Carb Count for Salad

[SkiMom]

Hi,
I was just wondering how everyone figures out the carb count for their salads? I make a big bowl full of salad with lettuce, and various other allowed veggies, and then just scoop out my 1 cup....so I don't really know exactly how much lettuce, or how much other veggies I am getting per cup...KWIM? Any advice? TIA!

SkiMom

[Georgiana]

Well, you do know how much of each veggie is in the whole bowl. I mean, you can measure that. Then you mix everything together and figure out how much of the whole bowl you had in one serving... and divide by that.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by SkiMom

Hi,
I was just wondering how everyone figures out the carb count for their salads? I make a big bowl full of salad with lettuce, and various other allowed veggies, and then just scoop out my 1 cup....so I don't really know exactly how much lettuce, or how much other veggies I am getting per cup...KWIM? Any advice? TIA!

SkiMom

Vegetables on Induction are limited to 3 cups daily, according to the book. It can be divided into 3 cups of the "salad" list vegetables or 2 cups of the "salad" list vegetables and 1 cup of the "other" list.

So, what vegetables on the lists did you use for your salad and how much of them went into that salad?

[not2late]

Oh by the way, you might have folks tell you that veggie carbs--especially lettuce---are so minimal that you don't really need to measure, etc. That might be true if you 1. don't eat more than 1 or 2 eggs daily (1 net carb per egg), 2. don't use heavy cream, sour cream, 3. don't eat cheese, 4. don't eat processed meats (which all contain added carbs.), 5 don't use condiments like store-bought salad dressings, mustard, ketchup, etc., 6. don't use artificial sweetener, or 7. don't drink tea or coffee (according to the Dr. Atkins New Carbohydrate Gram Counter these beverages contain about 1 net carb per 8 fluid ounces.)

Furthermore, when you begin adding carbs to your Diet in OWL Phase, you will need to measure your foods.

So get into the habit of measuring.

[LeanLioness]

Originally Posted by not2late

Oh by the way, you might have folks tell you that veggie carbs--especially lettuce---are so minimal that you don't really need to measure, etc. That might be true if you 1. don't eat more than 1 or 2 eggs daily (1 net carb per egg), 2. don't use heavy cream, sour cream, 3. don't eat cheese, 4. don't eat processed meats (which all contain added carbs.), 5 don't use condiments like store-bought salad dressings, mustard, ketchup, etc., 6. don't use artificial sweetener, or 7. don't drink tea or coffee (according to the Dr. Atkins New Carbohydrate Gram Counter these beverages contain about 1 net carb per 8 fluid ounces.)

Furthermore, when you begin adding carbs to your Diet in OWL Phase, you will need to measure your foods.

So get into the habit of measuring.

If you eat pretty much unprocessed, there is no need to measure veggies that much............

I don't think any of us gained the weight from eating too much broccoli or cauliflower..............or lettuce for that matter.

Me, personally, I stopped measuring most anything, but I eat very simply.

Lots of chicken salad, salads, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage.............

Also, just eat protein simply cooked, chicken, steaks, shrimp, fish, etc.......

[LeanLioness]

Also, I drink unlimited amounts of coffee and tea, I drink it plain though, no cream, no sweetner............nothing.

[liv]

I think it is important to measure and get used to it. When it comes time to climb the ladder and add more veggies then other stuff everyone should have a pretty good idea how much carb they are eating so they know how to add only in 5 carb increments. Starting to think about portions and control is in my opinion an important part of induction.

[SkiMom]

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. Liv...you are right. Being strict with counting is very important to my success on this diet. I've been on this diet before and found that "guestimating" was my downfall. So... today I took Georgiana's advice and measured everything that I put into my big salad, and divided it to figure out how much was in each cup.
I used:

8 cups iceburg lettuce
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup red bell pepper
1/2 cup cucumber

According to my calculations each cup is only 0.5 net grams. So now I know, and I can count it accordingly. Thanks again everyone.

[not2late]

Just be aware that according to the Rules of Induction, the majority of the carbs you eat daily must be from vegetables. Therefore, if you are eating 10 net carbs daily, at least 6 of those carbs must be from vegetables.

If you eat 3 cups of your current salad per day, then you are only eating 1.5 net carbs. So your other carbs---the ones from eggs, cheese (we count each ounce as 1 net carb according to Dr. Atkins), coffee, tea, sweetener, processed meats, salad dressings/condiments---can't be more than that 1.5 net carbs.

I would suggest that you use 1 c of lettuce,1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup red pepper, 1/2 cup cucumber, and 1/2 cup spinach for your daily salad mix----that amount is 3 cups of vegetables and you'll have more vegetable carbs, which are good carbs due to the fiber, vitamins and other nutrients.

[SkiMom]

Wow...I hadn't even considered that!! I will adjust my vegetable measurements. Thanks Megs!!