Ok if no veggies?

[BabyJen]

I'm currently in day 10 of induction phase and my menu is as below:

Breakfast
Quarter roast chicken

Lunch
Quarter roast chicken

Dinner
Quarter roast chicken

My question is, is it ok for me to not eating veggies or only eat it ocassionaly? I take supplements such as fibre and multivitamin.

[Georgiana]

You need to read the book (could you order it from Amazon maybe?), because your idea of this diet is completely wrong. Atkins is a high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet. During Induction, 65% of the total calories should come from fat, 30% from protein and 5% from carbohydrate. Eating roasted chicken only is not exactly high fat, moderate protein, if you roast the chicken the usual way.

Vegetables are required during Induction. Three cups of them --- either 3 cups of salad vegetables, or 2 cups of salad vegetables and 1 cup of "other" vegetables. Eating only chicken is not healthy, because you will not get all the required vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber from them. I know you said you are taking a multivitamin, but multivitamins are intended as dietary supplements rather than substitutes.

The book you need to read is "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution", 2002 ed., which is the last edition Dr. Atkins published. In the meantime, please read the Atkins Diet FAQs or at least the Atkins Induction FAQs. The diet you plan to follow is not Atkins and is potentially dangerous for your health, so inform yourself about the correct way to do Atkins. Below are the links to the FAQs.

Atkins Low Carb Dieting - FAQ's - Atkins Diet
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...tion-faqs.html (Atkins Diet Induction FAQs)

[BabyJen]

Hi Georgiana,

Thanks for the advice, the reason i consume roasted chicken only is because i don't like cooking, thus not veggies in my meals. So what i need to do now is eat 3 cups of salad vegetables, or 2 cups of salad vegetables and 1 cup of "other" vegetables and increase my caloric intake. I guess i need to start cooking from now on.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by BabyJen

Hi Georgiana,

Thanks for the advice, the reason i consume roasted chicken only is because i don't like cooking, thus not veggies in my meals. So what i need to do now is eat 3 cups of salad vegetables, or 2 cups of salad vegetables and 1 cup of "other" vegetables and increase my caloric intake. I guess i need to start cooking from now on.

You will need to cook your meat, but veggies don't necessarily require cooking. Things such as peppers, cucumbers, celery, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes are okay eaten raw, in a salad or with some dip (you need to eat your veggies with some fat and protein, to avoid a blood sugar spike).

Do you eat eggs? Eggs have an almost perfect fat-protein-carb ratio.

Or cheese maybe?

[BabyJen]

Oh yeah, i just add in hard boil egg into my meal since yesterday (opps, forgot to include it in my list), 2 - 4 eggs per day for breakfast and lunch. Nope, i didn't take cheese but plan to buy it later, and asparagus, mushrooms, bok choy too! I hope this will help because i can't wait to lose weight!

[PeteinVA]

Hi BabyJen,

Yeh variety is definetly the spice of life in Atkins and makes for true enjoyment of the foods you eat.

The hard cheese during induction is a pleasure. I started with cheddar only (white vermont YUM) but branched out to buying Gouda and Asiago, romano. I never ate those types of cheeses just plain but it does me a lot of good!

I can really hate cooking too but once you start it grows on you. My schedule is such that I "cook" my lunch in the mornings (i.e. put a meatloaf in the oven to bake for 45 minutes) and pack everything up for the day. I generally bake my foods as it's low maintenance.

I love roasted chicken and can probably eat it three times a day too (!) but like Georgiana said you want to ensure you're not only getting enough vitamins/minerals, but are following the diet to ensure your success.

Continued success to you!

[DarlingBri]

Remember also that fat is ESSENTIAL on Induction. Chicken is lovely. It is not fatty. Butter, mayo, oilive oil and cheese are good sources of fat.

Are you in the US? FitDay would be a very useful way to see what you're eating.