Carb Counting Confusion

[mission to lose]

I really want to do this right. I am on day 2 on induction, and I purchased the book today, but I am confused.

Please explain -The Induction Plan says:
Vegetables
You can have two to three cups per day of….certain salad vegetables

Other Vegetables
You can have one cup per day of these veggies if salad does not exceed two cups. The following vegetables are slightly higher in carbohydrate content than the salad vegetables… “other listed vegetables.”

OK, For example - if I eat two cups of salad vegetables that = .8 net carbs (Vegetable Group One)
And if I have1 cup of Zucchini (Vegetable Group Two)=5 carbs. That is a total of 5.8.
If we are supposed to get most of our 20 daily carbs from salad greens and vegetables, I don’t see how it is possible if you follow the limits given. That is only 5.8, and most vegetables are equal to that. Plum Tomato- 3.2, they are sort of small but even 2 of them would be 6.4 (would 2 tomatoes equal 1 cup?)
So do you see my problem? Am I missing something? The 2 cups from salad veggies, and 1 cup from other veggies don’t seem to add up to enough required carbs from greens and veggies. Please help! Thanks.
PS Also the Atkins book lists many acceptable veggies, yet I can not find some of those veggies in the carb counter section. Seems a little strange.

[neutronnorman]

Good question.

Your best bet on this one is to ask a moderator.

[mizski]

I think a lot of it depends upon the veggies you are having. For example, if you had 3 cups of iceberg lettuce that would not add up to many carbs at all. But with a well rounded mixture of salad greens, mushrooms, radish, peppers, cukes, etc. the carbs start to add up. With 2 cups of those then add some of the other veggies like broccoli and pumpkin and those numbers will add up quickly.

What helped me a lot at first was to pre-plan my menus on FitDay and then I could see whether I needed to add some of the higher carb veggies or in some cases sub some of the lower carb ones. I still do this with FitDay and probably will continue to do so as I go up the OWL rungs. HTH

[WetBanana]

I do all my stuff on fitday as well and have no problem hitting 20 carbs and above - of course when you work in the fibre content, the net carbs area always under 20.

[IrishIrish]

Salad veggies include more than lettuce. Look at the entire list of of salad veggies on the Acceptable Food List. Also, you need to count other carbs like eggs. They do have minimal carbs. Some "other veggies" on the Acceptable Food List are also higher in carbs.

Use a tool like Fitday.com for a few days until you get the hang of it. And yes, it is okay to fall under 20 carbs. I often reached 16 to 18 while on Induction.

[mission to lose]

Thanks,
And yes I know there are more vegetables than romaine, that was just an example from the salad veggie list, but it seems most are very low carb, except the ones I never heard of or don't care too much for...LOL...

I have no problem finding other foods to fulfill the carb count, I am just trying to pack as many carbs into those few cups of veggies we are allowed.

Can't live without those hard boiled eggs!

Thank again to all!

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by mission to lose

Thanks,
And yes I know there are more vegetables than romaine, that was just an example from the salad veggie list, but it seems most are very low carb, except the ones I never heard of or don't care too much for...LOL...

What about peppers? Or cucumbers? And if you never had jicama, it's worth trying it, imo.

I have no problem finding other foods to fulfill the carb count, I am just trying to pack as many carbs into those few cups of veggies we are allowed.

Just make sure you are not eating 6 net carbs of veggies and 12 of other foods. So, what you need, is 3 cups of vegetables and over half of the net carbs for the day be veggie net carbs. So if your veggie net carbs are 6, then you eat less than 6 from other carby foods, like eggs, cream, sweeteners, etc.

[Slapshot]

If we are supposed to get most of our 20 daily carbs from salad greens and vegetables

I think this is the flaw in the premise. We're supposed to eat "up to" 20 net carbs daily, not 20 on the dot. So, following the rule of getting over half of your daily carbs from vegetables is usually attainable.