely gaining muscle mass and losing fat at the same time YEAH FOR YOU! Also, excersise for LC people is more effective than for the people on the low fat diets. You don't have to burn off those excess carbs before you start buring fat in your excersising, as you are already burning fat! Without knowing what phase you are in, or what plan etc. its hard to say what you might want to try, but carbs will give you that quick energy needed.

Susan

LC and feeling better every day!

Atkins since 7/18/03
210/190/140

DISCLAIMER: This is what worked for ME. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.

Once I left Induction, I began eating all of the legal veggies I wanted! I eat plates BRIMMING with broccoli or spinach or asparagus or cauliflower, etc.

I figure that the nutrients and fiber in vegetables FAR outweigh the carb count.

It's worked for me so far....

Emelia

"We can only learn to love by loving." - Iris Murdoch, Irish writer
294/208/174 since 25-Nov-01

Red raspberries:
Total Carbohydrate 14.23g
Dietary Fiber 8.36g

Tomatoes:
Total Carbohydrate 6.91g
Dietary Fiber 1.64g

Summer Squash:
Total Carbohydrate 4.92g
Dietary Fiber 2.15g

I found all of those on www.fitday.com. You can find most anything there. If it fits into your carb tally for the day, go for it. Only YOU can determine at what range you will lose weight.

April
352 / 205 / 180
5'10", large frame, size 13 shoe
www.geocities.com/aprilreinhardt

Twigg,

glad to see this is almost the same question i half deleted in that other thread...

April has given you great info on those carb counts... summer squash is lower than i had thought. (maybe i was thinking winter squash)

Tomatoes tend to run a bit high where most veggies are concerned.. but I sometimes weigh in their health benefits... as tomatoes are very good for you. (i just love'em anyways)

Like i said in that other post... you have to find out what you can get a way with carb-wise.

Just re-read your comment on lack of energy... YUP - time to up your carbs for your post workout meals. I try NOT to consume higher carbed meals past 3pm... so my 2 meals following my hard workouts will be a bit higher than the rest of the day.... I tend to eat 4-5 mini-meals a day.

HTH

Terese
LCE Member since 12/00
My LC web site

Summer squashes are pretty much all very low carb foods. They are also considered fruits (surprise), so that makes them an excellent free food. They have lots of vitamin C. I particularly love pattypan squashes, boiled mashed and refried.

Raspberries are okay after induction, but be careful not to eat too many of them. I have a freezer full of frozen raspberries and when I feel like it, I reach in, grab a few and suck on them ice cold. The fitday numbers might be misleading. They are about as low in carbs as tomatoes.

It's best to treat raspberries and tomatoes as a food that's allowed but to be eaten in moderation. You probably shoudln't sit down with a great big bowl of just tomatoes or raspberries and have a meal.

They are both lower-carb than a lot of other things people try to eat on this WOE.

One more great low-carb fruit to mention: olives.

Tomatoes (but not berries) are actually allowed during induction. Check out the Acceptable Foods For Induction.

I agree with making the listed LC veggies unlimited after induction. Be very cautious of other allowed foods like berries and higher carb veggies though.



Always eat your veggies first!

Welcome, Twigg.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> in spite of seeming to shrink in size my weight is not going down a lot! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just a couple of thoughts in addition to the good advice already posted.

1. Shrinking in size is what the world sees.
2. When you say your weight is "not going down a lot" what do you mean?

If you're doing anything like a pound a week, you're doing great! (That's faster than my own rate of loss.) If it is going down at all, then you're right on course. Remember this is a way of life and not a race.

HTH some.

Maggie
5'1"
Atkins since '98 (160)
Maintaining nicely (110)

Redhead until further notice!

I was always taught in the gym that to burn any fat you have to do cardiovascular exercise consecutively for 40 minutes. Are you doing this? I'm not sure whether you get into fat-burning mode any quicker by doing LC but I wouls stick to what I know. I just go in the gym at the moment and do 20 mins on the bike, 20 on the cross trainer , some sit ups and stretches and that does me ok. Going to do Body pump to tone up and get a bit of muscle built which should help burn it a bit longer. Just don't do less than 20 mins on any one piece of eqipment as it won't do you enough good and try to go from one machine to the next as fast as possible.
I've been having butternut squash, i don't know whether that's the same thing as summer squash? any ideas? It doesn't seem to affect my weight loss but I do a recipe from Jamie Oliver's book where you slice it and roast it in olive oil, fennel seeds, dried chilli, oregano, garlic, coriander seeds and salt + pepper and it's gorgeous.

Trudie (UK)

No, butternut squash is a "winter" squash. It's a really good food, though, so just be careful with amounts, don't fix with sugar, etc. As a rule, "winter" squashes have hard shells, like butternut, acorn, Turk's cap, Hubbard, etc., and "summer" squashes have soft peels, like zucchini, patty pan, etc.

Aderyn